Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window). Please drop us a line. A compulsive collector since childhood, he has focused primarily on pop-culture art and publications for the past 45 years. It had to be dynamic impact to sell the magazine. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. Lesser: I quote you Nelson Rockefeller. • Southern Pulpsters: Tallahassee has temporarily suspended its in-person meetings in Tallahassee, Fla., due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lesser is a complex guy. That will be my favorite. If I were a tiger hunter in Kenya, I’d get up early in the morning and go look for them with a rifle at the water holes. His most recent commercial work has been for Gryphon Books‘ Paperback Parade: The Magazine for Paperback Readers & Collectors, and DeVito Artworks‘ King Kong of Skull Island. That was laying there for $50, I went back, and they raised the price to $85, I bought it for $85. Yes, I have found others here and there, people have brought them to me, and they say, “You are the only one who I can sell this to. Lesser's prescience and dedication to the category ultimately caught on, and a number of institutions launched shows around The Robert Lesser Collection, including the … Check the Southern Pulpsters Facebook group for upcoming get-togethers. There’s nothing you can do about it. 73 likes. This is an emerging collectable and as it emerges so will the market for it. DeSoto, in case you don’t know, was one of the most prolific and beloved of the pulp artists. Bosom Buddies (TV Series 1980–1982) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. And then publishers and museum directors and others engaged in the lust for money will find and preserve this art they have no artistic interest in. We and our partners process personal data such as IP Address, Unique ID, browsing data for: Use precise geolocation data | Actively scan device characteristics for identification.. Writing this takes me back 20 years, to the summer of 1974. Lesser: I could give you a lot of highfalutin reasons for it, but they’re the only ones who’ve displayed any enthusiasm for it. Lesser: The least is $50 for the Wittmack. I may have one Howitt in that Dime Detective up there where the scientist is trying to get a brain out of a section, and the nurse has a .45 caliber automatic trained on him. Local Business I’m their mother. Local Business I don’t think they mix. Be the first to write a review. Nicholas Poussin. https://thepulp.net/pulp-articles/an-interview-with-robert-lesser You must go to the opera — the ballet — the theater; movies are, as Ben Hecht put it, “an eruption of trash that has lamed the American mind.”. This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to help show content that is more relevant to your interests. To view more of the Robert Lesser Collection of Pulp Art, see this website. Lesser: This is different. His love of popular nostalgia, and a deep-rooted understanding and appreciation of art led him to the pulps. I was very sorry to see on Facebook just now of the passing of pulp art collector Robert Lesser on March 1, 2020. I took one look at that painting and I said, “How much?” He said $450, and I gave him a check. “This is the only original 1942 Rafael de Soto The Spider painting ever found. It’s not only Babylon and the horrors of European history — a slaughterhouse that has been depicted in art for the last 2,000 years. Ergo, Capitalism! I could see the dynamic impact of pulp art. Around the time Lesser prepared his book, another art collector was moving in a different direction. Published by Hawthorn Books (1975) ISBN 10: 0801514568 ISBN 13: 9780801514562. Robert Lesser claims he has experienced a large quota of undeserved luck on a regular basis since he started collecting pulp art, and this is just one key example. In 2013, he deeded his collection of nearly 200 works, as well as donated $1.3-million for its maintenance, to the New Britain Museum of American Art in Connecticut. The next one. Nobody would cross the ocean because everyone knew the world was flat. Richard Greene is an independent graphic designer and marketing consultant. I have this. This is where most of the supply has been. They haven’t the slightest understanding of what it’s all about. See us on Facebook. Greene: How have your acquaintances in the “fine art” community reacted to your collection? Vogue Paris, November 1976, p. 131 H. Newton, White Women, New York: Stonehill, 1976, p. 15 Helmut Newton: Mode et Portraits, Paris: Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 1984, pl. You have a heart condition. Time and time again, Lesser has been “ahead of the curve” in pop-culture collecting. Copyright © 1996-2021 William P. Lampkin. Do you have a similar program set up? If 5 percent were saved, which is not too impossible, that means there are at least 2,500 to 3,000 paintings out there. I’m talking about Maplethorpe today, but you can go back to Picasso’s Guernica and the works of Munch and Diego Rivera — artists who did show scenes of violence and horror. Enter your search term and go. Lesser: Absolutely! He also displayed the paintings at various exhibits over the years for fans to appreciate in person. This is not nice art. Samson Pollen art show, Jan 7, 2021 in NYC by Robert Deis (a.k.a. Understandable. $48.49. Bowling Green was not prejudiced against popular culture. So, in that sense, it does depict the baser elements of life. Lesser: Your question is very good, because I feel that in the grotesque, there is a continuity of hunger. Because I truly believe in the most heretical and sacrilegious fashion, that you can get a spiritual value from material things, and