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2008 Hall of Fame Recipients
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Benton Clark (1895-1964)
Matt Clark (1903-1972)
Benton and Matt Clark were born and raised in Coshocton, Ohio, into a family that was centered around horses. Their father was a harness maker by profession and an expert horseman. They developed an instinctive sense of equine anatomy and action, which was later to play a key role in both of their careers. |
Benton studied at the School of the National Academy of Art and also at the Art Institute of Chicago. He then worked in the famed advertising art studio of Stevens, Sundblom. By 1925 he had begun to do work for Liberty Magazine. He also worked
at MGM Studios’ art department in California. Then he returned East and developed his freelance career as an illustrator of the Old West. His work regularly appeared in Cosmopolitan, McCall’s, Good Housekeeping and The Saturday Evening Post.
Matt also attended the National Academy School. By 1925 he sold his first illustration to College Humor. Much of his work was rendered in dry-brush, a popular medium at that time. He soon adapted the addition of a transparent wash over the dry-brush drawing, which reproduced beautifully in half-tone. The same approach could be used in full color from a palette of dyes or watercolor.
Because their work was so similar, both in conception and subject matter, the brothers sometimes found themselves in competition with one another. Art editors tended to use one or the other, not both, in the same magazine issue.
Both artists tended to take a long view in their picture concepts. Not reliant on close-ups or facial expression to express the emotions of the story characters, they used the attitudes or the actions of whole figures to describe their relationships. That also included the settings - letting the landscape play its role. Aside from horses, they incorporated many animals in their illustrations, from yaks to tigers.
For several years the brothers shared a studio in Greenwich Village, drawing many of the same models and critiquing each other’s work. When asked who their favorite artist was, each named the other.
Both won their spurs as major players in the romantic era of the ’30s and ’40s when magazines provided escapist fiction for millions. They enticed browsers to become
readers and vicarious participants in the stories through their dramatic pictures of adventures around the world, from the Far East to the Old West.
The Clarks had long, successful careers and were published in almost all the major
periodicals. Benton finished his career as the cover artist for Blue Book and Matt
was a regular contributor to American Weekly until his retirement. |
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Kinuko Y. Craft
"I am a hopeless daydreamer and love to create my own stories within my art.
Ever since my childhood I have been attracted by the elements of timelessness and
beauty that are created by light and shadow. In all of my working years I have been
trying in vain to capture and hold some small part of these mysterious and vague
elements in my painting." |
K.Y. Craft images appearing in serious articles have had the power to influence
public opinion, and perhaps define historic events, by inspiring and provoking
thought. Her art has been used for covers of prestigious magazines such as TIME,
Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, Forbes, and The New York Times Magazine.
Over one hundred of her illustrations have appeared in Playboy, National Geographic,
Town and Country, The Atlantic Monthly, Cosmopolitan, and Psychology Today.
K.Y. Craft loves good stories and has illustrated fairytale and mythological books,
as well as covers for science fiction stories by Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, and
C. S. Lewis. Her work graces covers of books by many contemporary fantasy authors
such as Ellen Kushner, Juliet Marillier, and Patricia A. McKillip. Psyche Weeping, from
the book Cupid and Psyche, won a Silver Medal in the book category at the Society of
Illustrators 39th Annual of American Illustration Exhibition. Covers for literary and
mass market authors include books by William Shakespeare, James Redfield, Alison
Weir, Isabel Allende, and Carl Sagan.
Several K.Y. Craft paintings were commissioned as posters for major opera companies.
Turandot received a Gold Medal at the Society's 35th Annual Exhibition.
Madame Butterfly won a Gold Medal in the 38th Annual Exhibition in the advertising
category and is now in the Society's Permanent Collection. Other major opera
paintings include Aida, Das Rheingold, Gotterdammerung, La Boheme, La Traviata,
Carmen, and Manon Lescaut.
K. Y. Craft has been a guest lecturer at numerous institutions, she has received over
one hundred awards for illustrations and her work has been exhibited widely in the
United States as well as in a museum exhibit of her art in Japan. Her clients have
included ITT , for whom she created Queen Elizabeth, which received a Gold Medal
in the Society's 29th Annual Exhibition in the advertising category and the Society's
Hamilton King Award. Craft's work is in the permanent collection of the National
Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, the Museum of American Illustration at the
Society of Illustrators, and the Cornish Colony Museum. |
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Naiad Einsel (b. 1927)
Walter Einsel (1926-1998)
Naiad and Walter married in 1953. Their similar styles of work enabled them to work
collaboratively on book and magazine illustrations, posters, advertisements, package
designs and collage boxes. They met while both were art directors - Naiad at CBS, and
Walter at NBC. Walter arrived at CBS to apply for an opening, later commenting,
“I didn’t get the job but I got the girl.”
Born in Philadelphia, Naiad's interest in art began in her father's grocery store
where she drew on the brown wrapping paper. Rubber stamps used in his store also
fascinated her. Later she began collecting and using them in her artwork.
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After attending the High School of Music and Art in New York City, she graduated
from Pratt Institute. Her illustrations have appeared in Redbook, Collier's, Look, Good
Housekeeping, The Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Day, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan,
The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine, and Smithsonian Magazine.
She has designed record album covers, movie posters and TV commercials. Clients
include M&M, Xerox, Proctor & Gamble, and Chase Manhattan. Naiad has also
illustrated books for Doubleday, Macmillan, Random House, Harcourt Brace &
Jovanovich, Clarkson Potter, and Workman Press. She designed towels for Fieldcrest,
dishes for Dansk, games for Colorforms and Reader's Digest. She also designed and
directed the production of the 76 by 104 inch award-winning Westport Bicentennial
Quilt, sewn with the assistance of 33 women, which began in October 1974 and was
finally put on display in January 1976.
Walter Einsel, a native New Yorker, attended the Art Students League, The Brooklyn
Museum School, and graduated from Parsons School of Design. After NBC, his career
took off with an illustration for The New York Times Magazine, followed by Life, Look,
TIME, Boys' Life and The Saturday Evening Post. He also designed corporate symbols
for Merrill Lynch, Bilbey's Vodka, Macy's, and Continental Baking.
Walter and Naiad worked together in their Victorian farmhouse. They made
inventive collage cards for each other that soon became animated. Walter began
working with moving parts. His wooden sculptures were considered to be a 20th
century form of folk art and were exhibited in galleries. One of his commissions
was a 40-foot animated AT &T exhibit at Walt Disney World EPCOT Center featuring
55 intricately mechanized figures describing "The Age of Information."
In 1998 Walter died of a mysterious illness. A collection of their Valentines was
featured in a local paper, entitled "Westport's Most Romantic Couple." In tribute to
her memories and love for Walter, Naiad wrote a book, Art From the Heart, depicting
the 46 years of hand-crafted Valentines that she and her husband exchanged. |
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Hamilton King Award
Donato Giancola
Multiple award winning artist Donato Giancola was born in 1967 and raised
in Colchester, Vermont. He majored in electrical engineering at the University of
Vermont, but left for Syracuse University to pursue painting in 1989. Graduating as
a fine arts major in 1992, Donato resisted the temptation to get a conventional job.
On his way to becoming a professional, he supported himself by working part time
at the Society of Illustrators while simultaneously seeking work as a book cover
illustrator specializing in science fiction and fantasy.
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