Patrick Nagel - Isetan
This blog gets a varied readership at times, reflecting as it does my own interests which range from the philosophical on one hand to fashion on the other. I therefore couldn’t resist the somewhat cryptic title, though I must now disappoint the ethicists expecting a post about Thomas Nagel, and instead delight the sartorialists with a post about Patrick Nagel.
Nagel got his big break illustrating that venerable icon of men’s special interest literature (Playboy) but became more widely known in the 1980s partly through illustrating a famous Duran Duran album cover, and then because of his fashion illustrations. Famous for his bold, posterised depictions of beautiful women wearing elegant, if rather revealing, garments, his work has echoes of Art Deco but also a more timeless, almost Iconic quality. Though I suspect the Virgin Mary might balk at the idea of posing for a Nagel illustration.
Nagel passed away from a heart attack before he reached 40. Perhaps appropriately for a pop-art figure, he died of a heart attack after appearing in that most faddy of mid-1980s events, an aerobics-themed charity telethon. Now enough talk, and more Nagel pictures instead. And that’s the kind of altruistic yet self-serving generosity that those readers who expected a Thomas Nagel post should appreciate as well…
Patrick Nagel - Sunglasses
Patrick Nagel - Shannon
Patrick Nagel - Blue Sweater
Very nice post!
Thanks, and thanks for the Like too.
I’m not too familiar with T. Nagel except maybe from BBC. Was he the “if a bat could explain what it’s like to be a bat” guy? Anyway, interesting illustration style. The last 2 and especially the shade effects in the last one remind me very much of Death in the first Neil Gaiman Sandman comic (sorry, graphic novel) series. I wonder if he was one of the illustrators.
I don’t know, but I find it has a similar feel to some of Blade Runner’s imagery, especially the shots of the advertiising Geisha seen through from the flying car.
I keep thinking about buying this book but the relatively high asking prices are putting me off a bit.