Fireman (design for a poster)

 

Frank Grundeen

  1911 - 1986 (biography)

1947  

acrylic paint and oil pastel on illustration board 

12 1/8 x 9 5/8" image size 

artist's stamp on the verso (J. Franklin Grundeen) 

1 of 1 unique 

handwritten color separation notes for screenprinting, verso; pencil titled on verso ("Fireman / Sargent poster color"); artist's studio address included in the stamp (2494 Silver Ridge Av. / Los Angeles, Calif.); dated in pen beneath stamp (6-16-47) 

 

illustration board 

 

 

23556 

SOLD

This appears to be a preliminary composition for a poster. On the verso, a label reads "Fireman / (Sargent poster color)", along with instructions on the color formatting intended for a screenprinter or lithographer, all written in pencil by the artist. Frank Grundeen uses elements of Cubism to create an image of a fireman who, interestingly, is also playing a horn, accompanied by a blue bird and musical notes. Perhaps this was meant for publication on behalf of a fundraiser or other event, or perhaps, owning to his experience as both an animator and comic artist for Walt Disney Studios, it was to advertise a soon-to-air cartoon. Either way, the image is a fun and intriguing piece of 20th century American art history, showing the mid-century intersection between jazz, abstraction, and animation.