Coles Phillips  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Clarence Coles Phillips (October 1880 - June 13, 1927) was an American artist and illustrator, who after 1911 used Coles Phillips as his signature. He is known for his stylish images of women in such illustrations as Know all men by these presents and this 1922 watercolor ad for Holeproof Hosiery Company [1].

Early life

He was born in Springfield, Ohio. From 1902 to 1904, he attended Kenyon College in his native state, where his illustrations were published in the 1901–1904 editions of the school's yearbook, The Reveille. After leaving Kenyon, Phillips moved to Manhattan, determined to earn a living through his art. He took night classes for three months at the Chase School of Art—his only formal artistic training—before establishing his own advertising agency. One of Phillips' employees was a young Edward Hopper, his former classmate. In 1907, Phillips met with J. A. Mitchell, the publisher of Life magazine, and was hired onto its staff at the age of twenty-six. Phillips would be associated with the magazine throughout his life.

Career

The work of Phillips quickly became popular with Life's readers. In May 1908, he created a cover for the magazine that featured his first "fadeaway girl": a figure whose clothing matched, and disappeared into, the background. Phillips developed this idea in many subsequent covers. In the 1910 example of his work displayed to the right, portions of the figure's skirt merge seamlessly with the background, yet the edge of the skirt remains easily defined by the viewer.

Phillips' use of negative space allowed the viewer to "fill-in" the image; it also reduced printing costs for the magazine, as "the novelty of the technique and the striking design qualities masked the fact that Life was getting by with single color or two-color covers in a day when full-color covers were de rigueur for the better magazines". Phillips worked in watercolor and always painted from life; according to his biographer, Michael Schau, "he refused to work from photographs or to use the pantograph". His most frequent model in his early years was Teresa Hyde, a nurse whom he met in December 1907 and married in early 1910.

Phillips produced cover art for other national magazines besides Life, including Good Housekeeping, which for two years (beginning in July 1912) made him their sole cover artist. Phillips also created many advertising images for makers of women's clothing, and for such clients as the Overland automobile company and Oneida Community flatware. His series depicting women wearing Holeproof Hosiery products was considered daring for its time. Phillips' works also appear in the 1921 and 1922 editions of the U. S. Naval Academy yearbook, Lucky Bag.

From 1905 until his death, Phillips lived and worked in New Rochelle, New York. His work habits were regular; his other activities included raising pigeons, a hobby he had pursued since he was eight years old.

In 1924 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the kidney, and he was frequently ill thereafter. In January 1927, when problems with his eyesight made painting difficult, he dedicated himself to writing. Phillips died in New Rochelle of his kidney ailment on June 13, 1927, at the age of 47.

The current auction record for a Coles Phillips illustration is $65,725, realized by a 1922 Holeproof Hosiery Company ad watercolor sold through Heritage Auction Galleries on May 5, 2010.