Joseph A. Maturo

Artist

From  Movie Posters

Unlike working with most art departments where advertising today is a collaborative effort Joseph Maturo would from a few notes, begin, design and execute the entire poster at his studio.

At this time color photography was not available for movie advertising. Movie theatres wanted colorful pictures of the stars. Billboards pasted in fields on barns or on the sides of buildings in cities needed to be colorful to attract audience.

He was commissioned to create full color oil portraits of the stars. To do the movie posters he would be given posed black and white stills of the actors and actresses. He would be told which heads were to be posed with each other. There would be notes about the hair color.

From a theme about poor couple in love, he created the beautiful sky with all of  Paris at their feet.

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Seventh Heaven

1937

Photograph of the original oil painting

Studio: 20th century Fox

Unsigned

Starring: Simone Simon and James Stewart

 

larger view

1937

Photograph of the original oil painting

Studio: 20th century Fox

Oil on canvas

36" x 24"

Unsigned

Starring: Simone Simon and James Stewart

Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck

larger view

 

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