Masters of Late 20th Century Poster Art and the American Dream : Bob Peak and Robert McGinnis

I have been a fan of 19th and 20th Century Poster Art since I was a child and two of my favourites of the late 20th Century are Bob Peak (1927-1992) and Robert McGinnis (1926- ), two great American commercial artists, whose work had a major impact on exemplifying the American dream and the mythology of Hollywood. I am posting a tribute to both of these great artists as a means of highlighting their proficiency as commercial artists but also giving you a deeper appreciation for their work, which, by the way, is highly collectible today.   Bob Peak rose to prominence in the 1950s with advertising artwork for various clients from cigarette companies, to fashion apparel manufacturers, and airlines. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, he gained worldwide prominence for his revolutionary approach to Movie Poster Design for such films as West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Superman, Star Trek, etc.  In fact, he is known as the Father of modern movie poster design, although since his death in 1992, we are no longer privileged to see his work gracing movie posters or magazine covers, such as Time or TV Guide. Peak's work exudes a strong line, bold colour, and a complex series of overlapping images that create an energy to his work that is both inspiring and playful.  Robert McGinnis, also a fine commercial artist, is known as the "Master of the Female Form" in commercial artwork circles today.  He rose to prominence designing covers for detective story paperback and spy thrillers in the late 50s and 60s that exemplified the raw energy and sensuality of the American ideal of femininity of the Playboy era culture of his time.  He also became more prominent designing movie posters in the 1960s and 70s, having been initially recruited by United Artists ( along with Frank McCarthy) to design movie posters for the James Bond series, specifically for Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever, Live and Let Die, and the Man with the Golden Gun.  Pay particularly attention to the design, composition and sensuality expressed in his design of the female form and you will instantly recognize a Robert McGinnis work whenever you come across one.  Both of these artists have designed works that are not only commercially outstanding examples of late 20th Century commercial art but are also time capsules of the American Dream of the 1950s and 60s, and resonate an American exuberance and zest for living that many men the World over aspired to during the "Sex mixed with Danger" Playboy Era of the Space Race, the Cold War, Mickey Spillane, James Bond, Hugh Hefner, and Norman Mailer.