Description

The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens edited by Robert Deis, Bill Cunningham, and K. Kingston Pierce

Hardcover – Subtropic Productions, LLC – 2023 – 145 pages

In the late 1950s, while studying with the legendary art teacher Frank J. Reilly at the Art Students League in New York City, Ron Lesser embarked on a long career as one of America’s top illustration artists. Over the next four decades, his artwork was used for thousands of paperback book covers, movie posters, magazines, and advertisements.

The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1 is the first of a planned series that will cover different periods and aspects of the artist and his artwork. The focus of this volume is on a subset of the art Lesser created during the first lef of his career–the paperback covers, movie posters, magazine, and ad artwork he did between 1959 and 1979 that featured images of “dangerous dames”, “sexy sirens”, and other beautiful women.

This volume showcases more than 200 book covers, posters, original paintings, and model reference photos from Lesser’s personal archives, illuminated by his own commentary. This gives the reader unique insights into the man, his work, and the world of commercial illustration.