Kurt Ard
In the Dentist's Chair, Post Cover
1957

About the Item

The original cover for The Saturday Evening Post, In The Dentist’s Chair, published on October 19, 1957, embodies Ard’s characteristic wit and attention to detail. The young man, still wearing a toy pistol in a holster, seems to have been torn from playing a cowboy with his friends. Having just completed his x-rays, which hang on the wall behind him, the boy awaits the arrival of the dentist to determine his fate. Interestingly, the Post editors empathize with the dentist rather than the patient. The Post describes: “Dentists are to be pitied. How would you like to be greeted by horrified faces like this from morn till night throughout your professional career? Dentists are kindly, humane souls who love their fellowmen, minister constructively to their grinders, and seldom hurt the faint-hearts much while doing it–yet their only reward, besides a fee, is those eternal faces, staring, staring upward as if at an ogre. Next time you go to a D.D.S., smile at him; and if he doesn’t faint, maybe he’ll pull a couple of your teeth for nothing. Kurt Ard…was astonished that his model climbed into that chair looking happy and had to be urged to look awful. The lad, it developed, had just been to a dentist–his teeth were all filled.” (The Saturday Evening Post, October 19, 1957, p. 3) Much like Norman Rockwell, Ard was inspired by everyday life and he often used his wife and children as models, striving to portray figures and their surroundings as accurately as possible. Ard’s strong attention to detail creates a visual delight on canvas and enhances the relatability of his narratives. These charming scenes of childhood and witty commentaries on relationships and daily life are representative of Ard’s endearing humor that defines his signature style. Kurt Ard was born in Copenhagen in 1925 and apprenticed to a Danish painter in his youth. He sold his first magazine illustration at the age of seventeen and began his career working for small newspapers, but commissions were scarce at the time due to World War II. After the War, Ard achieved global fame for his covers produced for popular magazines throughout Europe and the United States from the 1950s through the 1970s. In Europe, Ard’s illustrations graced the covers of popular magazines, including Panorama, HÖRZU, Allers, and Familie Journal. In the United States, Ard’s illustrations appeared on eight covers of The Saturday Evening Post, as well as the pages of other leading publications, including McCall’s and Reader’s Digest. Ard had a unique challenge producing artwork for US-based publications from his studio in Copenhagen. According to The Saturday Evening Post, after the artist submitted his sketches to the magazine’s editors and art department, Ard had to wait for a response before beginning his final painting. He sometimes had to halt progress and wait for approval if he wanted to make changes mid-project. (Reference: Joseph Scales, “Beyond the Canvas: Covering Up,” The Saturday Evening Post online, published July 23, 2014.) LITERATURE The Saturday Evening Post, October 19, 1957, cover illustration. HÖRZU, November 21, 1964, cover illustration. Allers, January 31, 1965, cover illustration. Familie Journal, February 2, 1965, cover illustration. The present work was Kurt Ard's first cover illustration for the Saturday Evening Post, published on October 19, 1957.

Creator:
Kurt Ard (1925)
Creation Year:
1957
Dimensions:
Height: 21.75 in (55.25 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)
Medium:
Tempera
Period:
20th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Fort Washington, PA
Reference Number:
Seller: 47491stDibs: LU384314506222

More From This Seller

View All

House at an Angle, Original Holiday Greeting Card Christmas Illustration

By Charlotte Sternberg

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Original Holiday Greeting Card Illustration featuring a snowy scene filled with horse-drawn sleighs at Christmastime Medium: Egg Tempera on Gesso Board Charlotte Joan Sternberg was born in Meriden, Connecticut in 1920. Early on, she became interested in art, and her parents encouraged her efforts. She attended public schools in the area, as well as taking art classes at the technical school. Afterwards, she attended the Yale School of Art. Her fellow classmates included Rudolph Zallinger, who executed the dinosaur mural at the Peabody Museum in New Haven; Jean Day Zallinger, renowned book illustrator; and Edward Paier, founder of the Paier College of Art. It was there that she became interested in egg tempera, and most of her well-known artwork was done in this medium. She was one of a number of Yale artists who revived this medium.(She did not work professionally in oils, although she sometimes used gouache or watercolor.) She went on to a long career in commercial illustration. She worked extensively for J.Walter Thompson, doing advertising art for such companies as Esso (later Exxon), Textron, and Lederle pharmaceuticals. While she did a variety of subjects, she was best known for her Americana themes, particularly snow scenes of historic New England. Many of these pieces were published as Christmas cards for American Artists Group. She also taught for many years at the Paier College of Art. She also did a number of limited edition prints for Greenwich Workshop. Her art is used on such items as tapestry pillows, puzzles, and decorative flags. She was commissioned to do several portraits, including those of Gov.John...

Category

20th Century Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gesso, Egg Tempera, Board

Charlotte Sternberg
House at an Angle, Original Holiday Greeting Card Christmas Illustration

$5,760 Sale Price

20% Off

$9,500

Allegory

By Walter Beach Humphrey

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Signature: Signed Lower Left Medium: Tempera and Watercolor on Board Contemporary Art Deco style frame; art exhibition entry label from Hudson Valley Art...

Category

1930s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Tempera, Watercolor, Board

Walter Beach Humphrey
Allegory, circa 1930

$9,500

The No-Cal

By Stevan Dohanos

Located in Fort Washington, PA

Signature: Signed Lower Left Medical Times, vol. 89, no. 5, May 1961, pp. 7a, 192a, cover illustration. According to the Medical Times, where the present work was featured on the c...

Category