Less Than One Month Till the Show!

The first ever local public exhibition of this private collection
by American Master of Poster Art, Landy Romain Hales, 
native of Anne Arundel County.        

On Display at the

Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts

November 2 to December 9, 2012

Opening Reception

Sunday afternoon, November 4,  2 to 4 p.m.

Gallery Reception
Wednesday evening, Nov.14,  6-8pm
All 5 Hales granddaughters will be there to answer questions.

     

In the 1960’s and 1970’s in his studio in Severna Park, Hales produced a body of works using the unique technique of his layer poster design.  Painstakingly cut by hand of composition board, fitted and glued in layers, then painted with Tempera paint, these brightly colored pieces highlight local images as well as holiday themes and timely topics of general interest.

Landy Romain Hales – A Brief Biography

With no formal art training, Landy Romain Hales moved from a farming childhood on the Mountain Road in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to his own sign shop in Baltimore at the age of 19, to being the premier display artist in New York City during the 1920’s and ‘30’s.   

Mr. Hales’ shop produced 100 4-foot tall wooden soldiers and detailed models of stage sets along 5^th Avenue for marketing Balieff’s Chauve Souris Russian musical show; he went on to work with other theaters and commercial enterprises in New York and elsewhere.  He decorated the major department stores including Macy’s, Gimbel’s and Saks Fifth Avenue.  His patented layer posters filled all 32 of Saks’ windows for 4 months while the interior of their new store on Fifth Avenue was being finished.  

The animated "Christmas Around the World" windows Mr. Hales researched and created for Macy’s aroused critical and popular acclaim.  He was the first to gain an exclusive right to use Walt Disney’s characters in commercial products, and he devised popular layer poster puzzles and craft kits for children.

Returning with his family to Round Bay, Severna Park, Maryland, Mr. Hales retired and began to study on his own the works of famous artists.  He said, “I have these ideas in my head, and I want to develop them in my medium”  He produced over 60 works as individual layer posters, including his interpretations of Picasso’s cubism, Matisse’s French fauvism style and Warhol’s pop art.