THE ART OF RON LESSER Volume 2 Dangerous Dames and Cover Dolls Hardcover

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. Many great artists once made a good living doing such illustration artwork and Ron Lesser is among the greatest. He’s also one of the few who are still alive and still painting. Like a number of other top 20th century illustrators, Lesser went on to do paintings for galleries as the market for illustration art faded away in the 1990s. His gallery artwork includes Civil War and Western scenes, sports, celebrity portraits, and new versions of the types of subjects he once did for paperback covers. The Art of Ron Lesser Volume 1 examines Ron’s paperback, movie and advertising art. Volume 2 covers Ron’s transition out of paperback illustration and into advertising, movie, and gallery illustration which he continues to this day. Some nudity. “This astonishing book – perhaps the best ever assembled about a key artist of paperback book covers -- is a mind-boggling feast for the eyes. What surprised me most was how many books I have purchased over the last fifty years, how many movies I have attended, that were due to Ron Lesser luring me in. Nothing ‘lesser’ about Ron -- he is one of the handful of masters, right next to McGinnis and Maguire.” -Max Allan Collins, bestselling author of Road to Perdition, The Dick Tracy comic strip, The Quarry novel series, and the recent Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction. “Ron Lesser’s captivating depictions of impossibly beautiful women have always held an allure for connoisseurs of vintage paperbacks. This long-overdue and meticulously crafted book offers a rich tribute to Lesser’s illustrious career, brimming with an array of his original art, reference photographs, and a treasure trove of vintage artifacts -- from paperback covers to movie posters and beyond. This inaugural volume in an anticipated series is an instant ‘must have’ for fans of paperback art, and a particular delight for those who appreciate the timeless charms of deadly dames and sexy sirens!” Dan Zimmer, Editor and publisher of Illustration Magazine.