N E W S J U L Y 8 L E H A V R E resident artist George Bentz has done it all MAD MAN You may not know LeHavre resident and artist George Bentz, but you may be familiar with his work, especially if you’ve visited Logan’s Café within the past couple of months. Bentz’s beautiful oils grace the wall leading out to the pool, a colorful array of seascapes inspired by Nantucket, a favorite subject of the artist’s. Bentz’s paintings are no less colorful than he is. Born in Brooklyn, Bentz has been drawing ever since he could hold a pencil. He was encouraged at a young age by his Aunt Mary who was an artist herself, albeit a nonprofessional one. Still, she recognized her young nephew’s abilities. When Bentz was five, she urged him to enter a contest promoted by Crayola Crayons. Using the venerable drawing tools, entrants were instructed to compose a picture containing a cow, barn, house, and mountains among other elements. Bentz won and received $1. “In those days, that was a lot of money,” says the artist. It was only fitting that years later, as a successful advertising artist, Bentz would do work for Crayola Crayons again, creating ads which ran in such auspicious publications as “Family Circle” and “America” magazines. As he got older, Bentz continued to follow his passion, getting admitted and attending the prestigious High School of Art and Design (née School of Industrial Art), where singer Tony Bennett was a classmate. While there, he moonlighted at a print house that created ads for cigarettes, working after school until the wee hours of the morning delivery typefaces to clients. Upon graduation, he became an apprentice for an art studio that produced work for ad agencies. “I would arrive around 6am,” says Bentz. “The artists wouldn’t get in 8 LEHAVRE COURIER | JULY 2015 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM From Madison Avenue to until 7am, and I’d set up their work stations for them.” He also served as a model for the artists. “The second World War was just beginning and they’d have me in uniform, striking poses indicative of the fighting… bent back with my arm outstretched as though I was preparing to throw a grenade… that sort of thing,” explains Bentz. Bentz’s diligence and industrious work ethic eventually paid off when he was given an assignment to illustrate a cover for “American Legion” magazine. The art featured a legionnaire celebrating New Year’s Eve and was done in the style of famous artist Peter Arno who was quite popular at the time. Bentz didn’t get paid for the gig, but the exposure and experience he gained were priceless. Bentz refers to himself as one of the original “Mad Men,” having worked in the field in the 60s up LeHavre, through the 80s. “I’d still be working at the agency had computers not taken over,” he says. He’s built a career illustrating for the biggest ad agencies, such as Saatchi & Saatchi, J. Walter Thompson and Young & Rubicam, producing work for such prominent clients as IBM, AT&T, Dannon Yogurt and Blue Cross Blue Shield. His work has appeared in major magazines, but his artistic skills were not relegated to print advertising alone. He also designed for record companies, such as Decca and Columbia, creating record covers for top entertainers, such as Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and Rod Stewart. A facility for emulating art styles and caricature drawing, Bentz once ghosted cartoonist Charles Schulz’s Snoopy and other Peanuts characters that appeared on licensed products for Met Life. He’s even had cartoons published in the New Yorker.
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