artist - Haddon Sundblom
Haddon Hubbard "Sunny" Sundblom (1899 –1976) was an American artist of Finnish and Swedish descent and best known for the images of Santa Claus he created for The Coca-Cola Company. He used his own image for the famous Santa. Haddon Sundblom was born in Muskegon, Michigan. He studied at the American Academy of Art. He is best remembered for his advertising work, specifically the Santa Claus advertisement. It was he who drew Santa Claus in a red suit during the twenties and he painted for The Coca-Cola Company starting in 1931. Sundblom's Claus firmly established the larger-than-life, grandfatherly Claus as a key figure in American Christmas imagery. So popular were Sundblom's images of Claus (Sundblom's images are used by Coca-Cola to this day) that he is often credited as having created the modern image of Santa Claus. According to the Coca-Cola company: "For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clarke Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa – an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world." In 1942 Sundblom also created Coke's mascot Sprite Boy, who appeared in print ads during the 1940s and 1950s. Sundblom is recognized as a major influence on many well-known pin-up artists, such as Harold W. McCauley, Gil Elvgren, Edward Runci, Joyce Ballantyne, Art Frahm, and Harry Ekman. In the mid-1930s, he began to paint pin-ups and glamour pieces for calendars. Sundblom's last assignment, in 1972, was a cover painting for Playboy's Christmas issue which included a short bio with his photo. © 2019. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Haddon Sundblom or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only Mr. Haddon Sundblom
This sunbathed painting will light up your room. Sundblom's painting technique has freedom and quick energy in his paint application. His subjects are bathed in late afternoon light and are depicted at a peak moment of drama as they engage in a homey discussion. Every brush stroke carries a lot of information as the artists describes shapes and forms with a flick of the wrist. In person, this work commands the viewer attention. The bright sunflower yellows and warm pinks make it striking to look at it.
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Publication unknown Illustrated by Haddon Sundblom Year unknown * Courtesy of Tom Watson
Художник Haddon Hubbard Sundblom (Хэддон Сандблом) - pin-up и Санта-Клаус (Santa Claus). Новый год и кока-кола (coca-cola). Блог Наташи воробей Глаза страшатся, а руки делают...
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Yesterday's post on Harry Anderson generated some wonderful responses, including this one from TI list member Aron Gagliardo, from the American Academy of Art: "Leif, Looking forward to this weeks "old school" illustrators. Take a look at the Academy's website for an original Harry Anderson (top left)." Thanks for the head's up, Aron! As well, TI list member Eric Colquhoun sent a note that he had "a couple" of Harry Anderson scans he was willing to share -- so this morning I was wowed by a second message from Eric with nearly a dozen images I'd never seen before... ... including a nice little selection of Anderson's later, relious paintings. They have all been added to my Harry Anderson Flickr set -- with many thanks to Eric for his generous contribution.
Santa Claus With Two Children Asleep Christmas Together…Welcoming A Fighting Man Back From War Santa And The New Refrigerator title unknown New Year When A Little Girl Needs Her Mother Is Gra…
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Publication unknown Illustrated by Haddon Sundblom Year unknown
Publication unknown Illustrated by Haddon Sundblom Year unknown * Courtesy of Tom Watson
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You're looking at Haddon Sundblom's last Santa (or should I say... 'Santa's little helper'...?) In fact, this was Sunny's last commercial assignment, painted when he was 71 years old, for the cover of that other Chicago institution, Playboy magazine. You'd think that Playboy and Haddon Sundblom would have had a long, ongoing working relationship, but I checked with Aaron Baker, the curator of paintings for Playboy Enterprises Inc. Aaron wrote back, "Our art director, Art Paul, wanted a sexy take on Sundblom's classic Coca-Cola Santa Claus illustration. To my knowledge, he did not do any other work for us." Sundblom seems like a natural for the pin-up genre. In the book, "The Great American Pin-Up", co-author Charles Martignette wrote about how, during and after WWII, many American companies employed pin-ups in their ad campaigns. "Coca-Cola was the largest of such companies to feature pin-ups prominently," wrote Martignette. And of course Haddon Sundblom was one of Coke's most prolific illustrators. Between Sunny and his many talented apprentices, Coca-Cola had a ready stable of some of the finest illustrators of the genre at their disposal. "The Sundblom Circle," as this group of illustrators came to be known, included many of the most prominent artists of the contemporary pin-up scene: Gil Elvgren, Joyce Ballantyne, Thornton Utz, Al Buell and Al Moore are only a few of the many artists who learned their craft at Sunny's easel. Some, like Elvgren, went on to make pin-up art their dedicated specialty. When you look at pin-up art from the mid-century period the Sundblom style seems to be everywhere! But Sundblom himself did relatively few pin-ups. No doubt, with so many steady advertising accounts - Coke, Palmolive Soap, Colgate Toothpaste, Maxwell House Coffee, Aunt Jemima Pancakes, just to name a few - Sunny had his hands full all of the time with tremendously lucrative work. Fans of the genre, like myself, would certainly love it if there were more Haddon Sundblom pin-up pieces like the ones seen here today. We can take some comfort in the knowledge that, as Charles Martignette wrote, "Sundblom is recognized today as the inspiration behind the best pin-up and glamour artists from the 1930s through the 1960s." * The Haddon Sundblom original at the top of this post is up for auction right now at Heritage Auctions. Thanks to Heritage for allowing me to use their scans of this piece. * Thanks to Aaron Baker of Playboy Enterprises Inc. for his assistance with the information on Haddon Sundblom's December 1972 cover for the magazine. * The last two images in this post are from the book, "The Great American Pin-Up", co-authored by Charles Martignette and Louis K. Meisel, © 2009 Taschen GmbH
I imagine a good number of us older artists, especially former illustrators like myself, are familiar with the name, Haddon Hubbard Sundblom (1899-1976). There are also, I suspect, a vast number of the younger generation that have never heard of him. Maybe, if I tell you Sundblom is largely responsible for the current image of... Read more »
Illustration by Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976). All rights reserved. Courtesy The Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies.
artist- Haddon Sundblom
