Artist Kelly Freas

Artist Kelly Freas passed away today at age 82 of natural causes.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Freas illustrated the covers or the pages of books by writers including Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, A.E. Van Vogt, Poul Anderson and Frederik Pohl.

I knew Kelly Freas best from his illustrations in Analog, the Science Fiction magazine, but he was probably better known for his work that graced the covers of Mad Magazine for many years.

Beginning in the 1950s, he spent seven years as the main cover artist of Mad Magazine, creating stylishly detailed portraits and helping to make famous Alfred E. Newman, the freckled, front-tooth-deprived purveyor of the phrase, "What? Me Worry?"

He also did other work including an album cover for Queen and the original Skylab patch design for NASA.

Update: De Doc has a nice post up about the passing of this artistic giant.

Posted by Ted at January 3, 2005 04:30 PM | TrackBack