Winter, with its monster of menacing ice and snow, looks so much more agreeable through the eyes of Eyvind Earle.
The artist, famed for his illustrated Christmas and holiday cards, is featured in a new exhibit that debuts on Nov. 18 at the Elverhøj Museum of History and Art, Eyvind Earle: Winter. Earle, who was born in New York but raised in California, is a famed illustrator and painter whose work featuring icy landscapes is coveted around the world.
Earle was born in New York in 1916 and raised in Hollywood, where he would nab his first big gig at United Artist movie studios when he was still just a teenager. He started his career as an artist at the age of 10, taught by his painter father. When he was only 14 years old, he launched his very first successful art show in France. Ioan Szasz, CEO of Earle Publishing, said the artist’s first show wasn’t necessarily in a glamorous art gallery, but it did prove successful for the young painter.
“It was … in a hotel lobby,” Szasz explained. “He sold a lot of stuff. It was amazing at that early an age to have a show like that.”
Szasz said Earle’s style at the time was still developing, having been trained under his father’s dutiful eye. Earle painted street scenes or buildings like churches to perfect his technique before exploring a more independent style.
“He was very loose, painting with lots of texture,” Szasz said. “He was painting the way he was taught by his dad. His dad was teaching his style.”
Once Earle left France and returned to his mother stateside, he experienced a change of heart on the medium, telling his mother he didn’t want to paint ever again. She told him to choose his own path in life, Szasz said.
But by 1937, Earle was back at it, firmly cementing his career as an artist. After a successful show in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art added one of his paintings to its permanent collection. Szasz said Earle was coming into his own, developing his own unique style and love for his art.
What Earle really wanted was a career at Disney, however. He longed to be one of the company’s artists, and while his shows remained successful, a job was just out of his reach.
“His dream was to work for Disney,” Szasz said. “He applied but didn’t get the job. He was told, ‘We have so many people like you here already.”
Awhile later, Earle had a show in New York that was extremely successful. Across the way from the gallery where he was displaying his work, another gallery was featuring the work of the Disney artist who opted to not hire Earle originally. Curious to see why he really lost the job, Earle ventured over and asked him.
“He told him, ‘Well, if I was going to hire you, you wouldn’t be where you are now,’” Szasz said.
The answer seemed to rankle Earle, who still desperately wanted in at the animation studio. Finally, in 1951, Earle got his dream job, starting as a assistant background painter. He worked on the the background art for Peter Pan and several highly acclaimed shorts. But it was his work on 1959’s Sleeping Beauty that cemented his status as a legendary illustrator.
“For the first time, they wanted a background painter to create the storyboard and all the layouts before the animators can come in,” Szasz said. “Eyvind had to tell them how to paint those, and also how to color them. It was a very interesting project.”
Michael Giaimo, art director of Disney’s Frozen and Pocahontas (1995), has cited Earle as a major influence on the design of those films. Earle eventually left Disney to start his own studio and by 1966 he had returned to painting full time. He created serigraphs, design prints made by silk screening, starting in 1974 while he was living in Solvang. The artist died in 2000, leaving behind a legacy of work and a wake of influence for aspiring illustrators.
Earle also created more than 800 holiday card designs between 1938 and 1995. The Elverhoj’s show will feature serigraphs and paintings that formed the basis for his cards. Some very limited edition serigraphs will be available for purchase, a rare treat for serious collectors. Szasz said the show is a good opportunity for fans to get an up-close look at some rare examples of Earle’s work.
“Since they are limited, some of them are very hard to find,” he said. “He was so good.”
Arts and Lifestyle writer Rebecca Rose burned all her winter coats when she moved out of Chicago. Contact her at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 16-23, 2017.