"Baton Twirlers Leave the Field, Saturday Evening Post Cover" Lot no. 4673
By Thornton Utz 1914-1999
1962
22.75" x 22.75"
Gouache on Board
Signed Lower Right
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Baton Twirlers leaving the field after a football game at the University of Florida.
Cover of The Saturday Evening Post, November 17, 1962
The editors' description of the cover reads: "When artist Thornton Utz returned to Sarasota after researching the cover idea at a University of Florida game, someone asked which team had won. 'I think Florida lost, but I'm not sure,' replied Utz. 'I guess I'm more of a fan of the prancing girls than I am of football.'"
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Thornton Utz liked to work out the poses of his figures with rapid, free sketches that clearly expressed the mood or mental attitude of his characters. Once this had been established, he then posed an photographed his models, as nearly as possible, in the predetermined positions. The photos furnished the details of folds and lighting which lent added factuality to his original poses.
He used this approach effectively for his humorous Saturday Evening Post covers as well as for the more serious fiction illustrations for Cosmopolitan, McCall’s, The Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, and Good Housekeeping.
Utz participated in the Society of Illustrators Air Force Art Program and received a citation from General Curtis LeMay for documenting the airlift of Hungarian refugees. Utz also received the Governor Bryant of Florida Award for his freedom posters.
He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and studied under Burton Callicott in Memphis. He also attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago and late taught at the Chicago Art Institute. Utz eventually concentrated on paintings and commissioned portraiture, which included President Carter’s family and Princess Grace of Monaco. He was a member of the Chicago Artists Guild and the American Artists Professional League. He later lived in Sarasota, Florida.