Announcing the 2015 Hall of Fame Honorees

 Walter Baumhofer, Bernard D'Andrea, Will Eisner, Virgil Finlay, 

Ted and Betsy Lewin, Patrick Oliphant, Arthur Szyk

Since 1958, the Society of Illustrators has elected to its Hall of Fame artists recognized for their "distinguished achievement in the art of illustration." Artists are elected by former presidents of the Society and are chosen based on their body of work and the impact it has made on the field of illustration. This year's honorees include contemporary illustrators Bernard D'Andrea, Ted and Betsy Lewin, and Patrick Oliphant as well as posthumous honorees Walter Baumhofer, Will Eisner, Virgil Finlay, and Arthur Szyk.

 

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 1 beginning at 6pm.  Due to demand of friends and family, this event has been pre-sold out and tickets are no longer available.

Walter Baumhofer

 

In the world of illustration the name Walter Baumhofer resonates with a respectful gravitas. His cover paintings from the golden era of pulp magazines are among the genre's most iconic images. A creative ambition elevated his reputation beyond the low-paying pulps and into the higher-paying slick magazine industry. His story illustrations appeared in the top national circulation magazines. The design and execution of his work reflected an impressive combination of sensational brushwork with a theatrical flair for composing striking scenes of rugged heroes, steadfast women, and intriguing villains. Although he is today most renowned as a pulp artist, the actual number of years he worked in that field is but one chapter in his long creative life.  Learn more...  

Bernard D'Andrea

 

Bernard D'Andrea has had a long and varied career that began well over a half-century ago.  

His editorial work appeared in such notable publications as Saturday Evening Post, Good Housekeeping, Boy's Life, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Woman's Home Companion, McCall's and Seventeen. In later years, his book illustrations were used by the Franklin Mint Publications and he created a series of paintings for People and Places of the Past: the National Geographic Cultural Atlas.  After a long illustration career, D'Andrea became a successful fine artist, with work appearing in several exhibits.  Learn more... 

Will Eisner

 

Will Eisner enjoyed a long, highly productive and ever-innovative career. He was still at his studio drawing board five days a week, with no diminution of skills, when he died with his 88th birthday approaching. Eisner's bold artistry and imaginative storytelling made him one of the great masters of comics and graphic novels, the latter a genre he personally kick-started. He was a genuine pioneer of the medium.  He achieved fame with his iconic crime-fighting hero The Spirit. Many comic greats worked with Eisner, including Jules Feiffer, Jack Kirby, and Al Jaffee. After The Spirit ceased publication, Eisner devoted himself to creating educational and instructional sequential art, a term he coined. In 1978, Eisner once again reinvented himself- and the comic art medium-with his graphic novel, A CONTRACT WITH GOD.Will Eisner's 19 graphic novels and 3 textbooks are still in print in 15 worldwide languages. Learn more... 

Virgil Finlay

 

Virgil Finlay understood that the mark of a great artist was that his work lived on for decades after him. A look at his work should convince any doubters that Finlay's art will remain relevant for many, many years to come. Virgil Finlay was, and is, one of the true "Masters of the Imagination."  Finlay wasn't merely great. After refining his technique, drawing directly onto scratchboard using a 290 lithographic pen, Finaly's work appeared in Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, The American Weekly newspaper, Startling Stories, Thrilling Wonder, Captain Future, Strange Stories, and many more. He was the greatest.  His heroines were the most beautiful, his heroes were the most heroic, and his monsters and villains were the most frightening. Learn more...

Ted and Betsy Lewin

 

From rescuing a truck from crocodile waters in Botswana, to choking on smoke while trying to keep the fire going in a Sami lavu (tepee) 125 miles above the Arctic Circle, to running into a grizzly mother and her two half-grown cubs in Denali National Park, Ted and Betsy have crossed the world in search of stories for their amazing children's books. To date, Ted is the author and/or illustrator of more than 100 children's books, Betsy of 93 and counting.  They have each been awarded a Caldecott Honor Book Medal, Betsy for Click, Clack, Moo! Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin, Ted for Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone. Between them they have garnered dozens of awards, including New York Times Best Illustrated and numerous ALA Notable Books and Children's Choices, not to mention all their starred reviews. They each have a Society of Illustrators Silver Medal and Ted is the recipient of the prestigious Hamilton King Award.  Learn more...

Patrick Oliphant

 

Editorial cartoonist Patrick Oliphant's caricatures and satire work focuses on injustice, hypocrisy, and scandal, with an emphasis on critiquing politicians. His careful draftsmanship, light and whimsical modern lines, and homey details and stout shadings has appeared in many major publications.  He is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, three Reuben awards from the National Cartoonists Society, the Sigma Delta Chi award in 1967, the Distinguished Service Award for Conservation from the National Wildlife Federation in 1969, and an honorary title from Dartmouth College in 1981. Learn more...  

Arthur Szyk

 

During his decades-long career, Arthur Szyk's art was internationally recognized and he was decorated by the governments of Poland, France and the United States in honor of his creative achievements. Szyk chose to work in miniature, like the monastic scribes of the Middle Ages who pored over their illuminated manuscripts. However, instead of tempera and parchment, his medium was watercolor and gouache, pen and ink, and sometimes colored pencil, always on paper or board. He was not part of any school of art, nor is there any school of Szyk. Yet his unique style incorporated elements of diverse artistic traditions-Persian miniatures, French and Italian illumination, Slavic folk art, Polish nationalist art, German realism, early Zionist Bezalel art, the Ballets Russes-making him a truly international artist. Learn more...