Commercial artist spotlight - Laurence Fellows
Laurence Fellows was born in Pennsylvania in 1885 and did his first training in art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art. This was followed by a period of training in England and France (there at the Académie Julian under J-P Laurens).
On his return to America Fellows was picked up by Kelly-Springfield to advertise their tyres. These early works are illustrated in this article and are all from 1923. Fellows style during this early period was very simple and flat and in black and white. This in no way detracts from the beauty of the work but enhances it: the eye is drawn to the salient features of the composition.
Look at the trees and the backgrounds to see how sparse they are then look at the people depicted within the picture and notice the detailed facial expressions and the style of dress depicting the fashions of the day. Here the detail is excellent, even down to the footwear.
Now, look at the vehicles. It would be impossible to identify the make or model of the car but you are left in no doubt as to the maker of the tyres fitted to the car. The tyres are often centre stage in the composition but occasionally they are almost subliminal in the background. Whichever way you look at the image you are always drawn to its focus – these are the tyres to buy: “Kelly-Springfield”.
“It costs no more to buy a Kelly”
Advertisement for Kelly-Springfield American tires. Illustration by Laurence Fellows. Featured in 1924 edition of National Geographic
These adverts are set in England and are based on Fellows’ experiences while he lived there. They feature well-known places and events popular at the time and satirise different social classes. Another feature of the adverts, in the accompanying text, is the pointing out of the poor quality of tyres produced by their competitors (something generally frowned upon within the advertising industry but which in this case works particularly well).
In the 1930s Fellows moved predominately into illustrating fashion advertising – clearly after being noticed by the fashion industry for his depiction of fashion in his automotive advertising.
Laurence Fellows died in 1964 and was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2009.
