Nationally known artist Jeremy Lipking posted this link on his Facebook profile today, which is how I found out that Bernie Fuchs has died. He, along with Robert Peak and Mark English, were three of the absolutely top illustrators of the mid to late 20th century. Peak died a few years ago, but I recently found out that Mark English (who I had the good fortune to meet and work with for a short time at his Illustration Academy in the summers of 1989 and 1990) is still alive and painting, bless his heart.

I know that most of you reading this probably have no idea who these artists are, but they have been an inspiration to generations of illustrators for their creative vision, technical excellence and the consistently breathtaking quality of their work. No one will ever again have the kind of careers that they did. The illustration field as they knew it is gone. But their work remains. I recently saw an ad for a Fuchs retrospective at the Telluride Gallery. The catalog was only $20, so I called immediately and ordered one.If there was ever an artist who deserved, but, as far as I know, never got, a big coffee table book about them and their work, Bernie Fuchs was certainly one of them.

Here is a past post in which I used Mr. Fuchs work as an example of “lost and found”.

9-22-09 update: New York  Times obituary