I'm a big fan of illustrator Jack Unruh's -- you probably are too if you've seen his work in, oh, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, Time or ... look, you name it. The man ain't in the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame for nothing. He's a good. So, funny thing: I was looking for something on eBay and stumbled across this circa-1970s piece the Dallas-based illustrator did of the Dallas Convention Center.
I called Unruh to ask him about it. He didn't know what in the hell I was talking about, so I sent him the link. He took one look at it and insisted, nope, not his. Then he looked at it a little harder.
"I would not ever have recognized it, but I recognize the signature," he said. "Boy, if that ain't a crappy-ass painting. It's a wonder I ever survived." He laughed, long and hard. "I think I'd pay $110 to burn the sumbitch."
But, I told him, you're in the illustrators' hall of fame. That price tag seems like a hell of a good deal.
"Mistakes are made every day," he said. "I wonder where in the hell they came up with this thing."
Then he read aloud the description: "This is an incredible piece of original 1970s illustration art for the Dallas Convention Center." He stopped, then laughed again.
"Didn't say good," Unruh said. "Just said 'incredible piece.' That doesn't mean good."
Act now, before our art director Alexander Flores does. 'Cause as far as he's concerned, $110 is a steal for a piece by a local legend.
