Robert Weaver: Narrative Art Visionary
Transposing on-site drawing to published illustration
This is the first of a series of four articles about process. I’ll be posting about how artists and visual journalists bridge the gap between what’s personal and what’s commercial, creating in ways literal or metaphorical; and making art inside the studio or out in the world.
It's a unique skill for an artist to integrate what he draws on-site into a commissioned illustration. Robert Weaver (1924-1994) did so and with no loss of verve in the transposing.
I wrote about Weaver and the baseball spring training drawings he made for a 1962 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Given the breadth and inventiveness of his work he deserves another look. I’ll share just one exciting series he made…a trip to a Woolworth store and its company headquarters.
Fortune Magazine’s art director Leo Lioni often assigned illustrators to interpret firsthand experiences through their art and journalism. For the January 1960 issue of the magazine, Robert Weaver was sent to illustrate an article entitled What’s Come Over Old Woolworth?. He made drawings of employees and corporate types, in their workplace, in his own way.
Weaver described his process to Steven Heller in a Print magazine interview, ‘The drawings were rendered from life. There is not a hell of a lot of transformations between the sketches and the finishes. I’ve simplified the finish a little bit and added some color.’
Here are a few of Weaver’s Woolworth drawings and the published illustrations:
Both preparatory work and finish have a spontaneity to them; with color and compositional notations embedded. You get a sense that he’s always thinking. Weaver saw the value of retaining the immediacy of the moment through to final art.
‘My sketches are notes, and the color variations stay in the mind. I make the drawings without colors, and later I simply bathe the picture in what I remember to be proper light.’
Weaver’s style is defined by his unique approach to organizing and framing elements within the picture, taking inspiration from post-impressionist Edgar Degas and abstract expressionists. He composes like it’s a collage, often fragmenting the image from multiple perspectives. He makes determinative choices to honor workers at all levels in the tradition of American social realism.
Robert Weaver taught for 30 years at the School of Visual Arts in New York and helped create their Illustration as Visual Essay program. He inspired countless artists through his knowledge and his nature. He stressed upon his students the importance of drawing from life, and fostering a social conscience. A visionary in the worlds of illustration and narrative art, Weaver recognized the need for change in the field, making his own process a compelling story.
There are other contemporary artists who have found ways to apply their on-the-spot drawings to commissioned reportage.
Daniel Zalkus created a series of in situ drawings at the Glenfiddich Distillery in Scotland documenting the whisky-making process then compiling them in his book, 'Charcoal & Whisky'.
Sarah Mari Shaboyan makes cityscapes for clients.
all artworks © The Estate of Robert Weaver and reprinted courtesy of the Melton Prior Institute
More to Know:
View Robert Weaver’s drawings for A Television Notebook - Behind the Scenes at CBS, 1960 on Matt Dicke's flickr.
More Robert Weaver art at JSTOR
so inspiring!!!
why don’t art directors assign more of this kind of thing
or why don’t they do this at all?
its so real and personal
i look foward to the next addition
great job Bill
Appreciated learning about Robert Weaver's process, and thanks for your focus on illustrated narrative and artists. Loved learning about Sarah Mari Shaboyan's delightful art too !