Lot description
Hilary Knight (Born 1926) American, Framed 1974 Angela Lansbury in "Gypsy" Poster. Depicts "Mama" Rose with the actress' name in lights above her. Name of artist bottom left above the bottom banner. From the first Broadway revival of the musical at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City, September 23rd 1974 through January 4th, 1975. As indicated by the stylish poster, the Stephen Sondheim piece about the queen of burlesque and her megalomaniacal mother was extended past the original end date of November 5th, 1974, and won Lansbury her third Tony Award for Best Actress after she continued in the role from the West End production the previous year. Overall Size: 22 3/4 x 13 3/4 in. Sight Size: 21 1/2 x 13 1/2 in. Hilary Knight was born November 1st, 1926 in Hempstead on Long Island in New York, the son of artist-writers who encouraged him to explore his creativity when the family moved to Manhattan when he was six. He studied art under notable figures like George Grosz and Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League before serving as a ship painter in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946. He returned to New York and studied at the School of Interior Design and the Delahanty Institute, focused on architectural drafting, before beginning a successful freelance illustration career with works in Mademoiselle, House & Garden, McCall’s, and many more magazines. His distinctive artistic style, influenced by Edmund Dulac and Ronald Searle, was established in the whimsical black, white, and pink look of the Eloise books, which became an overnight sensation in 1955. He went on to create images for over 50 books, various magazines, greeting cards, and iconic posters for Broadway musicals like Gypsy and No, No, Nanette. Now almost a century old, Knight is considered a pivotal figure in American illustrated children’s literature and is still represented by galleries across the United States.