JH Breslow

Jack H. Breslow (American, 1927-2023)

Jack H. Breslow was born in New York in 1927 and raised in the Bronx. His
father Max was solely instrumental in his early pursuits by encouraging him to follow his
love of art by attending the High School of Music and Art in NYC. After completing his
military service in the Army Air Corp, Breslow was formally trained in the Academy
Julien in Paris, France as well as at the Art Students League in New York City. Notable
instructors at the Art Students League included painter, illustrator, and muralist Frank J.
Reilly (1906–1967) and illustrator and painter Jack Faragasso (b.1929). Breslow received
the Frank J. Reilly Drawing Award for the year 1949-50 at the Art Students League.
Breslow was a successful studio artist producing illustrations to science fiction
books including those of Andre Norton (1974-79); James Blish’s book Star Trek 7
(1971); Arthur K. Barnes’ book Interplanetary Hunter (1972); Larry Eisenberg’s book
The Best Laid Schemes (1973); Philip K. Dick’s book Eye in the Sky (1975) and more.
He also created various ad campaigns, movie posters, and covers for magazines. His
painting of singer James Taylor, that was featured on the cover of Time magazine on
March 1 st 1971, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, The Smithsonian
Institution, Washington, DC. Breslow’s James Taylor cover was selected by Time
magazine to the 25 Classic TIME Music Covers. Another painting at the collection of the
National Portrait Gallery is Breslow’s Jimmy Carter portrait which was featured on the
cover of the Time magazine on May 31, 1971. Breslow’s work took him from NYC to
Montreal, Detroit, Chicago and back to New York where he lived for more than 50 years.
In addition to his commissioned art, by the encouragement of his wife Beverly
Rae, Breslow launched on a purposeful artistic journey that lasted until 2008. His work is
separated into phases, some were concise periods of time while others started, stopped
and started again years later. The phases are both distinct and yet have overlapping
themes depicting concentrated landscapes. The visual language was created with subtle
influences from the work of American muralist, illustrator, and painter Edwin Austin
Abbey (1852-1911), particularly Abby’s illustrations for The Quiet Life. Greater
influences came from his extensive time exploring, hiking and observing nature.
Locations of inspiration included the Haystacks in Olympic National Park, Shades State
Park in western Indiana and decades of trips to the bays, inlets and coves of Maine's east
coast north of Portland. His work and personal world were also shaped by his love of
reading classical books on history, art, language and music. Life in New York city
enriched Breslow’s intellectual substance provided by book stores, museums and endless
walks thru Central Park. In contrast, his quiet home life was a refuge. Anecdotally,
Breslow never owned a television, cell phone or computer.
Breslow’s work depicts an intense focus on negative space shaping the positive
image, pronounced light sources and a distinct drawing language. The vignettes range
from small nature groupings of leaves, branches, rocks and twigs to large scale scenes
exceeding 10 feet in length. One of his more dramatic series of work consists of black
and white ink and wash paintings composed of botanical elements and expressive rocks.
These metaphysical images enabled Breslow to echo his fascination to science fiction
without super heroes or any human figures. Several of the metaphysical images are in the
collection of the Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton College, Des Plaines, Illinois. As
Breslow’s work progressed stylistically his images became more curated by removing all
visual distractions and moving the viewer’s eye to a specific and isolated place in time.
These frame captures are succinct, deliberate and are supported by the intense technique
demonstrated thru out his journey as an artist.