California places featured in this edition include:
• A gleaming Santa Fe Super Chief train pulls into San Diego’s beautiful Spanish-style Santa Fe station.
• The Zep Diner was the place to go in L.A. for yummy malts, Hinden-burgers, and frog legs! This fun type of architecture was popular in the 1920s
and 30s.
• A classic 1930’s Greyhound bus departs from a classic Art Deco-style Greyhound depot.
• Amelia Earhart poses between her beautiful 1936 Cord 810 Phaeton, and gleaming Lockheed 10-E Electra twin-engined plane.
• The Cable Car Cafe has a terrific view overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. However, don’t waste your time searching for this establishment, it only ever existed in this artist’s imagination!
• The beautiful Art Deco style Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles was built in 1935. It was the site of many auto shows and other events until in burned down in 1989.
• The Big Dog Cafe must have been a fun place to eat; it certainly was situated in a gorgeous location…Yosemite Valley! In fact, had it existed anywhere, but in this artist’s imagination, I’m pretty sure the U.S. Park Service would not have approved.
• Woolworth’s, where have you gone? This extra-large store was in Bakersfield, CA.
• Built in 1926, the iconic Brown Derby restaurant on Wilshire Blvd. was the place to see and be seen in the 1930s and beyond. Pity they bulldozed it in 1985 after a fire in the kitchen.
• Built in 1928, The Grand Central Air Terminal featured the first paved runway west of the Rocky Mountains. Many famous aviators, including Lindberg, Hughes, and Earhart (pictured) flew from here. Today it’s owned by Disney and has no runway at all!
• Built in 1937 in Westwood CA, the Bruin Theatre continues to be the location for many movie premiers. It was recently featured in the Quentin Tarantino film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
• The Thompson Trophy Races were a popular and exciting event in 1930s Los Angles. They attracted daredevil pilots from across the
country and around the world, including Jimmy Doolittle who flew the Gee Bee R-1 Racer in the foreground.
About Larry Grossman
Artist Larry Grossman’s professional art career began when he bought an airbrush at age fifteen. He soon began painting and selling wild T-shirts at hot rod shows and events such as “The Teen-Age Fair” in Hollywood, often working for the legendary “King of the Car Kustomizers”, George Barris.
In 1967 Larry moved to Berkeley, where he graduated (majoring in film and photography) from CCAC Art School. An animation short film he single-handedly created as a senior won Grand Prize in several film festivals, and he later returned to CCAC to teach animation. In 1981 the Disney Studios enticed Larry back to L.A. to work as a designer on the studio’s landmark first-computerized film “TRON.” After that, Larry created airbrushed art on a free-lance basis for Disney, Warner Bros., and Dreamworks Studios, and also illustrated album covers for legendary musician Frank Zappa, among others.
In the mid 90’s Larry retired his trusty airbrush after becoming enthralled with the creative potential of the computer while working on the 1982 film “Tron.” Larry soon developed his current unique artistic process, which combines digital airbrushing with his own photography. The resulting images are distinctive, unique and striking, and often reflect Larry’s love for the styles of the 1930-50’s (Art Deco in particular). In addition, he owns a 1932 Ford hot rod and a 1961 Nash Metropolitan Convertible (he does all of his own work), and also collects and wears vintage clothes from those periods as well.
The art Larry creates through his current business, Retrovisions, is currently exhibited at galleries and museums worldwide, including the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Museum of Neon Art, the National Hot Rod Museum, the Gene Autry Western Museum, and many airplane museum gift shops. In addition to self-publishing more than seventy-five posters, Larry has also created art for companies such as In-N-Out Burger and Bob’s Big Boy. He also accepts commissions from customers who want custom-tailored art featuring themselves, their airplanes, cars, or whatever.
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