George Stavrinos

PJT: "I must agree that Annigoni was a wonderful draftsman, but I would like to cast my vote for George Stavrinos. American Artist did an article on Stavrinos in 1984 I believe and he passed away way to soon in the early 1990's at age 42. Primarily a fashion illustrator, his highly finished pencil drawings graced the advertising campaigns of Bergdorf Goodman, The New York City Ballet, Barney's to name just a few Today, unlike the other great fashion illustrators such as Rene Gruau, Antonio Lopez et al., it is virtually impossible to find anything on this unique and influential draftsman."


NYT Aug 7, 1990:
George Stavrinos, a graphic artist and illustrator who helped revive interest in finely drawn representational art, died Friday at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan. He was 42 years old and lived in Manhattan. He died of complications of pneumonia, his sister Lydia said. Mr. Stavrinos graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1970, and his drawings and illustrations soon began to appear in The New York Times, Gentleman's Quarterly and Cosmopolitan. He did freelance work for Barney's Clothes, Bergdorf Goodman and Push Pin Studio. In the mid-1980's he created a series of drawings that were used to promote the repertory of the New York City Opera. His work was exhibited in galleries in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, Providence, London, Paris and Tokyo.

Pietro Annigoni

"[Pietro] Annigoni was born in Milan in 1910 and lived in Florence for most of his life. He is known for helping draft a manifesto in the late 40s advocating realism in an art world that was consumed by Abstract Expressionism. He became famous for his portraits, with his popularity seeming to peak in the early 60s. Annigoni is perhaps most famous for a somewhat romanticized portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, a likeness that was chosen for use on several paper currencies in the British Commonwealth."

Brand-new Museo Pietro Annigoni in Florence, website has online gallery


aforementioned portrait:

Self-portrait, 1946:

portrait of Maria Ricciarda (1970):


Queen Margherita of Denmark 1978:



4 Time Magazine covers:

John F Kennedy 1962


Pope John XXIII 1962


Ludwig Erhard 1963


Lyndon Johnson 1968