the Pfeiffer Pfiles Presents....the Art Work of Artist Fred Pfeiffer

Fred Pfeiffer was an American Artist
He worked as an Illustrator out of N.Y.N.Y. and
L.A. CA. in the late 60's thru the 70's and into the 80's

Monday, November 29, 2010

Fred Pfeiffer : Paint Your Wagon - 1969

Movie Adaptation by George Scullin
Two prospectors and one wife.
Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood
pursue the affections of Jean Seberg

Fred did them justice. I guess this 1st 
taste of Movie art would stick with him.

4 comments:

Courtney Rogers said...

Stan Shaw sent me his notes on Pfeiffer and they said this poster was done by him.

I actually found a paperback with this cover art, and here it is.

Rob Weilert said...

I seem to recall this as being one of the paperbacks given to me by my Aunt Millie, Fred's mom. According to the family grapevine, Fred also did the art for the PAINT YOUR WAGON music album, but the art for the LP might've been the same as used here.

By the way, Courtney, before I forget to, let me tell you why you sometimes DON'T find Fred's name on his art. I remember him telling me that last-minute changes to his art occasionally resulted in backgrounds or foregrounds being slightly extended and added to, covering over a signature that wasn't replaced afterward. He also said that he sometimes intentionally left the signature off, thinking that changes or additions might need to be made at the last, and wanted to wait until those were done.

I can understand that, but it's a little difficult for me to understand why he didn't add the signature after any such "last minute" changes...UNLESS another artist was used by the production department in the interest of time to make a few little cosmetic changes that resulted in the cover-over of Fred's name.

Fred did not elaborate on that, so maybe he was just inferring that someone else, not him, was making those last-minutes changes, which would certainly explain why his signature was not replaced.

Courtney Rogers said...

In my interview sessions with long time Bantam Books Art Director Len Leone, he told me that the signatures got lopped off when the cover was sized to fit the cover or the main portion of the illustration was zoomed in on. If the signature was not right on the main part of the illustration, it was lost.

Also, according to Len, he always wanted the illustrator mentioned on the copyright page, but an editorial decision was made not to include it. A shame.

There are some covers, like Advise and Consent, where areas outside of the main illustration have been cut out and replaced by the cover color. Girls Farm is another example. I can assume that the Pfeiffer signature was located in this area on some covers, and know it for a fact on Advise and Consent since I own that signed painting.

There are quite a few Pfeiffer covers where only a portion of the signature is showing and has been partially cut.

Rob Weilert said...

Yes, it IS a shame that a decision was made to NOT include the illustrator's name on the copyright page. What an injustice to the person who often plays such a large role in getting the book to sell. There ARE people who will buy a book on the strength of its beautiful cover art...and not even bother to actually read the book. I for one did it numerous times back in the 60's and 70's.

The same injustice occurred in the comic book field during its golden age. No credits were provided for most of the artists and writers. It seems like it wasn't until the 60's that the publishers finally began giving credit to them on the splash page.