Tag: poster

Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours

Poster for Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours, City Auditorium, Salem, Missouri, December 11, 1957

Born on a cotton farm in Ellis County, Texas, in 1914, Ernest Tubb spent his youth working on farms throughout the state. He spent his spare time learning to play the guitar, yodel and sing. In 1936, with the aid of singer and musician Jimmy Rodger’s widow, Tubb was offered a recording contract with the RCA Corporation, recording two unsuccessful records.. He switched to Decca Records in 1940, recording six records with the company. It was his sixth Decca release, the single “Walking the Floor Over You”, that gave Tubb stardom and a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America late in 1965.

Ernest Tubb and his band, The Texas Troubadours, joined the Grand Ole Opry in February of 1943. His first band members were Chester Studdard, Ray “Kamo” Head, and Vernon “Toby” Reese. Tubb and his band were a regular on the radio show for four decades; and Tubb hosted his own radio show, the Midnite Jamboree, which followed the Grand Old Opry each Saturday evening.

Ernest Tubb surrounded himself with some of Nashville’s best musicians. Guitarist Jimmy Short added to the Tubb sound with his single-string guitar picking and clean, clear riffs. Steel guitarists Tommy “Butterball” Paige and Jerry Byrd, who eventually replaced Jimmy Short, added their sounds to Tubb’s recordings. Billy Byrd, who brought jazzy riffs to the instrumental interludes of the songs, joined The Troubadours in 1949 and added the four-note riff at the end of his guitar solos that became a recognizable part of Tubb’s songs. Billy Byrd would remain with Ernest Tubb until 1959, when he left to make several solo albums, later returning to play again with Tubb.

In 1949 Ernest Tubb teamed up with the famous Andrew Sisters to record a cover of Eddy Arnold’s “Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle” and the western-swing “I’m Bitin’ My Fingernails and Thinking of You”. This two-song record sold 750,000 copies. Later that year, he teamed up with singer and musician Red Foley, recording “You Don’t have to Be a Baby to Cry”. The duo of Tubb and Foley released seven albums together, maintaining a friendly ‘on-the-air” feud over the years. 

Known for having one of the best bands in country music history, Ernest Tubb was inducted into the County Music Hall of Fame in 1965. In 1970, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Tubb inspired some of the most devoted fans of any country artist; his fans loyally followed him though out his career, long after his songs stopped making the charts. He remained a fixture at the Grand Ole Opry and continued to host his Midnite Jamboree radio show. Tubb appeared as himself in Loretta Lynn’s 1980 autobiographical film “Coal Miner’s Daughter” along with fellow country stars Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl. 

Tubb’s singing voice remained intact until late in life, when emphysema developed. He still continued making over two hundred appearances, traveling with an oxygen tank, shaking hands and signing autographs with every fan who stayed after the show. His health problems eventually halted his performances in 1982. Ernest Tubb made his final appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on August 14, 1982. He died in 1984 and is buried in Nashville’s Hermitage Memorial Gardens.

Chung Ling Soo

Artist Unknown, “Chung Ling Soo”, 1908 Advertising Poster

This rare 1908 poster advertised a tour of the talented magician Chung Ling Soo. It is one of eight different known posters of the magician’s tours.

Born William Ellsworth Robinson in Westchester County, New York in 1861,Chung Ling Soo was a behind-the-scenes designer of magic tricks for headliners Harry Keller and Alexander Herrmann before he struck out on his own. Around 1900, while in Europe, he adopted the Chung Ling Soo persona.

Robinson went to great lengths to preserve the illusion, limiting his speech on stage to the occasional bit of broken English and relying on an interpreter to talk to journalists. Robinson in his persona of Chung Ling Soo performed a bullet catch trick at a show in London, England in 1918; it was one of the big theatrical showpieces of his performances. Instead of catching the bullet on a plate, the bullet hit his chest. Robinson died a few days later at the age of 56.

Christian Schad

Christian Schad, “Sirius”, 1915, Swiss Stone Lithograph

Christian Schad was a painter and printmaker who was preoccupied with Futurism, Cubism, and later, Expressionism. In 1915, Schad, along with his friend Walter Serner, published “Sirius: A Monthly Magazine for Literature and Art,” in Zurich. The magazine was forced to close after only seven issues. Schad designed the advertising posters and a full page woodcut for each issue.

