Russell Patterson, 1893 - 1977
Half of the fun of framing (and it is very fun) is
researching the art. This was a piece that was
recently acquired in an art auction and this artist
merits the research.
The piece is entitled "Nude & Flowers" from 1964
and painted by Russell Patterson. It is 12"x16" and
it is an oil on hardboard.
Patterson
was a fascinating personality who lived from 1893 to
1977. He began his career as a magazine illustrator
working for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Cosmopolitan and
Redbook. During this period he achieved celebrity
status as an illustrator of beautiful women.
In the early 1930's he became restless and decided to
become a Broadway costume designer for several
successful Broadway productions. By the end of the
1930's he had moved to Hollywood to work on scene and
costume design.
Again he became restless and developed a comic strip
called 'Mamie', which became a Sunday syndicated
cartoon that ran for six years. The Mamie character
was glamorously portrayed, which leveraged his
artistic talent and his sense of fashion.
By the 1960's he reverted back to being a fine art
artist, but was not above exploiting his celebrity
status by being a judge for Miss America and Miss
Universe pageants and endorsing Medaglia D'Oro coffee
and Lord Calvert whiskey.
Patterson was a renaissance man who grew up in the
public eye. He enjoyed new challenges and he
especially enjoyed his high profile status in the
media.
Now the challenge becomes how to best frame this
original that does this artist justice.