To me, this doesn't look like Fred's work at all. But it is according to Jerry Counihan. And Jerry should know, since he hired Fred to do the cover.
I haven't spent much time browsing through the Romance books looking for Pfeiffer covers. First off, I think that Romance covers all look too similar. And second, I really haven't wanted to!
I have looked through them time to time for Bantam spines and Du Maurier titles.
This is truly a very beautiful painting. If it was just the girl leaning against a tree, seemingly lost in reverie, I would not hesitate to declare it a masterpiece among Fred's work, but the presence of her lover (obligatory on the cover of a romance book) lessens its impact on me, but not by too much.
I agree that it doesn't look like Fred's work on first encounter, but the coloring and background is definitely rendered in a Pfeiffer-like style. I think perhaps Fred reproduced the two lovers too literally from the modeling photo made of them. When an illustrator strives to keep the reproduction of a photo in oil(or other medium) too faithful to the original image, the artist's natural and distinctly recognizable style can sometimes get lost in the process.
The reason this doesn't look like a Pfeiffer painting is because it isn't. Being that it's from 31 years ago, I have no doubt that Jerry's memory simply failed him. It has happened before many times, not only with art directors but with artists themselves who sometimes don't even recognize their own work. The art is by a gentleman named George Ziel. Ziel was almost completely unknown to paperback fans and collectors until just late last year, when a long time paperback fan and researcher Lynn Munroe posted a fascinating biography on his website, as well as a visual checklist of all the covers he produced from 1954 through 1982, when he passed away.
Lest you have doubts, I also decided to do my own visual checklist working independently from Lynn, and later comparing notes so as not to influence each other. While Ziel had previously only been credited with 8 or 9 covers (he signed less than 10 of them), both Lynn and I eventually came up with almost identical lists, disagreeing on perhaps only a handful out of over 300 total covers.
The biography on Ziel is an INCREDIBLE story and an amazing piece of research by Lynn, so please conside reading it and then perusing all his cover art if it interests you. You can find it all at this link...
Yes, I too extend thanks for that clarification. While it's disappointing to lose a beautiful picture that we thought might be attributable to Fred, it's nevertheless quite consoling to know that the covers posted here on this blogspot are being "proofwatched", you might say, by others who have an impressive knowledge of illustration art.
Courtney and I were both fooled by this one, because there WERE elements of the picture that resembled Fred's style. You're still doing a great job though Courtney, discovering Fred's lost covers. Keep up the great work.
5 comments:
To me, this doesn't look like Fred's work at all. But it is according to Jerry Counihan. And Jerry should know, since he hired Fred to do the cover.
I haven't spent much time browsing through the Romance books looking for Pfeiffer covers. First off, I think that Romance covers all look too similar. And second, I really haven't wanted to!
I have looked through them time to time for Bantam spines and Du Maurier titles.
This is truly a very beautiful painting. If it was just the girl leaning against a tree, seemingly lost in reverie, I would not hesitate to declare it a masterpiece among Fred's work, but the presence of her lover (obligatory on the cover of a romance book) lessens its impact on me, but not by too much.
I agree that it doesn't look like Fred's work on first encounter, but the coloring and background is definitely rendered in a Pfeiffer-like style. I think perhaps Fred reproduced the two lovers too literally from the modeling photo made of them. When an illustrator strives to keep the reproduction of a photo in oil(or other medium) too faithful to the original image, the artist's natural and distinctly recognizable style can sometimes get lost in the process.
Hi Guys,
The reason this doesn't look like a Pfeiffer painting is because it isn't. Being that it's from 31 years ago, I have no doubt that Jerry's memory simply failed him. It has happened before many times, not only with art directors but with artists themselves who sometimes don't even recognize their own work. The art is by a gentleman named George Ziel. Ziel was almost completely unknown to paperback fans and collectors until just late last year, when a long time paperback fan and researcher Lynn Munroe posted a fascinating biography on his website, as well as a visual checklist of all the covers he produced from 1954 through 1982, when he passed away.
Lest you have doubts, I also decided to do my own visual checklist working independently from Lynn, and later comparing notes so as not to influence each other. While Ziel had previously only been credited with 8 or 9 covers (he signed less than 10 of them), both Lynn and I eventually came up with almost identical lists, disagreeing on perhaps only a handful out of over 300 total covers.
The biography on Ziel is an INCREDIBLE story and an amazing piece of research by Lynn, so please conside reading it and then perusing all his cover art if it interests you. You can find it all at this link...
http://www.lynn-munroe-books.com/
Enjoy!
Thank you for the note and clairification!
We appreciate finding out when a piece that we feel may be a Pfeiffer truly is not.
I will gladly check out your link on George Ziel.
Yes, I too extend thanks for that clarification. While it's disappointing to lose a beautiful picture that we thought might be attributable to Fred, it's nevertheless quite consoling to know that the covers posted here on this blogspot are being "proofwatched", you might say, by others who have an impressive knowledge of illustration art.
Courtney and I were both fooled by this one, because there WERE elements of the picture that resembled Fred's style. You're still doing a great job though Courtney, discovering Fred's lost covers. Keep up the great work.
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