“Outcast” (1974) was one of many images of Richard M. Nixon that Mr. Holland created for The Times. Credit… Brad Holland/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [New York Times caption and illustration]
The larger, more established studios, he later recalled, did not take to his eccentric work, responding with blank stares and, in one instance, suggesting religious counseling.
My title is illustrator Brad Holland’s comment in turning down an assignment offered by Playboy in 1967. The magazine hired him anyway, and he worked there for a quarter century.
“In conventional professional terms, everything I said and did during those three days was wrong,” Mr. Holland wrote on his blog in 2018. “But God bless Art Paul [Playboy’s art director], I had done them with the right guy. I had stumbled up the stairs in the dark, and when the lights came on, there I was.”
When Time magazine declared the Ayatollah Khomeini “Man of the Year” in January 1980, it was Mr. Holland’s stern portrait that glared from the cover. Credit… Brad Holland/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. [New York Times caption and illustration]
Holland’s remark later in life about stumbling up the stairs in the dark stayed with me. It reminds me of the reliable saying, “When you reach your destination, there you are.”
He worked constantly on his own ideas, which he said sprang from his unconscious, or from characters he saw on the street, or from some philosophical concept he was trying to puzzle through.
(Penelope Green, “Brad Holland, Subversive Artist Who Reinvented American Illustration, Dies at 81,” New York Times, 4-13-25)
(c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved
EthicalDative 
Great article about an artist I knew nothing about. His perspective is awesome though.
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He was new to me, too. I’m glad you found him interesting as I did. Great to have your feedback. I’m a big fan of your blog.
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Thanks very much, JMN. I appreciate that.
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Great creativity! Well shared.👍👍
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Thank you for registering your appreciation. Such feedback is always welcome. Best regards!
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