IN THIS CORNER: JOE LOUIS
Robert Weaver
Robert Weaver [Artist]: IN THIS CORNER: JOE LOUIS. N.P., n. d. [1960]. Original Impression. 28.5x 43.5” (72 x 110 cm) trim size image printed via offset lithography. Machine folded into eighths [as issued]. Pinholes to corners, faint wear to the heavily inked folds, otherwise a nearly fine example.
Promotional poster for a television special: “Two showings; Sat., July 20, 8-10 p.m., Sun., July 21, 8-10 p.m., KTTV 11.”
Beginning in the 1950s, Robert Weaver (1924 – 1994) epitomized a socially engaged approach to commercial illustration, drawing the human drama from the immediacy of life. By integrating formal and conceptual currents from fine art practices, he altered the practice’s methodologies, thus dramatically expanding its possibilities.
After studying at the Carnegie Institute, the Art Student’s League in New York, and the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Venice, Weaver began his career in New York in 1952 and over the next three decades, his work appeared in Esquire, Fortune, Life, Look, Playboy, Seventeen, Sports Illustrated, and TV Guide, among many other publications.
In addition to his magazine work, Weaver illustrated numerous books and advertising campaigns. He was the recipient of many awards from The Society of Illustrators (which elected him into their Hall of Fame in 1985) and the Art Director’s Clubs of New York and Philadelphia, and his work was the subject of the posthumous retrospective, “Seeing is Not Believing: The Art of Robert Weaver” at the Norman Rockwell Museum in 1997. Weaver was a visiting faculty member at Syracuse University and taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York for more than thirty years, co-creating their Illustration as Visual Essay program.
His teaching legacy was such that a 1997 issue of drawing / sva was devoted to his memory, giving his former students the opportunity to reflect on his profound influence as an educator. Paul Davis, Editor of the publication, described Weaver’s view of illustration, “as a vital instrument of modern communication, not an afterthought, not a decoration, but a powerful and complete statement, illustration that does not depend on a text but is in fact its own text and its own story.”
With his bold line dominant and a focus on urban landscape, Weaver left the process visible, reflecting his commitment to manifesting on the page the changing cultural climate. He stressed the importance of drawing life, from life, guided by a political conscience and incorporating collage elements that literally brought the physical world into his charged psychological space. In 1986, Weaver edited a graduate student publication titled Unframed, stating his goals on the cover, “To put illustrators to work doing the thing they do best...showing us what the world looks like.” [Todd Hignite]
Joseph Louis Barrow (1914 – 1981) known professionally as Joe Louis, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis' championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles' heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis' reign. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time.”Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any heavyweight boxer in history.
Louis' cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first person of African-American descent to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor's exemption in a PGA event in 1952.
Detroit's Joe Louis Greenway and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County's Joe Louis "The Champ" Golf Course, situated south of Chicago in Riverdale, Illinois, are named in his honor. [wikipedia]