Astronaut - Space Man Mid Century - Howard Hughes, ca. 1967

Mario Zamparelli served as the chief designer for the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes' empire, creating his promotional images and designing many of its products.
In the present work, he employs a mid-century aesthetic, combined with flat modernist design elements, to define a classic image of a 1960s Astronaut with confident energy and a handsome formal presence. The painting is masterfully executed in a realist manner that exhibits the artist's deep knowledge of academic art.
Looking back at this work from today's perspective, it exemplifies the exuberance of a nascent space age.
Unframed, Unsigned, estate-stamped lower left verso
Board Size 22 x 15
Gouache, Colored Pencil, Mixed Media on Heavy Illustration Board
14 63/100 × 11 13/100 in
US$9,000 Plus Shipping

Mario Armond Zamparelli (June 4, 1921 – September 8, 2012)[1] was an American artist and designer, best known for his connection with Howard Hughes.[2]
Life

Zamparelli was perhaps best known for his connection with Howard Hughes. For 18 years, Zamparelli was Chief Executive Designer of Hughes' empire, and created the corporate identity of TWA, Hughes Airwest, Hughes Helicopters, the Summa Corporation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and was the artist for Hughes' RKO General movies posters.

He designed interiors and exteriors of many of the legendary Las Vegas hotels, including the Frontier Hotel, the Desert Inn, the Sands, Tropicana, among other Hughes' hotels and casinos and property holdings. He was also responsible for the only portrait of Howard Hughes in existence that was commissioned by Hughes himself.

Zamparelli was also responsible for many of the iconic corporate design identities of many products such as TWA, Datsun, Capitol Records, Hunts, Union Bank, Universal Pictures, Southern California Gas Company, Kimberly Clark, Mattel, the Norton Simon Corporation, among many others. He also designed the Home of the Future for Disney.

At a young age it was realized Zamparelli had the mind of a genius and an extraordinary talent in art, he started his career working in illustration for such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Esquire, and Harpers Bazaar until he was handpicked by Howard Hughes as personal artist for his empire.

He was a fine artist, writer, avid photographer and musician, having played in a band with the legendary jazz artist Dave Brubeck in his younger years. He was also poet and an avid art collector and art teacher and was truly respected artist among his peers in the art world.

He is the Who's Who in the American West and Who's Who in American Art. He has won numerous awards, including a Golden Globe Award for "Best Documentary" for a BBC