The Art of Kenneth Paul Block
- Filed under: Famous, Fashion, Fashion Week
- Date: Mar 30,2008
So writes Yves Saint Laurent in his forward to Drawing Fashion: The Art of Kenneth Paul Block (Pointed Leaf Press, $95), a lushly oversized monograph on the life and work of the celebrated illustrator. Together with Fashion Illustration by Fashion Designers (Chronicle Books, $40), the two spring releases spotlight an art that has all but fallen off the page.
Block, now in his 80s, rose to prominence as a staff illustrator for Women’s Wear Daily. His three-decade run ended unceremoniously in 1992, when the trade paper acknowledged photography’s dominance by dismissing the entire illustration department on one day. At his peak, Block covered the collections and society for the newspaper, sitting front row at couture shows, and turning courtroom artist during Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ lawsuit against paparazzo Ron Galella.
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