Ervine Metzl
| Ervine Metzl | |
|---|---|
Ervine Metzl, age 25.
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| Born |
May 28, 1899 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | November 22, 1963 New York City, New York |
| Education | Art Institute of Chicago |
| Known for | Poster art, Illustration |
| Awards | Benjamin Franklin Award |
Ervine Metzl (1899–1963) was an American graphic artist and illustrator best known for his posters and postage stamp designs.
Ervine Metzl was born in Chicago in 1899 to Ignatz and Bertha (Kohn) Metzl, Jewish immigrants from Bohemia.
As a young man, he attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and showed an interest in poster design. In July 1917, in the midst of the First World War his Red Cross poster earned an honorable mention at the Art Institute's Exhibition of Posters for National Service.
He created several posters for a series commissioned by the Chicago Transit Authority in the early 1920s. Metzl's posters, The Evanston Lighthouse by the Elevated Lines and The Field Museum by the Elevated Lines (featuring a toucan) are still reproduced today. A 2004 exhibit in Chicago featured several of Metzl's transit posters, and the Chicago Tribune art critic commented, "The boldest pieces, because they are the simplest in form and most lively in color, are by Ervine Metzl, who apparently began the series in 1921."
The cover of Fortune magazine featured Metzl's depictions of an astronomical observatory and a comet (July 1932) and a window washer (November 1932).
Working in Manhattan, Metzl influenced the lives and careers of other artists, as well. In the 1930s, graphic designer Paul Rand's career was helped along by Metzl, who helped Rand find a position designing advertisements for a Manhattan ad agency. Metzl was also a friend of Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the popular Madeline books. Metzl is variously described as Bemelmans' "agent" and as his "ghost artist". It was in Metzl's studio that Bemelmans is said to have met his future wife, Madeleine "Mimi" Freund, a model. As president of the Society of Illustrators from 1956–1957, Metzl took a young Ron Barrett under his wing. Illustrator Gyo Fujikawa was also a friend of Metzl's.
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