Patrick Nagel. No one did it like him. The neo-classical lines, the sculpted hair and geisha-white skin. The trademark explosive lipstick shades. He even made the worst sunglasses look good on women, and may even for a split second have been responsible for legitimizing Brigitte Nielsen.He may not be a pinup artist in the classical sense, but if anyone was capable of softening the cocaine lines and colors of the decadent years from the mid-Seventies to the early Eighties, it was him. And he clearly drew from the lineage of painters before him as much as he did from Art Deco. Like many pinup artists, Nagel began with a photograph reducing details and emphasizing the lines that remained, which helps to explain why so many of his models look the same. But it was clear Nagel had a preference for women with pale skin, black hair and full lips, which perhaps made his pieces so attractive to Playboy, who regularly published his work and made him famous. Before Duran Duran's Rio made him more famous. Before he died of a heart attack at age 38.
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The first ever biography of Patrick Nagel, is complete.
ReplyDeleteThe book is titled The Artist Who Loved Women: The Incredible Life & Work of Patrick Nagel, the Most Successful & Anonymous Artist of the 1980s , (ISBN 9786926859281) and is the only biography of Nagel's personal, professional and artistic evolution.
As you may know, Nagel took the 1980s by storm only to die suddenly at age 38. He gave the 1980s its look and even though more than two million American homes enjoyed his art, few people even know his name.
You can read more about this amazing story, its wild characters and improbable triumph (along with video) at the website: http://www.TheArtistWhoLovedWomen.com