person or book cover
Image (ca. late 1990s) from Pulpfaction.net
Reginald Pitt Reginald Pitt i(A69149 works by) (a.k.a. Reg Pitt)
Born: Established: 16 Sep 1929 Rozelle, Glebe - Leichhardt - Balmain area, Sydney Inner West, Sydney, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 12 Oct 2010 Peakhurst, Hurstville area, Sydney Southern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Male
(Cover Artist) assertion
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BiographyHistory

Reginald Pitt displayed artistic talent from an early age and was encouraged to attend art school by Brother Probus, an instructor at Marist Brothers High School, who was a formally-trained commercial artist himself. Upon leaving high school, Pitt worked in a variety of jobs until 1944 when, aged 15 years, he began working as an art assistant for his elder brother, Stan Pitt (q.v.), who was gaining prominence amongst Sydney publishing circles as a talented comic book artist.

Pitt was actively involved in the production of Silver Starr in the Flameworld, a science-fiction comic strip developed by Stan for the Sunday Sun and Guardian newspaper in 1946. Pitt contributed storylines and dialogue and drew many of the detailed backdrops featured in the comic, while his brother concentrated his efforts on depicting the hero, Silver Starr, and the strip's ensemble cast of characters.

Pitt collaborated with Stan throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, as co-author (with Frank Ashley, q.v.) of the Yarmak - Jungle King Comic series for Young's Merchandising. Pitt also designed the sophisticated typography used in Stan's cover paintings for various romance comics published by Malian Press. During this period, Pitt established himself as a commercial graphic artist and began creating abstract paintings and pastel works in his spare time.

Pitt persuaded his brother to work with him on 'Gully Foyle', an ambitious comic strip adaptation of the science-fiction novel The Stars My Destination (1956), by Alfred Bester (q.v.). Pitt, who was seriously injured in a car accident, used his compensation pay-out to establish a studio in the Sydney suburb of Burwood for himself and Stan in 1963, from where they began working full-time on 'Gully Foyle'. Pitt wrote the script, drew the futuristic 'hardware' and background scenery and used time-lapse photography to achieve the stunning geometric patterns seen in the 'solar flares' spaceship rescue sequence. The 'Gully Foyle' project was abandoned in 1968 upon discovering that Bester had sold the comic strip adaptation rights to a film production company.

Pitt again worked with Stan on comic book stories produced for US comic book publishers, such as Gold Key and National Periodical Publications, during the early 1970s.

Retiring from the commercial art field in 1993, Pitt began creating vibrant paper collage assemblies, partly inspired by the later work of the influential French artist Henri Matisse. Pitt's first major solo exhibition, 'Abstractions: The Art of Reg Pitt', was held at the St. George Regional Museum, Hurstville, New South Wales, in May 2008.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Influenced by Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Last amended 17 Nov 2010 09:51:11
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