July 24, 1935 - October 14, 2018
Mel Ramos died at age 83 on October 14.
If you grew up during the 60s and 70s Ramos was a mainstay of pop culture, with his pinups appearing in magazines like Playboy. His juxtapositioning of beautiful women with consumer products had just the right note of satire for an era in which political correctness didn't really exist.
However cheesy Ramos's works may have been, there no was denying his technical skill, which was superior to many of those also regarded as 'Pop Art' figures. Check his rendering of the wrinkles and folds of the sheets and curtains in the portrait below.
Although the pinup era began to decline by the end of the 70s, Ramos remained productive, and in recent years his art was the subject of exhibitions in the US and abroad.
There are a number of books devoted to Ramos's art available at your usual online vendors, although all are out of print, and some have steep asking prices.
