EYVIND EARLE 1916 - 2000



“For 70 years I’ve painted paintings, and I’m constantly and everlastingly overwhelmed at the stupendous infinity of Nature. Wherever I look, there I see creation. Art is creating….Art is the search for truth.” A statement by Eyvind Earle in 1996.

The beginning of life for this prolific painter was in 1916 in New York. At the early age of 10 his father put-forth an ultimatum: read 50 pages of a book or paint a picture every day. Eyvind Earle completed both. When he was only 14 he had his first one-man showing in France. From then on his fame only grew steadily upwards. His artistic style was true realism until he studied the work of master painters such as Van Gogh, Cezanne, Rockwell, Kent and Georgia O’Keefe. During this time he experimented and soon developed his own style. One in which is still hard to define today. It has been stylized as hyperrealism, but “fantasia” springs to mind after associating his style with Walt Disney animations. His work is very linear displaying extreme distance and creating incredible depth in an almost three-dimensional perspective. Viewing his work is viewing a very original interpretation of nature’s environment.

Earle became a part of Walt Disney studios at the age of 35 as an assistant background painter. Within two years he was recognized for outstanding achievement when he created the look of “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom” an animated short that won an Academy Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award. During the next decade Earle kept busy creating the settings for “Peter Pan”, “For Whom the Bulls Toil”, “Working for Peanuts”, “Pigs is Pigs”, “Paul Bunyan” and “Lady and the Tramp”. Earle was the lead stylist for the background and color technique used in helping to create the entire atmosphere and look for the famous animation “Sleeping Beauty”.

In addition to his career with Disney studios, Earle sought many different avenues for fulfillment. In the 1940’s he created Christmas cards through American Artist Group, designing more than 800 cards and selling more than 300 million copies. He illustrated books, magazine covers and produced and created several animated commercials and specials for television. After about 15 years creating animated art, Earle returned to painting full time in 1966 and kept working until the end of his life. Earle used many different kinds of mediums: watercolors, oils, sculpture, drawings and scratchboards. In 1974 he began the production of limited edition serigraphs which, many believe, have added even more depth with the layering of color.

In 1998 at its Annie Awards show in Glendale, the International Animated Film Society gave Eyvind Earle its Windsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement. On July 20, 2000, Eyvind Earle passed away. During his phenomenal life, he created many different kinds of artwork that have not yet been displayed publicly. Eyvind Earle Publishing LLC, under the strict instruction of the late Earle, will continue the legacy of the artist, promoting and introducing new works worldwide.