when I get a new painting in, I get a spiritual uplift that is comparable to those that get a religious experience. They’re going to have enough interest from treasury bonds, which are non-callable — they’ll be getting somewhere between 8- and 9-percent interest so they’ll be able to fund a part-time curator, go to Sotheby’s and Christies — with my money, after I’m dead — and buy more paintings for this collection. Lesser: I personally don’t believe that art and money have anything to do with each other. The Greco-Roman gods — people being blinded — having their livers eaten out daily. Each of these paintings is a nightmare. I have some black-and-whites that I like. Mostly today, they don’t want to sell, but you never know. These paintings come alive, there is magic — a spiritual value in paintings that has the greatest vector in terms of magnitude and dimensions. Check out our robert lesser art selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. They don’t read. consists of 117 paintings. The Robert Lesser Collection at UCONN showcases some of the most fantastical and provocative pulp magazine covers ever created. For more information, phone (718) 638-5000. And within it, a greater declaration of the characters. Supply creates demand and demand creates supply. Robert Lesser has donated to the Museum some of his numerous pairings of the original paintings framed with the first-edition pulp publication. Greene: Do you feel that because the pulp paintings are appearing to or depicting man’s baser instincts, that they are more significant? UConn's Benton Museum is hosting a massive exhibition showcasing the Robert Lesser Collection of Pulp Art. Everybody knew that Bob Lesser was looking for this, so for quite a while everything “pulp” that turned up was brought to you. And the outcome — the denouement in this drama — is not arrived at. He was 85. In some ways, you’re equating respectability with monetary value, and yet I hear you also say that you don’t give a damn whether the stuff ever becomes really valuable. Updated dates: Aug. 19-22, 2021: PulpFest, Pittsburgh, Pa. Sept. 9-12, 2021: Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention, Lombard, Ill. On–going: Greene: That’s classic mythology. It seems that today there is a feeling that those were simpler times, purer, lots more innocent times. They go to the movies and look. Talk about one-upmanship! Has there ever been one that got away? You can wait for them to appear at Sotheby’s and Christie’s and pay super retail. Once the painting gets into the hands of an auction house, it’s too late. Why not Norman Rockwells or Robert Maplethorpes? Artist Ralph Castenir died on this date (May 15) in 2014. Robert Lesser died March 1, 2020, at 96. Free shipping. Lesser: Well, you come down to the Degas question. Artist Ralph Castenir died on this date (May 15) in 2014. It is in that incarnation that Lesser earned the means to support his prodigious collecting habit. The people wanted what they saw on the commercials, and they then joined materialism as a religion, and they became thingists. Robert Lesser offers a fascinating history from the perspective of the commercial artists who produced this often less-than-respectable work, thereby bringing the acclaim that these now mostly forgotten artists richly deserve. I don’t even wear white. Copyright © 1996-2021 William P. Lampkin. This volume includes most of the still-existing originals created for … A Celebration of Comic Art and Memorabilia. Robert Lesser's book clarified what pulp fiction — and the artwork — was all about. – ed.]. This gallery is a must see for Pulp magazine fans. Greene: What will future generations find in these paintings? They asked, “Mr. Take the trinkets!” because I love bright colors. The great religions of the world couldn’t stop communism. After Columbus did it, they still thought he was a weird fool, but they could do it now because he had gone first. There would be a 150 pulp magazines laying out there (on the newsstand), and they had to compete for your dime when a corned-beef sandwich, an inch-and-a-half thick, went for 10 cents. If you take the Edo period in Japanese history and an artist like Yoshitoshi, you will see horror and erotica combined. 73 likes. Over the years, we’ve talked often, picking each other’s brains, sharing news of the collecting scene, and forging a lasting friendship. They’ve actually nailed his arms and legs to this cross. I’ve found at least 200 to 300 that I don’t have, plus the 117 that I do have. The greatest exhibition of Disney animation art, which took place at the Whitney Museum in 1981, owed much to the pieces lent from Bob Lesser’s personal collection, and perhaps more revealing was his involvement behind the scenes in combating the elitist mentality of the “fine arts” community. Does this art reveal something forgotten about past decades? Years later, I bought it back for $2,000. