Joel Resnicoff

Who was Joel Resnicoff?

Joel Hirsch Resnicoff was an American artist and fashion illustrator, who incorporated expressionistic art into commercial fashion illustrations, stating his belief that "commercial art is the art of the century." His work did not fit easily into any one category, and "the figures in his amusing illustrations defy stereotype and are posed in unexpected ways." Those figures reflected a mixture of cultures, with viewers seeing something familiar to their own background, mixed with something more distant: a combination of the "girl next door," and "the girl on the other side of the world." So, for example, a Japanese work describes "the influence of black African sculptures," mixed with a more Japanese look characterized by "lips like cherry blossom petals, and almond-shaped eyes." His work captured the new impact of multiculturalism on art and the "standards of beauty" of the seventies, and along with artists such as Andy Warhol helped "blur the line between commercial art and fine art."

Resnicoff died at the age of 38 as a result of complications linked to AIDS.