A Fiesta of Love, Redbook magazine cover 1957

Edwin Georgi created this Redbook magazine cover, A Fiesta of Love, with paint, and oh what a fiesta it is! The brushstrokes are soft, almost feathery, building up to create this glamorous woman in a way that feels both intimate and larger than life. The texture of the paint is really something here. Look at the way Georgi uses layers of thin washes to create depth and luminosity in her skin, then contrasts it with thicker impasto in her hair. It's like he's using the paint itself to sculpt the light. And that light! It's all over, dancing on the gold in her hair, sparkling on the jewellery. The mark making gives everything a kind of shimmer, like it's all about to take off the canvas. It reminds me a little of John Singer Sargent, in the way he used quick, confident brushstrokes to capture the essence of his sitters. But Georgi brings a certain pop sensibility to the table. He really knew his audience, and he wasn’t afraid to give them what they wanted.