From the dustbin of short-lived magazines comes this beautiful cover illustration for Prime Time, alternately subtitled “For the Generation in the Middle” or “Living and Loving After Forty.” The magazine debuted in 1980 and I can’t find evidence that it lasted past 1981 (understandable, given articles like “On Marrying a Younger Woman”).  For an article on returning to the site of the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines, Glaser painted a muted and downcast soldier emerging over a vivid landscape. The sketch and final art are among my favorite pieces in the archives, incorporating the bright, flat color of his earlier work in a more emotionally complex context. The sketch also includes a note from Glaser to someone named Judy, perhaps the art director, asking, “How’s this sort of Gauguinish type of thing?” Glaser often drew upon art historical inspiration, from Duchamp to Magritte to Piero della Francesa, and here Gauguin gets his homage. This is a case where the reproduction doesn’t do the original work justice. Glaser created these paintings on cardboard, which adds a sepia tone to otherwise vibrant shades of blue, green and orange.

This post also appears in PRINT.