Schad’s works of 1915–1916 show the influence of Cubism and Futurism. During his stay in Italy in the years between 1920 and 1925, he developed a smooth, realistic style that recalls the clarity he admired in the paintings of Rapael. Upon returning to Berlin in 1927 he painted some of the most significant works of the New Objectivity movement.

In 1918 Schad began experimenting with cameraless photographic images inspired by Cubism. This process had been first used, in the years 1834 and 1835, by William Henry Talbot who made cameraless images, that is, prints made by placing objects onto photosensitive paper and then exposing the paper to sunlight. By 1919 Schad was creating photograms from random arrangements of discarded objects he had collected such as torn tickets, receipts and rags. He is probably the first to do so strictly as an art form, preceding Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagyby at least a year or two.

Murders in the Zoo

Advertising Poster for “Murders in the Zoo”, 1933, Directed by A. Edward Sutherland, Paramount Pictures

“Roars, shrieks, and cackling of the wild animals on the screen at the Paramount yesterday were echoed to an amazing degree by the audience, at times driven to a mild state of hysteria by scenes in ‘Murders in the Zoo’.”         – John Scott, “’Murders in Zoo’ Opens on Screen”, Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1933

Kellar the Magician

Keller the Magician Poster, “Levitation”, 1900-1909

Harry Kellar was an American magician, a predecessor of Harry Houdini and a successor of Robert Heller and Isaiah Hughes, under whom he apprenticed. Referred to as the “Dean of American Magicians”, he is shown here performing one his most memorable stage illusions, the “Levitation of Princess Karnac”.

Cyborg 009

Poster for Manga Film “Cyborg 009”

Shotaro Ishinomoni was a Japanese manga artist who became an influential figure in manga, anime and tokusatsu. He created  several popular long-running series such as “Cyborg 009”, the Super Sentai series that was later adapted into the Power Rangers series. “Cyborg 009”, created in 1963, was the firest superpowered hero team created in Japan.

Parola di Dio

Movie Poster for “Parola di Dio”

“Parola di Dio” is a 2016 film by Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov. The story revolves around Veniamin, a high school student, in the middle of an adolescent crisis. His troubles are appeased by the manic and compulsive reading of the bible which he is convinced will put his confusion in perspective.

“Parola di Dio” was presented at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, winning the Francois Chalais prize. The film is distributed by Wonder Pictures and was released in Italy on October 27, 2016.

Ise Ananphada

Ise Ananphada, Illustration Poster for “The Fall”

Freelance illustrator Ise Ratta Ananphada (Ratinan Thaicharoen) was born in Bangkok,Thailand, where she currently lives and works. She attended Rangsit University in Thailand and received a BFA in Visual Communication Design as the first class honor in 2007.

Ise Ananphada’s style is influenced by traditional Thai art that consists of multiple layers of symbolism that could be described as visions, illusions, madness, genius and poetry. Her aerial, delicate rendering style and use of pastel colors compliment the intricate details of her paintings, many of which have movie themes.

More of her work can be seen at https://www.madduckposters.com

Steve Thomas

Steve Thomas, “Joust” Arcade Game Propaganda Poster

Steve Thomas is a freelance illustrator and graphic artist. His work is influenced by vintage posters, propaganda and product art from the early 20th century, and retro futuristic art from the mid-20th century. He has done illustration work for Disney, Star Trek, Hasbro, Marvel and other companies.

Image reblogged from the artist’s site: http://www.stevethomasart.com

Alex Ross

Alex Ross, “The Invisible Man”

Nelson Alexander “Alex” Ross is an American comic book writer and artist known for his painted interiors, covers and design work. He has done projects for both Marvel and DC Comics, such as the 1996 miniseries “Kingdom Come, which Ross co-wrote. His feature film work includes concerpt and narrative art for “Spiderman” and Spiderman 2″, the DVD package art for the film “Unbreakable”.

Ravi Zupa

Ravi Zupa, “Sineater”, Illustration, Poster

Ravi Zupa is an eclectic and self-taught American artist from Denver, Colorado that creates interesting pastiche prints, manufactured sculptures, music videos and big installations using a variety of styles and techniques. He finds his biggest inspiration in books, the bulk of different cultures, mythologies, and imagery from around the world and many different epochs.

His art is colored with contemporaneity and political awareness and treats issues like violence, struggle, anarchism, dystopia, pop culture, power, ideology, and political figures. His studio practice combines several art techniques: lithography, painting, assemblage sculpture, collage,, drawing, and ceramic.