Eyvind Earle and Lorelay Bove
Many people who know me will tell you, that in the last 5 to 10 years I’ve become a huge fan of artists, illustrators, designers, photographers etc from the 1950’s. I somehow feel I’m not alone in this .. lol
As a tribute to the work of Eyvind Earle and a mark of respect for his passing some 10 years ago this week, I thought I’d share some of his incredible work with you. A brief life history would include me telling you that he was born in 1916, and he had his first exhibition in Ascain, France, when he was just 13 years old !
In 1937, he bicycled across the USA, painting 42 watercolours and writing a 10,000 word diary.
In 1939, when he was just 23, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, purchased a watercolor for their permanent collection and he started a greeting card company. In 1947, he joined American Artists Group which has published over 600 of Earle’s designs and sold over 300,000,000 of his Christmas cards during the past 50 years.
He worked for Walt Disney Studios between 1951-54 as a background artist, Production Designer, Color Stylist and Background Painter for the DIsney animated classic SLEEPING BEAUTY, as well as, PIGS IS PIGS, GRAND CANYONSCOPE, PAUL BUNYAN, LADY AND THE TRAMP, LONDON BRIDGE, and WORKING FOR PEANUTS.
He also designed 5 murals for Disneyland.
He passed away at the age of 84 on July 20th 2000.
A man whos’ work many of us will recognise and remember.
In a slight ‘nod’ to the style of the artists working at Disney Studios in the 50’s,
here’s a glimpse of a present day artist Lorelay Bove, who is also now working at Disney Animation Studios.
What goes around…
Two truly talented artists.
First off, I wanted to say how I enjoyed the wonderful images and history you wrote about Eyvind Earle. He is one of my favorite Disney artists. I was also wanting to ask if you know where I could go to authenticate an Earle piece or a good book that shows previous auction sales of original Earle backgrounds. I heard a lot of forgeries are out there and am very cautious about buying one if it could possibly be a forgery. If you are able to help out, that would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks for your comments Alice. His work is amazing isn’t it. Unfortunately I couldn’t authenticate Earles’ work as I know it only from images I’ve seen online.
Perhaps if you contacted his web-site or the company who publish his greeting cards, they may be able to help you, or at least point you in the right direction.
Good luck with your search.