I came upon the works of American illustrator Arthur Sarnoff quite by accident. While perusing Pinterest waiting for my computer updates to load, I found a painting of a couple who looked very much like the lovers in my Time After Time novel series, Richard and Nicole. Intrigued by the likenesses in the painting to the images in my head, I soon discovered this wonderful painting that spoke to my soul so eloquently was painted by a man who was most famous for a picture of dogs playing pool, called "Jack, the Ripper."
Arthur Sarnoff was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1912. He studied Art at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. He made the cover album for the American punk band, The Butthole Surfers. True! Stuff like this you just can't make up. He was a successful commercial artist for the many weekly and monthly magazines in the 1930s, plus ads for Karo Syrup, Lucky Strike Cigarettes, Coors Beer, Camay, Ipana Toothpaste, Listerine Mouthwash, and Vick's Vapo Rub. He also did the famous blue and white ad for Evening in Paris. He was the go-to-guy for magazine illustrationsof the 40s and 50, McCall's, American Weekly, Collier's, Redbook, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and Good Housekeeping.
His work epitomized the whimsical and playful popular themes of the time. I love his romantic images, but he was most popular for his dogs playing pool and his vast array of commercial work, as well as tasteful but very provocative calendar pin-ups.
You can see some of them in these tiny thumbnails from the Art.com website.
The very talented Arthur Sarnoff passed away in 2000 in Boca Raton, Florida. He enjoyed a long and successful career as a graphic artist and commercial illustrator at a time when the magazine, with it's
beautiful glossy full-page color photographs and well-written and engaging articles, was at it's peak in this country.
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