British artist (1938?2017)
Alan Aldridge
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Aldridge in 1971
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Born
| (
1938-07-08
)
8 July 1938
London, England
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Died
| 17 February 2017
(2017-02-17)
(aged 78)
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Occupation(s)
| Artist, illustrator, graphic designer, creative director, graphic entertainer
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Years active
| 1965?2017
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Spouses
| -
Rita Farthing
(divorced)
-
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Partner
| Andrea Gayler
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Children
| 8, including
Miles
,
Saffron
,
Lily
and
Ruby
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Relatives
| Caleb Followill
(son-in-law)
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Alan Aldridge
(8 July 1938
[1]
? 17 February 2017)
[2]
was a British artist, graphic designer and illustrator. He is best known for his psychedelic artwork made for books and record covers by
The Beatles
and
The Who
.
[3]
Personal life
[
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]
Aldridge was born in North London and lived in Los Angeles, California. He is survived by 8 children: fashion photographer
Miles Aldridge
, model and social activist
Saffron Aldridge
and Marc from his first marriage to Rita Farthing; two sons, Pim and Toby, from a relationship with Andrea Gayler; and two daughters, models
Lily Aldridge
and
Ruby Aldridge
, and a son, James, from his second marriage to
Laura Lyons
, which also ended in divorce.
[1]
He has 11 grandchildren. On 17 February 2017, his daughter Lily announced his death via Instagram.
[4]
Career
[
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]
Aldridge first worked as an illustrator at
The Sunday Times Magazine
. After doing some freelance book covers for
Penguin Books
, he was hired in March 1965 by Penguin's chief editor
Tony Godwin
to become the art director of Penguin.
[5]
Over the next two years as art director, he especially focused on science fiction book covers and introduced his style which resonated with the mood of the time. In 1968 he moved to his own graphic-design firm, INK, which became closely involved with graphic images for
the Beatles
and
Apple Corps
.
[6]
During the 1960s and 1970s, he was responsible for a great many
album covers
, and helped create the graphic style of that era. He designed a series of science fiction book covers for Penguin Books. He made a big impression with his illustrations for the book
The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics
. He also provided illustrations for
The Penguin Book of Comics
, a history of British and American comic art.
[7]
His work was characterised by a flowing, cartoony style and soft airbrushing ? very much in step with the psychedelic styles of the times. His work includes the 1971 anti-war poster entitled
A great place for hamburgers but who'd want to live there!
[8]
[7]
In the theatre, in February 1969 he designed the graphics for the controversial
Jane Arden
play
Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven
at the
London Arts Laboratory
,
Drury Lane
.
[7]
He is possibly best known for the picture book
The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast
(1973), a series of illustrations of
anthropomorphic
insects and other creatures, which he created in collaboration with Harry Willock.
William Plomer
wrote the accompanying verses. This was based on
William Roscoe
's poem of the same name, but was inspired when Aldridge read that
John Tenniel
had told
Lewis Carroll
it was impossible to draw a
wasp in a wig
.
Aldridge created the artwork for
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
by
Elton John
in 1975.
[7]
In 1977 he created an advertisement illustration for the Dutch beer brand
Heineken
.
[7]
He was the creator of the
Hard Rock Cafe
logo.
[9]
Honours and awards
[
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]
A retrospective
Alan Aldridge ? the Man with the Kaleidoscope Eyes
featured at the
Design Museum
in London from 10 October 2008 to 25 January 2009, and was reviewed as "The trip of a lifetime".
[10]
Over the years Aldridge won many awards for his work, among them
Whitbread Children's Book Award
(1973).
[11]
Selected works
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]
- Cover for
Boswell's London Journal 1762?1763
, ed. Frederick Pottle, Penguin (1966).
- Cover design for
A Quick One
by
The Who
(1966).
- Poster for
Andy Warhol
and
Paul Morrissey
's film
Chelsea Girls
(1966).
- Covers for
Penguin Science Fiction books
(1967).
- The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics
(US,
Houghton Mifflin
; UK, MacDonald Unit 75, 1969) editor, select illustrations.
- Ann in the Moon
(1970), with story by
Frances D. Francis
.
- The Penguin Book of Comics
(1971), with George Perry, published by Penguin Books.
- The Ship's Cat
(1977), illustrated in collaboration with Harry Willock, with verses by
Richard Adams
.
- The Peacock Party
(1979) and
The Lion's Cavalcade
(1980), sequels to
The Butterfly Ball
, based on anonymous sequels to Roscoe's version with verses by
George E. Ryder
and
Ted Walker
respectively. Illustrated in collaboration with Harry Willock.
- Phantasia: Of Docklands, Rocklands and Dodos
(1981)
- The Gnole
(1999), with
Steve Boyett
(writer) and
Maxine Miller
(colorist).
- Illustrations and logo design for
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending
, the sixth studio album by British pop rock/new wave band
Tears for Fears
, 2004.
- Aldridge is also credited for Art Direction and Illustration on
Light Grenades
(2006), the sixth studio album for
Incubus
.
References
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External links
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]
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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