Tower Graphics, Nagel Commemorative 8 Start Price USD 50.00 Current Price USD 50.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price USD 199.00 Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, July 18, 2008 End Time Monday, July 21, 2008 Location Oxnard, CA See more about 'Tower Graphics, Nagel Commemorative 8' Description An excellent example of the artist's work, the Tower Graphic print or NC8 is one of the posthumously released works to commemorate the life of the artist following is tragic death in 1984. This is one of the original serigraph issues and not a poster reporduction. The pose of the subject and loose hanging sweater are indicative of the era. This is example shows us Nagel's inspiration from the Japanese wood block style. The use of few and large fields of color highlight the models unbreaking gaze. This work has not seen the light of day for nearly 18 years and is in absolutely perfect condition. It is from the collection of the Collector's Gallery.  The gallery was originally owned by Chris Grimes, a friend and patron of the artist. By the time it was purchased by my family in 1990 it had become Collector's Framing and Graphics. It was still located in Pacific Grove, CA whose characteristic cypress trees were the inspiration for Nagel's 'Collector's Gallery' piece, one of my personal favorates. The subject of this auction came to us as part of the gallery collection.  This is original commemorative serigraph on rag paper and not a reproduction or later edition poster. I will do my best to answer any and all questions regarding the history of this piece so please feel free to ask. Nagel is now being recognized by more people as a true icon of the era and his work is sure to appreciate. Below is a short biography courtesy of Wikipedia. Patrick Nagel 1945-1984 Karl Bornstein of Mirage Editions described Patrick Nagel as "an elegant, stylish man with the weirdest sense of humor I had ever encountered." Playboy's Hugh Hefner called him "generous almost to a fault, often donating paintings to his models or to editors who expressed admiration for his work." Patrick Nagel was an American Artist. He created popular illustrations on board, paper, and canvas, most of which emphasize the simple grace of and beauty of the female form, in a distinctive style descended from Art Deco. Nagel would start with a photograph and work down, always simplifying and removing elements which he felt were unnecessary. The resulting image would look flat, but emphasized those elements which he felt were most important. Nagel was born in Dayton, Ohio, but was raised and spent most of his life in the Los Angeles area. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, and then worked as a graphic designer for ABC Television before beginning work as a freelance artist. He is best known for his illustrations for Playboy magazine, and the pop group Duran Duran, for which he designed the cover of the best selling album Rio. He also worked for many commercial clients, including Intel, Lucky Strike cigarettes, and Budweiser. As his popularity grew he began offering limited edition prints of his work. According to Elena G. Millie, curator of the poster collection at the Library of Congress: Like some of the old print masters (Toulouse-Lautrec and Bonnard, for example), Nagel was influenced by the Japanese woodblock print, with figures silhouetted against a neutral background, with strong areas of black and white, and with bold line and unusual angles of view. He handled colors with rare originality and freedom; he forced perspective from flat, two-dimensional images; and he kept simplifying, working to get more across with fewer elements. His simple and precise imagery is also reminiscent of the art-deco style of the 1920s and 1930s- its sharp linear treatment, geometric simplicity, and stylization of form yield images that are formal yet decorative.   Nagel's figures generally have black hair, bright white skin, full-lipped mouths, and the distinctive Nagel eyes, which are often squared off in the later works. Because of the intense stylization and reduction of facial features into clean lines, generally the figures resemble each other, though Nagel worked with many models, including Playboy Playmates Cathy St. George, Tracy Vaccaro and Shannon Tweed. Nagel also painted several celebrity portraits including those of Joan Collins (whose portrait was subsequently released as a limited edition print) and Joanna Cassidy. In 1984, at the age of 38, the artist participated in a 15-minute celebrity "Aerobathon" to raise funds for the American Heart Association. Afterwards, he was found dead in his car, and doctors determined by autopsy that he had suffered a heart attack.   Place a Bid!