Robert Harold Levenson, who was as famous for his taglines in the golden age of advertising as he was for his roses in East Hampton, died in New York City on Jan. 16. He was 83 and had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Mr. Levenson was eulogized in print and blogs in the last week by…

Bill McCafferys plan after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia College of Art in 1958 was not to embark on an illustrious career in advertising, but to go to New York and spend his time creating art, designing, and playing the saxophone. He was happily freelancing as an illustrator for Esquire and…

Bill Bernbach was a discoverer. He was the art directors first great benefactor. He arrived on the advertising scene at exactly the right moment, when the great war was over, when America was changing, when people were thirsting for a new grace and clarity in this brave new world. Bernbach had a vision unlike any…

Bill Bernbach was a discoverer. He was the art directors first great benefactor. He arrived on the advertising scene at exactly the right moment, when the great war was over, when America was changing, when people were thirsting for a new grace and clarity in this brave new world. Bernbach had a vision unlike any…

Bert Stern, one of the legendary figures in contemporary photography, personified the commercial photographer as cultural hero in the 1960s. Hugely successful in the worlds of fashion and advertising photography, in the late 1960s he operated a studio, not unlike Andy Warhols Factory, from which he created countless award-winning ads, editorial features, magazine covers, films,…

Spending time with Bert Steinhauser, either in person or through his work, is an exhilarating experience. His ebullient personality, coupled with his love for his craft and for humanity make him a dynamic one-man show. Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Steinhauser attended Samuel J. Tilden High School and received the school’s art medal. From there…

Creator of the Macy’s slogan “It’s great to be thrifty” and “Nobody, but nobody, undersells Gimbels,” Fitz-Gibbon, former ad manager at Marshall Field’s, Macy’s, Gimbels and Wanamaker, became retailing’s most important and highly paid advertising director. She influenced department store and fashion advertising by introducing “events” — fashion shows, dance instruction, lectures, demonstrations, etc. —…

Ben Shahn. His codified signature neatly scribbled under any of his images conjures up a peerless world of visual and emotional realism. Born in Kovno, Lithuania in 1898, Ben Shahn and his family immigrated to the United States in 1906. Like many artists, he later used his childhood experiences in both Lithuania and Brooklyn to…

Bea Feitler was born in Brazil, the country to which her parents emigrated during World War II. Through their influence, she received a traditionalist education, stressing knowledge and excellence in all areas. She spent her college years at the Parsons School of Design, graduating in 1959. At that point, she returned to Rio de Janeiro…

Barry Blitt is a cartoonist and illustrator, who through his many New Yorker covers, has become one of the pre-eminent American satirists. He is probably best known for The Politics of Fear, his provocative July 2008 image of Michelle and Barack Obama, dressed as a Muslim and a militant with an AK-47, fist-bumping in the…