Clarence Coles Phillips (October 3, 1880June 13, 1927) was an American artist and illustrator who signed his early works ''C. Coles Phillips'', but after 1911 worked under the abbreviated name, ''Coles Phillips''. He is known for his stylish images of women and a signature use of

negative space In art and design, negative space or negative volume is the empty space around and between the subject(s) of an image. In graphic design this is known as white space. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, not th ...

in the paintings he created for advertisements and the covers of popular magazines.

Early life

Phillips was born in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

, the son of Anna Seys and Jacob Phillips. From 1902 to 1904, he attended

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

in his native state, where he was a member of

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

. His illustrations were published in the 1901–1904 editions of the school's yearbook, ''The Reveille''. After leaving Kenyon, Phillips moved to

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, determined to earn a living through his art. He took night classes for three months at the Chase School of Art—his only formal artistic training—before establishing his own advertising agency. One of Phillips's employees was the young

Edward Hopper Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realism painter and printmaker. He is one of America's most renowned artists and known for his skill in depicting modern American life and landscapes. Born in Nyack, New York, to a ...

, his former classmate. In 1907, Phillips met with J. A. Mitchell, the publisher of ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine, and was hired onto its staff at the age of twenty-six. Phillips would be associated with the magazine throughout his life.

Career

The work of Phillips quickly became popular with the ''Life'' readers. In May 1908, he created a cover for the magazine that featured his first "fadeaway girl" design with a figure whose clothing matched, and disappeared into, the background.Coles Phillips, 1880-1927
, Americanillistration.org website Phillips developed this idea in many subsequent covers. Phillips's use of

allowed the viewer to "fill-in" the image; it also reduced printing costs for the magazine, as "the novelty of the technique and the striking design qualities masked the fact that ''Life'' was getting by with single color or two-color covers in a day when full-color covers were de rigueur for the better magazines". Phillips worked in

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

and always painted from life; according to his biographer, Michael Schau, "he refused to work from photographs or to use the

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...

". Phillips produced cover art for other national magazines besides ''Life'', including ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American lifestyle media brand that covers a wide range of topics from home decor and renovation, health, beauty and food, to entertainment, pets and gifts. The Good Housekeeping Institute which opened its "Experiment ...

'', which for two years (beginning in July 1912) made him their sole cover artist. Phillips also created many advertising images for makers of women's clothing, and for such clients as the Overland automobile company and

Oneida Community The Oneida Community ( ) was a Christian perfection, perfectionist religious communal society founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York. The community believed that Jesus had Hyper-preterism, already return ...

flatware. His series depicting women wearing Holeproof Hosiery products was considered daring for its time. Phillips's works also appear in the 1921 and 1922 editions of the U. S. Naval Academy yearbook, '' Lucky Bag''.

Personal life

From 1905 until his death, Phillips lived and worked in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

. His work habits were regular; his other activities included raising pigeons, a hobby he had pursued from the age of eight years. In December 1907 Phillips met Teresa Hyde, a nurse who became his most frequent model during his early years. They married in early 1910. In 1924 he was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

of the kidney (Renal TB), and for the remainder of his life he was frequently ill. In January 1927, when problems with his eyesight made painting difficult, he dedicated himself to writing.Schau & Phillips 1975, p. 46. Phillips died in New Rochelle at his home, of his kidney ailment on June 13, 1927, at the age of forty-six. The funeral service was held on June 14 at the Sutton Manor home in New Rochelle and officiated by the Rev. Paul Gordon Favour from Trinity Episcopal Church of New Rochelle. Artist and friend, J.C. Leyendecker eulogized him as an artist "unique in his field, one with a highly developed sense of decoration and color... he was ahead of most men in depicting the American type of young womanhood." The body was then taken to Fresh Pond Crematory for cremation.

Exhibitions

Phillips's works are often exhibited alongside those of other notable graphic artists. In 2002, the Swann Gallery's "American Beauties: Drawings from the Golden Age of Illustration" featured Phillips,

Charles Dana Gibson Charles Dana Gibson (September 14, 1867 – December 23, 1944) was an American illustrator who created the Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th century. He published his ...

, Wladyslaw Benda, and Nell Brinkley, among others. Phillips was also included in the

Norman Rockwell Museum The Norman Rockwell Museum is an art museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, United States, dedicated to the art of Norman Rockwell. It is home to the world's largest collection of original Rockwell art. The museum also hosts traveling exhibition ...

's "Toast of the Town: Norman Rockwell and the Artists of New Rochelle" and in "Illustrating Modern Life: The Golden Age of American Illustration from the Kelly Collection" at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

. In 2015, the Oneida Community Mansion House presented an exhibition focused on Phillips’s ads created for Oneida silverware from 1911 to 1924.

Notes

References

*Reed, Walt, ''Great American Illustrators'', New York: Crown Publishers, 1979, *Schau, Michael, and Coles Phillips, ''All-American Girl: the Art of Coles Phillips'', New York: Watson-Guptill, 1975,

External links

American Art Archives

* ttp://www.1920-30.com/art/coles-phillips.html 1920–30.com art – Coles Phillips* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Coles 1880 births 1927 deaths American magazine illustrators 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Kenyon College alumni People from Springfield, Ohio Artists from New Rochelle, New York Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)