Fall Football Fever, Nesbitt’s calendar ad 1956

Edward Runci painted this Nesbitt’s calendar ad, “Fall Football Fever,” sometime in the mid-20th century. Just look at how those sunny yellows and bright blues come right at you! I wonder what Runci was thinking, layering these shades to practically make the woman glow? It’s like he built up the painting, one brushstroke at a time, figuring things out as he went along. I mean, that electric blue background really makes the orange soda pop. It makes me think about other painters who play with color to evoke feeling, like Matisse, for instance. And that central female figure seems to me very much in keeping with the kind of imagery Norman Rockwell was using around the same time. Ultimately, painting is a kind of conversation, isn’t it? Each artist responding to what came before and then adding their own mark. Here, Runci gave us this crisp image, but it’s also fuzzy with the ambiguity of a good painting. It lets you look and look, but the meanings keep shifting.