Bob Peak
American, 1927–1992 Pelé Brazilian, footballer, Soccer Star, Illustration., ca. 1983
Gouache and Pastel on museum board 34 × 23 in Bob Peak is one of the true giants of post-war American Illustration. He is a virtuoso artist, with a heightened level of skill and talent that very few living artists today possess. With a few strokes, he captures the athlete's action and musculature at a peak moment of drama. He is also a great portrait artist. In both face and full figure, Peak is able to convincingly portray Pelés likeness. He is not projecting a photograph and then tracing like some living artist à la "Paradise Paint by Numbers" Peak is fully grounded in traditional academic training and understands how to construct a human form and then render it artistically and anatomically correct. The work is framed. There is some light paint loss. |