Artist: Nicholas Zann
Title: Detective with Gun and Femme Fatale
Medium: Hand-inked and colored, with ink, paint, colored pencil and paper additions, on heavy paper
Edition: Unique, Original Artwork
Height (inches): 23-3/4
Width (inches): 19-3/4
Signed by the artist
Signed Area: front
Description of piece:
Evocative of classic film noir detective thrillers of the 1940s and 50s, this original hand-painted Nicholas Zann artwork was created with ink, paint, colored pencil and paper additions, on heavy paper.
Framed in a classic golden frame with a double mat in white offset with gold, this one-of-a-kind artwork interplays shadow and light within a perfectly balanced compositional framework. The stylized circle of the overhead sun, evocative of Japanese design, completes the iconic noir artwork.
The artist has hand-signed the artwork, "ZANN", in the lower right image area. Framed size is 23-3/4" in height x 19-3/4" width.
Artist bio:
Nicholas Zann was born in 1943 in New York City, where he resides today. His career spans five decades and covers a multifaceted terrain, including painting, illustration and music. In 1956, a painting exhibited at Lever House led to a scholarship to attend Pratt Institute; Zann went from there to the High School of Industrial Arts, which became known as the High School of Art and Design.
From 1957-1965, Zann fronted a rock'n'roll band with which he recorded and toured internationally, but in 1965, inspired by a commission for ABC's Les Crane Show, he turned to pursuing fine art full time. While starting a professional career in illustration, he continued his fine art studies at the School of Visual Arts, guided by Jack Potter and Burne Hogarth.
Recognized as one of the most innovative and prolific cartoonists and illustrators of his generation with his work having been frequently published in Newsweek, The New York Times, Esquire and Fortune, comics and mystery covers alike, Zann's work has been featured on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, the Charlie Rose Show, and received a prestigious Illustrator's Society Award. In 1990, MTV aired a special profile edition on Karl Lagerfeld, Andy Warhol and Nicholas Zann.
In addition to his commercial work, Zann has painted figurative compositions since the 1980s. In 1995, Constance Emmerich commissioned Zann to paint a 7' x 7 ½' panel to accompany Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Harbison's chamber music. The painting premiered on the stage of Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and was subsequently shown in Europe. Zann's paintings can be found in private and public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, MA, and the permanent collection of the Curtis Institute of Music in Lenfest Hall. His exhibitions include galleries in New York City, London's Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Textile Museum, the Netherlands, as part of their 'Popart Fabrics & Fashion' exhibit.