Since the 2004 publication of The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora, the
once-forgotten illustrator has gained recognition as one of the foremost
pioneers of a raucous, cartoonish style of commercial art that defines the
Mid-Century aesthetic. Two follow-up volumes, The Curiously Sinister Art (2007)
and The Sweetly Diabolic Art(2009), captured Flora's largely unseen fine art
works, spotlighting a variety of themes such as architecture, cats and dogs,
science, cars, trainsand the occasional swerve toward gratuitous violence. But
one of Flora's sustaining loves was music. His 1940s Columbia and 1950s RCA
Victor record covers, in which legendary musicians were routinely afflicted with
mutant skin tints and bonus limbs, are considered classics of outlandish
post-Cubist caricature. During this period Flora also produced an enormous
amount of promotional ephemera, including new release monthlies, trade booklets,
ads, and point-of-sale novelties. The now out-of-print Mischievous Art featured
Flora's known album covers. (No complete discography existed.) Since that book's
publication, more covers have been found, as well as rough drafts and unused
designs. So Flora co-archivists/authors Irwin Chusid and Barbara Economon have
compiled a complete collection of Flora covers (including recent discoveries)
and unpublished sketches in one volume, augmented by music images not included
in previous volumes. The High Fidelity Art of Jim Flora is the definitive
anthology of the maestro's visual compositions, reflecting jazz, classical, and
Latin music. Regarding his jam-packed canvases Flora once said he couldn't stand
a static space. There's nothing static about the images in The High Fidelity
Art: they wail, dance, bounce, and swing from the chandeliers. Flora had a knack
for grooving with a paintbrush, making art to which you can tap your toes and
snap your fingers.
A Jim Flora record album art-themed collection, which includes rare, previously unavailable material.