Ad Hoc

Welcome to Ad Hoc, our newest feature on the art of advertising. We are proud to welcome Dr. Richard Zakia as the author of this page each month. Richard D. Zakia is Professor Emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology and author/coauthor of several books on photography, perception, semiotics and advertising. (Photo by Vicki H. Wilson).

This Kodak ad of a boy dressed in a blue baseball outfit with a ball and bat in hand is a reflection of a famous painting by what artist?

A) Fragonard

B) Watteau

C) Gainsborough

Answer: The photograph in the Kodak ad is a take-off on "The Boy Blue" painting by Thomas Gainsborough (1727 - 1788).

Gainsborough, Fragonard and Watteau were part of the Rococo Style that dominated European art for most of the 18th Century.

c. Corinne Whitaker 2010

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