Whoops! Sorry, did I say "cartoonist"?
Er... the October '46 issue of Life magazine contains an ad for General Motors, nicely painted in an almost Albert Dorne-ish style by an illustrator named Lou Cunette.
Waitaminut... the August 1950 issue of Life magazine sports an ad for Howard Johnson's by a cartoonist - definitely a cartoonist - named Lou Cunette.
Except in a completely different cartoon style.
Uh... the following year an artist named Lou Cunette did a photo-illustration collage in a sort of David Stone Martin-inspired style for Fortune magazine. Hhmmmmm....
The next year, 1952, in a style very typical of contemporary magazine illustration of the day, someone named Lou Cunette did a run of illustrations for the Woman's Day column, "How to Be a Girl".
They look like they could have been done by a Cooper studio artist.
So just who the heck was this Lou Cunette?
He was an illustrator who could produce a style for every artistic appetite.
Beyond that, I haven't a clue. But I feel a great affinity for Mr. Cunette. I don't know if he was a 'restless illustrator' who couldn't settle into one style, who enjoyed dabbling in a little of everything, or a Jack-of-all-trades ( and some might argue, "a master of none" ). But that would be unfair, because Cunette's skills are evident.
I suspect perhaps it was a little of both. Some illustrators don't enjoy careers with a definitive focus... but that's not to say they don't enjoy fulfilling careers. If the day ever comes when someone who knew Lou Cunette finds this post, I'm sure we'll learn about his other accomplishments. And I'll bet we'll discover that Lou Cunette didn't just satisfy the artistic appetites of his clients, but he satisfied his own as well.
* My Lou Cunette Flickr set.
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Mr. Cunette was my grandfather. He was a very talented artist. He did illustrations for everything from ads to Warner Brothers and Disney. Also he did the illustration for Elsie the Borden Cow.