Comments on Coby Whitmore by Theodore F. Wolff during an interview in 1987.

“I’m grateful to Coby Whitmore for teaching me never to describe a picture as “merely” illustrational.

He first made his point several years ago in a conversation about things artistic in which Joe Bowler also took part, and in which he gently chided me for occasionally rather cavalierly dismissing his profession in my articles and reviews. What he said made a great deal of sense, and I’ve tried since to mend my ways— a process, I might add, that’s been made infinitely easier by the simple expedient of thinking back to some of the superb illustrations he himself has made.

I can’t say I remember them all. My interests in my developing years ran more towards Norman Rockwell and, occasionally, Jon Falter, but I do recall— and it seemed to happen in direct proportion to my own growing sophistication— that the work of another illustrator gradually began to demand my attention. I remember being struck with increasing frequency by certain elegant, brilliantly drawn images of daring design in which provocative color, a delicious appreciation of pretty women, and a remarkable economy of means combined to produce pictures that were a delight to look at and rewarding for a budding young artist to analyze.

   And analyze them I did— for their superb draftsmanship, unexpected and often startling linear and textural combinations; clever use of pattern, shrewd application of the principle that, often as not, “less is more,” and their overall elegance and sophistication.
    Coby Whitmore— for that was this illustrator’s name— seemed like quite a guy. Not only did I admire his work, I envied his life-style— or at least what I imagined his life-style to be. Anyone who could earn what was obviously a good living doing what he enjoyed doing while surrounded by so many cute, sexy young models had my wholehearted admiration. There, I thought, is a man who knows how to live!
   Of course, I was much younger then, and capable all too often of confusing appearance with reality. For all I know now, he could have painted all those pictures form imagination, or used plain models and transformed them into the sex-kittens for which he was so well-known. At this stage of the game it really doesn’t matter (although I must confess that I still believe Coby lived the sort of life I fantasied about so many years ago). What concerns me now is the quality of the work itself, and the remarkable skill, imagination, and professionalism that went into its creation.

He didn’t merely produce first-rate illustrations, he epitomized much of what was good in his field for more years than he would probably care to admit. A Coby Whitmore illustration was always immediately recognizable by its air of high-style sophistication, compositional audacity, clever, often witty use of color, elegant, sparse draftsmanship, and jaunty good taste. He painted and drew the Good Life as practically an entire generation of Americans perceived it— or at least wished it to be. And he did so in a manner that not only did credit to his profession, but honored the noble traditions of art and story-telling as well.”

Comments on Coby Whitmore
by Theodore F. Wolff, Art Critic,
The Christian Science Monitor

To view more information about Coby Whitmore, including his artwork, please visit the section of my website dedicated to Coby Whitmore by clicking on this link.