James Sante Avati (December 14, 1912 in

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 53,105. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District. History The initial patent for the land that w ...

– February 27, 2005 in

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok languages, Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 a ...

) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

artist. His father was a professional photographer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His mother died shortly after his birth. He was raised by his maternal aunt and eventually his father married her. While Jim was still young, his father died and another aunt and uncle helped to raise him in

Little Silver, New Jersey Little Silver is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,131, an increase of 181 (+3.0%) from the 2010 Unite ...

, where he grew up. His uncle paid for his education at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

where he obtained a degree in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

in 1935. He was always interested in painting and loved to paint. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Avati obtained a job designing

display window A display window, also a shop window (British English) or store window (American English), is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the f ...

s at

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s in New York. But he continued to paint on the side and in 1948, impressed

Kurt Enoch Kurt Enoch (22 November 1895 – 15 February 1982) was a German-born publisher who co-founded Albatross Books in Germany and Penguin Books Inc. and New American Library in the United States, bringing high-quality paperback fiction and non-ficti ...

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publishe ...

, a new paperback publishing house. He was a hit from the beginning and changed the style of cover painting by the early 1950s. The authors he worked with included the likes of

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

Erskine Caldwell Erskine Preston Caldwell (December 17, 1903 – April 11, 1987) was an American novelist and short story writer. His writings about poverty, racism and social problems in his native Southern United States, in novels such as '' Tobacco Road'' (1 ...

, J. D. Salinger, James T. Farrell,

Pearl Buck Pearl Sydenstricker Buck (June 26, 1892 – March 6, 1973) was an American writer and novelist. She is best known for ''The Good Earth'' a bestselling novel in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, Buck ...

, John O'Hara,

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer (character), Mike Hammer. More than 225 million c ...

, Erle Stanley Gardner, Alberto Moravia, and James Michener. He used professional models at first but soon used friends, family and people off the streets of

Red Bank, New Jersey Red Bank is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Incorporated in 1908, the community is on the Navesink River, the area's original transportation route to the ocean and other ports. Red Bank is in the New York Metropolitan A ...

, his home for much of his life, as models. He sought reality in his representations on canvas and real people worked for him better than professionals. He has been called the "Father of Paperback Book Covers" and the "Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers".Dazzling Erin
Artist Profile: James Avati (1912-2005)
unobtainium13.com. Retrieved 29 September 2017.

Personal life

Avati eventually moved to Petaluma, California, to pursue a love interest, and fathered nine children through two marriages, including a son who became a well-known sculptor, James R. Avati, of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, Utah. He had stopped painting towards the end as he was losing his eyesight due to

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, som ...

and died (February 2005) at age 92.

Personal life

References

Further reading