Nationality British Role Artist | Name Alan Aldridge Years active 1965–present | |
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Born 1 June 1943 (age 81) ( 1943-06-01 ) London, England Occupation artist, illustrator, graphic designer, creative director Residence Los Angeles, California, United States Children Lily Aldridge, Miles Aldridge, Saffron Aldridge, Ruby Aldridge Books The Beatles Illustrated, The Butterfly's Ball - and t, The Gnole, The lion's cavalcade, Religion in the Contemp Similar People | ||
Grandchildren Dixie Pearl Followill | ||
Alan aldridge at kari feinsteins golden globes style lounge
Alan Aldridge (1 June 1943 – 17 February 2017) was a British artist, graphic designer and illustrator.
Contents
- Alan aldridge at kari feinsteins golden globes style lounge
- Alan aldridge beatles illustrated collective set reviver music
- Personal life
- Career
- Honours and awards
- Selected works
- References
Alan aldridge beatles illustrated collective set reviver music
Personal life
Aldridge was born in East London and lived in Los Angeles, California. Aldridge was twice divorced. He is survived by eight children: Miles, Saffron, Pim, Marc, Toby, James, Lily and Ruby.
Four of his children are fashion photographer Miles Aldridge and models Saffron Aldridge, Lily Aldridge and Ruby Aldridge. On 17 February 2017, his daughter Lily announced his death via Instagram.
Career
Aldridge first worked as an illustrator at "The Sunday Times Magazine.'' After doing some freelance book covers for Penguin Books, he was hired in March 1965 by Penguin's chief editor Tony Godwin to become the art director of Penguin. Over the next two years as art director, he especially focused on science fiction book covers and introduced his style which resonated with the mood of the time. In 1968 he moved to his own graphic-design firm, INK, which became closely involved with graphic images for the Beatles and Apple Corps.
During the 1960s and 1970s, he was responsible for a great many album covers, and helped create the graphic style of that era. He designed a series of science fiction book covers for Penguin Books. He made a big impression with his illustrations for The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics book. He also provided illustrations for The Penguin Book of Comics, a history of British and American comic art. His work was characterised by a flowing, cartoony style and soft airbrushing – very much in step with the psychedelic styles of the times. His work includes the 1971 anti-war poster entitled A great place for hamburgers but who'd want to live there!
In the theatre, in February 1969 he designed the graphics for controversial Jane Arden play Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven at the London Arts Laboratory, Drury Lane.
He is possibly best known, however, for the picture book The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast (1973), a series of illustrations of anthropomorphic insects and other creatures, which he created in collaboration with William Plomer, who wrote the accompanying verses. This was based on William Roscoe's poem of the same name, but was inspired when Aldridge read that John Tenniel had told Lewis Carroll it was impossible to draw a wasp in a wig.
Aldridge also created the artwork for Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John in 1975.
Honours and awards
A retrospective Alan Aldridge – the Man with the Kaleidoscope Eyes featured at the Design Museum in London from 10 October 2008 to 25 January 2009, and was reviewed as "The trip of a lifetime".
"Aldridge was the 'Guv'nor'....no one comes close to matching his influence on illustration in the 20th Century!..." – Sir John Betjeman, The Times Literary Review, 1975.
"His Royal Master of Images to Their Majesties The Beatles." John Lennon in 1968.
Nicknamed himself "The Man with the Kaleidoscope Eyes" after a line in the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds".
Was known in the 1960s and '70s as "the Graphic entertainer".
Over the years Aldridge has won many awards for his work, among them Whitbread Children's Book Award (1973).