The Art Of Haddon Sundblom
(2022 - The Illustrated Press)

(by Daniel Zimmer) At 9-by-12 inches, 224 high-quality pages is just a bit on the hefty side, but good to see that so much of that is art, namely, 135 pages each featuring a large illustration reproduction, with most of the rest displaying either multiple images or pristine advertisements with all their attendant vignettes. The proceedings begin with a healthy biography of the artist. Ten pages exhibit large 'pin-ups' and nearly 50 pages fall into the book's grouping of 'editorial' illustration where the conflict & drama reside, leaving this collection's majority to be advertising illustration (mostly images of the people of those current times). Among the latter, you'll find 18 pages of Santa Claus in his created association with Coca-Cola, the resultant imagery now burned into America's cultural identity. Captioning is adequate - frequently providing size & medium, and image source for the paintings, along with the use each was put to. I come away from it all with a vague feeling that this isn't the most exciting of page-turners, but it is certainly is an immersion into what now feels like such a different 'era'.