During the course of my original interview with Ron Lesser, this last April, I asked him whether there were any specific artists who had been particularly influential on his work. He quickly responded, “Norman Rockwell.” Shortly thereafter, though, he e-mailed me a list of “other artists that I really love,” noting in his introduction to it that “I will not mention living illustrators for reasons you can assume.” Below is Lesser’s list, with his comments.
A Law for the Lion, by Louis Auchincloss (Signet, 1954), with cover art by Stanley Zuckerberg; Murder in Monaco, by John Flagg (Gold Medal, 1957), with an illustration by Bob Peak.
Illustrators:
• Stanley Zuckerberg—very underrated. I believe he was the best illustrator/artist making paperback covers during the very “painty” period of the 1940s through the ’60s. Also James Avati [who had a] similar style, but [there was] no one better than Zuckerberg.
• Joe Bowler and Coby Whitmore. I used to look in the large window of the Charles E. Cooper Studio, which was east of the Art Students League, and admire these excellent illustrators.
• Frank McCarthy, who was with Fredman-Chaite Studios, along Bob Peak; and I believe Bernie Fuchs was there as well.
• Before this group there was Dean Cornwell, who was a huge influence on [my teacher] Frank J. Reilly.
• Harold von Schmidt. I used his son for some of my Western paintings, including this one.
• Tom Lovell—an incredible artist, none better.
• N.C. Wyeth, also marvelous.
• Frederic Remington.
19th-century artists:
• Frederic Leighton and Jules Joseph Lefebvre—it was these artists I was studying when I had the [New York Metropolitan Museum of Art] open its vault. I was with Reilly at this time.
• Also William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Maybe among the very best artists of all time.
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