Fiddler by Bernie Fuchs

Bernie Fuchs is a grandmaster illustrator of the golden age of American slick magazine illustration and a world renowned fine artist.

This preliminary sketch (pencil on tracing paper) made it into the final illustration on page 3 of the book Ghost of the Southern Belle.

Fuchs was the youngest illustrator ever elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. He was also voted artist of the year and received numerous other awards.

He has painted portraits of several U.S. Presidents including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. His works are also of athletes and celebrities such as Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ted Koppel and Katharine Hepburn.

In 1991, Fuchs was named Sport Artist of the Year by the American Sport Art Museum and Archives. Fuchs was commissioned for the illustration of four U.S. postage stamps which were released in 1998. The stamps featured folk musicians Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, Woody Guthrie, Sonny Terry and Josh White.