Raymond Kursar
Encyclopedia
Raymond Kursar is an American artist, illustrator and graphic designer; known for his Broadway play posters, fine giclee limited edition prints and the movie classic “Gone with the Wind” collector’s plate collection.
. This exposure afforded him an artistic position in the advertising department of Lipman & Wolf Company. After honing his illustration skills at Lipman & Wolf Company by 1969 he saved enough money to relocate to New York City. There Kursar was hired by a Madison Avenue Advertising Agency from 1969 to 1972 where he created product and label packaging designs. In 1973 to 1979 Kursar began illustrating for several publishing houses and greeting card manufactures. He created greeting cards for the American Artist's Group as many contemporary artists like Chen Chi, Eyvind Earle
, Norman Rockwell
, Ralph Avery
, Hans Moller, who also created seasonal greeting card designs year after year for the American Artist’s Group. http://www.americanartistsgroup.com/aag_information.htm
Magazine, Readers Digest and National Lampoon Magazine. He has also illustrated hundreds of romance novel
covers for book publishers such as Bantam Books
, Ace Books
, Random House
and Pocket books
& Zebra Books, Avon, Fawcett, Ballantine, Doubleday, Charles Scribner & Sons, etc. In 1979 Kursar was commissioned by the Knowles China Plate Company to illustrate on fine china the movie classic “Gone with the Wind
”. this Collectable’s plate collection was featured as the cover story in the June 1983 issue of Plate World Magazine.
, writer Neil Simon
and for Magician Harry Blackstone
. Kursar also illustrated poster art for “Big Apple Circus” and the “Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus”.
Early art training
Kursar art career training began in 1966. He attended the School of Advertising Arts in Portland, OregonPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. This exposure afforded him an artistic position in the advertising department of Lipman & Wolf Company. After honing his illustration skills at Lipman & Wolf Company by 1969 he saved enough money to relocate to New York City. There Kursar was hired by a Madison Avenue Advertising Agency from 1969 to 1972 where he created product and label packaging designs. In 1973 to 1979 Kursar began illustrating for several publishing houses and greeting card manufactures. He created greeting cards for the American Artist's Group as many contemporary artists like Chen Chi, Eyvind Earle
Eyvind Earle
Eyvind Earle was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney animated films in the 1950s...
, Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
, Ralph Avery
Ralph Avery
Ralph Avery was known as a quiet, reserved man who illustrated beautiful watercolor paintings and town-landscapes. He recorded city streets, churches, trees, iron fences, and the ambiance of Rochester, New York. He has also painted in Mexico, the West Indies, Europe, and Northern Africa...
, Hans Moller, who also created seasonal greeting card designs year after year for the American Artist’s Group. http://www.americanartistsgroup.com/aag_information.htm
Illustrations
During the period from 1979 to 1985 Kursar started illustrating for a number of today’s popular American Magazines, and his illustrations appeared in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal, Good HousekeepingGood Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
Magazine, Readers Digest and National Lampoon Magazine. He has also illustrated hundreds of romance novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
covers for book publishers such as Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
, Ace Books
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
, Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
and Pocket books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
& Zebra Books, Avon, Fawcett, Ballantine, Doubleday, Charles Scribner & Sons, etc. In 1979 Kursar was commissioned by the Knowles China Plate Company to illustrate on fine china the movie classic “Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
”. this Collectable’s plate collection was featured as the cover story in the June 1983 issue of Plate World Magazine.
Posters
Raymond Kursar illustrated posters for “Shakespeare in the Park” and the Artist created numerous Events Poster Art for Broadway Plays including “Grease”, “Hello Dolly”, “City Of Angles”, “The Good Doctor”, “That Championship Season”, and “Legend”. Kursar was also commissioned to do artwork for album covers for the works of classical Guitarist Andre Segovia and Jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Raymond Kursar has also created art pieces & posters for producer Joseph PappJoseph Papp
Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...
, writer Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
and for Magician Harry Blackstone
Harry Blackstone
Harry Blackstone may refer to:*Harry Blackstone, Sr. , a famous American magician known as "The Great Blackstone" and father of Harry Blackstone, Jr....
. Kursar also illustrated poster art for “Big Apple Circus” and the “Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus”.