PBA Galleries

30th to 39th (1951-1960), 41st and 42nd (1962-63)  Annuals. Decorative cloth. 8.5 x 12”, 5 in Dust Jackets, 3 in original boxes. Lavishly illustrated, each with 300 to 600 examples of “modern” advertising art.

A far cry from the elegant Annuals of the 1920s and ‘30s (also listed in this sale) these increasingly “slick” volumes emphasized the overall creativity, psychological and asthetic, of the ads themselves, rather than the individual craftsmanship of masterful artists. The 1951 issue still offered examples by Avedon, Carlu, Guidi, Kauffer,  Kingman, Rand, Rockwell, Shahn, Steig, Andrew Wyeth, and notable newcomer Charles Addams. By 1962, Avedon was still to be found, but there were few artists famed for work outside of Madison Avenue. Stiill the work was brilliant in its own right. The “Mad Men” age had arrived.