Excerpts from The Revolutionary Seymour, By Steven Heller:
Seymour’s art was postmodern long before the term was coined. Yet it was resolutely modern in its rejection of the nostalgic and romantic representation, as in the acolytes of Norman Rockwell, that had been popular in mainstream advertising magazines at the time. Instead of prosaic or melodramatic tableau, Seymour emphasized clever concept. What makes the very best of his art so arresting, and so identifiable, is the tenacity of his ideas—simple, complex, rational, and even absurd ideas.

The illustrations for magazines, posters, advertisements, book jackets, record covers, product packages, and children’s books that he created after founding Push Pin Studios with Milton Glaser and Edward Sorel in 1954 directly influenced two generations (statistical fact) and indirectly inspired another two (educated conjecture) of international illustrators and designers to explore an eclectic range of stylistic an conceptual methods.
To read more: http://seymourchwastarchive.com/about/seymour/
The 1963 Sting Ray production car’s lineage can be traced to two separate GM projects: the Q-Corvette, and perhaps more directly, Mitchell’s racing
The 300 SL celebrated its premiere at the? International Motor Sports Show? in New York, which took place from February 6th to 14th, 1954. Mercedes-Benz experienced an enormously positive response from visitors to the 300 SL at the Motor Show, so series production began in August 1954 at the Sindelfingen plant.
This 300 SL Roadster was delivered in Germany on September 22, 1960. In the mid-1980s, the car came into the possession of an experienced Mercedes specialist. The roadster underwent extensive restoration under his direction. According to the available documentation, the body was separated from the chassis and completely overhauled. Since then, the car has only been moved about 28,000 km and serviced regularly. A few years ago, the vehicle changed hands within Germany to a businessman and classic car enthusiast who used the roadster for nice trips and events.
Described as “one of the more significant milestones of the postwar industry”, the car offered combined safety and high-speed performance. Subsequent to Studebaker’s discontinuation of the model, a series of five owner arrangements continued manufacture and marketing of the Avanti model.
The Avanti was developed at the direction of Studebaker president, Sherwood Agbert. “The car’s design theme is the result of sketches Egbert “doodled” on a jet-plane flight west from Chicago 37 days after becoming president of Studebaker in February 1961.” Designed by Raymond Loewy’s team, the Avanti featured a radical fiberglass body mounted on a modified studebaker Lark Daytona 109-inch convertible chassis and powered by a modified 289 Hawk engine. APaxton supercharger was offered as an option.
Rock ’n’ roll, or even popular music, [was] often highly gendered and sexist. It certainly was paternalistic in the ’60s and prior, in terms of songs being directed at women as objects, women as needing to be “counseled” about love, [or] it was about coming on to them, even if it was just something innocent and romantic, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” And the Beatles very consciously in 1965 began to change their tone. They created a very specific type of female character who would think for herself and did not need a man.
Looking back at your favorite classic rock songs through the lens of today’s attitudes about women’s empowerment, male privilege, and even sexual violence can be cringeworthy at best. But just as they were trailblazers in music, film, fashion, and popular culture, the Beatles were ahead of their time in embracing feminism, argues Kenneth Womack, a well-known authority on the band and dean at Monmouth University, evolving from early patronizing “hey, girl” entreaties to songs filled with independent women who don’t need a man, not even a Beatle. Ideological Diversity, a Harvard Kennedy School student organization, hosts a free talk with Womack on Thursday about how the group explored issues of feminism, gender, and inclusion in ways few rock bands dared in the 1960s.


