The Art of Ron Lesser Volume 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens

In the late 1950s, while studying with the legendary art teacher Frank J. Reilly at the Art Students League in New York City, Ron Lesser embarked on a long career as one of America’s top illustration artists. Over the next four decades, his artwork was used for thousands of paperback book covers, movie posters, magazines, and advertisements. Many great artists once made a good living doing such illustration artwork and Ron Lesser is among the greatest. He’s also one of the few who are still alive and still painting.

Like a number of other top 20th century illustrators, Lesser went on to do paintings for galleries as the market for illustration art faded away in the 1990s. His gallery artwork includes Civil War and Western scenes, sports, celebrity portraits, and new versions of the types of subjects he once did for paperback covers. The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1 is the first of a planned series that will cover different periods and aspects of the artist and his artwork. The focus of this volume is on a subset of the art Lesser created during the first leg of his career—the paperback covers, movie posters, magazine, and ad artwork he did between 1959 and 1979 that featured images of “dangerous dames,” “sexy sirens,” and other beautiful women. Featuring an in-depth interview conducted by J. Kingston Pierce, one of the world’s foremost experts on vintage paperbacks, The Art of Ron Lesser Vol. 1 provides a fascinating overview of Lesser’s life and career, and what Pierce calls “The Lesser Look.”

This volume showcases more than 200 book covers, posters, original paintings, and model reference photos from Lesser’s personal archives, illuminated by his own commentary. This gives the reader unique insights into the man, his work, and the world of commercial illustration. Future volumes in The Art of Ron Lesser series will focus on other decades and subjects, such as his Western and action/adventure paperbacks, celebrity portraits, historical artwork, and more.

"This astonishing book – perhaps the best ever assembled about a key artist of paperback book covers – is a mind-boggling feast for the eyes. What surprised me most was how many books I have purchased over the last fifty years, how many movies I have attended, that were due to Ron Lesser luring me in. Nothing 'lesser' about Ron – he is one of the handful of masters, right next to McGinnis and Maguire."
- Max Allan Collins, Bestselling author of Road to Perdition, The Dick Tracy
comic strip, The Quarry novel series, and the recent
Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction

“Ron Lesser’s captivating depictions of impossibly beautiful women have always held a magnetic allure for connoisseurs of vintage paperbacks. This long-overdue and meticulously crafted book offers a rich tribute to Lesser’s illustrious career, brimming with an array of his original art, reference photographs, and a treasure trove of vintage artifacts – from paperback covers to movie posters and beyond. This inaugural volume in an anticipated series is an instant ‘must have’ for fans of paperback art, and a particular delight for those who appreciate the timeless charms of deadly dames and sexy sirens!”
- Dan Zimmer, Editor and publisher of Illustration magazine