Alton Tobey

Alton Stanley Tobey (November 5, 1914 – January 4, 2005) was an American painter, historical artist, muralist, portraitist, illustrator, and teacher of art.

[2] The New York Times obituary described Tobey as "a muralist, portraitist and illustrator whose renderings of famous events and faces hang in museums, libraries, public buildings, corporate offices and private collections".

Millions of children, whether they knew it or not, grew up gazing at Alton Tobey's vivid imaginings of historical events (such as one depicting a scene from the Russian revolution).

Among the several experimental styles, perhaps the most original works (that is, immediately recognizable as having been painted by Alton S. Tobey and no one else) are those in an abstract (or semi-abstract) idiom using a curious "visual alphabet" of his own invention.

Also in a modern (or even postmodern) vein are his series of "fragments": bizarre portraits, mostly of famous people, consisting of extreme closeups of only parts of (usually) the head or face, often far off-center.

A particularly amusing example is "Thatcher's Thatch", consisting only of the British Prime Minister's famous hairdo jutting up from the bottom of the canvas.

There are also grotesque and piercingly angry paintings of social commentary, sometimes verging on protest art, such as "Our Hero", an over-muscled monster with a tiny infant's head, embodying belligerent and stupid militarism.