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Lesser: Simple. And love and money are like oil and water. Fine art can be hung behind your mother-in-law’s new couch. They’re the sort of things that if they were not religious paintings, would be turned face to the wall. Robert Lesser Design combines unique creative design, along with strategic visual solutions. Yes, there were gangsters. Literature. Each generation has its trials. Hello Select your address Kindle Store Hello, Sign in. What you have is this innocent victim on a cross, being tortured. Seller: HPB-Emerald, Dallas, TX, U.S.A. That sums it up for me. That began my acquaintance with Bob Lesser. Whether it's a question, a comment or a concern, please drop us a note using our handy online contact form. Really, when an artist does a painting, even on a commercial level, he’s doing it with a large amount of love. Any questions? They have all the Hal Foster Prince Valiants. Thurs - Sat: 10am - 6pm Sun: 10am - 2pm I have an Edd Cartier, I have a Tom Lovell, from The Shadow. Now he has amassed the single best collection of pulp cover paintings in the country. You have to remember, they exist in the world, as you put the question, of “fine” art — nice art. Greene: Which was your first pulp painting? But you’re looking for a very specific slice of this genre. It’s ironic. For this interview, I visited Lesser in his NYC apartment — a veritable shrine to the best of collectibles — to put forth some questions, and give him a chance to pontificate, sound off, and share his insight into what pulp cover art will tell future generations about the American psyche of the first half of the 20th century. In the Low Illustration Gallery, there are always three or more examples on view. There is a learning aspect in it. But what you call base, I call real, and in Rembrandt’s painting, which is almost analogous to some of these, like The Shadow, you almost see the terror of life. He retains the robot collection to this day, although acquisitions are few and far between. I have pictures of their collections. Each painting has been professionally restored, and framed with a copy of the magazine whose cover it graced. Oscar (1991) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Velázquez, with The Servant. Frank R. Pauls, and Virgil Finlays. Lesser is driven by insatiable curiosity, and after the sale of his cartoon memorabilia collection, he needed a focus for his acquisitive energies. In 1997, his book Pulp Art: Original Cover Paintings for the Great American Pulp Magazines was published, featuring many of the paintings from his pulp-art collection. What will be done — and I delight in this aspect of capitalism — is that when these paintings start go for a relatively good price at Sotheby’s and Christie’s, these art dealers and museum curators will take an interest. His 1975 book, A Celebration of Comic This art is definitely anti-middle class. The book people who live in the world of words, these are the ones who read the pulps. [Lesser sold his robot and space-toy collection in 2008. And the soul of man sometimes comes out into a painting. See search results for this author. The best of the pulp art is the worst, the real down-and-dirty stuff, particularly as painted by John Newton Howitt, who remains beyond my grasp. I have never owned a plain, white shirt. “Robots and Space Toys: The Robert Lesser Collection,” is on view at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, 200 Eastern Parkway, through Jan. 28. Skip to main content.ca. Sell it to that weirdo in New York.” And that’s how I got my Clues Detective. As a religion, I consider myself a “thingist.” I collect things. All of Artzybasheff’s Time Magazine covers. Out of college, he drifted into the graphic arts, designing outdoor advertising. The torture of the saints and the Christian martyrs are bloody, are nasty. Just look back on your own life. Once the capitalist mechanism gets into motion, and it senses money, the stuff will come out of the attics and cellars, just as animation art did. Some even say he helped create the curves: arranging exhibitions, promoting articles in major publications, and manipulating interest and prices upward. As it grows older, it tries to forget. • Gotham Pulp Collectors Club, 1 p.m. the third Saturday of each month at a Manhattan library. We enjoy hearing from you. You’re looking for the grotesque pulp art. Obviously other pieces that wouldn’t fit in your frame of interest turn up for you. While nurturing the collection over the past seven years, Lesser decided to preserve it intact, in order to ensure its availability for both academic study and the continued appreciation of an artform that offers a window into a cultural phenomenon unequaled by TV or movies. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci — this is part of the history of grotesques in art. Robert Lesser / Pulp Art / Bild 38 January 2021 Robert Lesser / Pulp Art Original Cover Paintings for the Great American Pulp Magazines Published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. There is no interest whatsoever. The mind in its state of denial denies any pain. It consists of a single quote by artist Claes Oldenberg: “I am for art that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.”, Lesser was one of the first serious collectors of fountain pens and comic-related watches. I can show you letters from the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim, and others, who think it quaint. We hunger for the shock of being shocked and the adrenaline that it punches through us. Robert Lesser may be the hardest-working man in publishing. Robert Lesser's Pulp Art is the ultimate book on one of America's most important and spectacular forms of illustration art. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window). It goes back to the Columbus problem. They won’t even look at it. That you regret passing up? Copyright 2021 Richard Greene. Greene: Why not more interior illustrations? Looking for something on ThePulp.Net? Degas, I have this. Times were very hard, it was 1972, Jimmy was kind of broke at the time, and I said, “I’m gonna go over and see this guy in Philadelphia, but I ain’t buyin’ diddlysquat.”. Like all true collectors. Lesser: It’s hard when you think of baser nature. And to my mind, the paintings that you have on the wall are perhaps the way that you judge a civilization, an epoch, a time. 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