David Weidman

{{Short description|American animator}} {{for|the businessman|David N. Weidman}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = David Weidman | honorific_suffix = | image =  | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date ={{birth date|1921|06|28}} | birth_place = | baptised =  | death_date ={{death date and age|2014|08|6|1921|06|28}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | nationality =  | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = Animation | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = | family = | awards =  | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website =  | module = }} '''David Weidman''' (June 28, 1921 – August 6, 2014) was an American animator, animation artist and silkscreen print artist known for his mid-century modern works, including posters, prints and ceramics. Weidman began his career in animation as a background artist during the 1950s and 1960s. During his later life, Weidman's silkscreens were featured in the sets of the AMC television series, ''Mad Men'', which revived interest in his work.<ref name=variety>{{cite news|first=Pat |last=Saperstein |title=David Weidman, Animation Artist Whose Work Appeared on 'Mad Men,' Dies at 93 |url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/david-weidman-animation-artist-whose-work-appeared-on-mad-men-dies-at-93-1201278226/ |work=Variety |date=2014-08-07 |access-date=2014-08-29}}</ref><ref name=latimes>{{cite news|first=David |last=Colker |title=David Weidman dies at 93; artist associated with Midcentury Modernism |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-david-weidman-20140809-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2014-08-08 |access-date=2014-08-29}}</ref> In 2010, the ''Los Angeles Times'' referred to Weidman as possibly "the most famous unknown artist."<ref name=latimes2>{{cite news|title=David Weidman, the most famous unknown artist? |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/07/david-weidman-artist-urban-outfitters.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2010-07-24 |access-date=2014-08-29}}</ref>

Weidman was born in the Belvedere Gardens section of present-day East Los Angeles on June 28, 1921.<ref name=latimes/> He initially attended Garfield High School, but transferred to Manual Arts High School to focus on an art career.<ref name=latimes/> He received a scholarship to Otis Art Institute, but never attended because of the outbreak of World War II, which led to his enlistment in the United States Navy.<ref name=latimes/> He used the GI Bill to enroll at Jepson Art Institute following the war.<ref name=latimes/> He met his future wife, Dorothy, at Jepson, where she was a silkscreen instructor. The couple married in 1953.<ref name=latimes/>

Weidman began his career with animator John Hubley. He then became a background artist and painter at United Productions of America, better known as UPA. He is credited with helping UPA develop the "distinctive modern style" which became a hallmark of the animation studio's productions.<ref name=variety/> His television series and special credits with UPA animation included ''The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo'', ''The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show'' and ''Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol'' (1962). Aside from his work at UPA, Weidman also worked on television shorts for ''Crusader Rabbit'', ''Popeye'', and ''Fractured Fairy Tales''.<ref name=variety/>

David Weidman briefly left animation to focus on silkscreening after becoming frustrated with a group-centered animation process.<ref name=latimes/> Weidman developed a blotting process to create original works.<ref name=latimes/> In a 2013 interview with ''Greater Long Beach'', he described how he utilized pictures of objects or blocks of color with "varying degrees of transparency."<ref name=latimes/><ref name=glb>{{cite news|first=David |last=Colker |title=David Weidman: Mr. Midcentury is Again an Artist for Our Time |url=http://greaterlongbeach.com/25/04/2013/david-weidman-mr-midcentury-is-an-artist-for-our-time-again |work=Greater Long Beach |date=2013-08-25 |access-date=2014-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140827144523/http://greaterlongbeach.com/25/04/2013/david-weidman-mr-midcentury-is-an-artist-for-our-time-again |archive-date=2014-08-27 }}</ref> His prints often mimic the backdrops he painted for 1960s era animated cartoons.<ref name=latimes/> He opened a small gallery and workshop located behind a liquor store on La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles.<ref name=latimes/> He gained a corporate clientele, who used his prints in hotels and other public buildings. However, he disliked having to tailor his work, telling ''Find Art'' in a 2014 interview, "When clients began dictating to me the color and the subject, they took me off my rails."<ref name=latimes/> He created thousands of silkscreens, but few were purchased by collectors.<ref name=latimes/> Some works were priced as low as ten dollars.<ref name=latimes/> His printing shop gradually transformed into a custom framing business.<ref name=latimes/>

Weidman returned to animation during the middle of the 1960s. He worked on ''Wacky Races'' and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines for Hanna-Barbera.<ref name=variety/> He also returned to UPA to work on ''Uncle Sam Magoo'' (1970), the last Mr. Magoo television special.<ref name=variety/>

While he continued to produce posters and ceramics for decades, Weidman stopped creating silkscreen prints around 1980 due to the work-intensive nature of the process.<ref name=latimes/> He did not begin creating new silkscreens again until his artwork was "discovered" or "rediscovered" circa 2008 when he was well into his 80s.<ref name=latimes/>

Interest in Weidman's pieces were revived with the premiere of ''Mad Men'', which first aired in 2007. Mad Men's set designer, Claudette Didul, is quoted in an article by David A. Keeps of the Los Angeles Times, "The style is very distinctive and indicative of that era and the popularity of Danish modern...They remind me of pictures I saw growing up and seemed in keeping with Peggy's sensibilities and reflect her younger and somewhat more cheerful outlook."<ref name=variety/><ref name=latimes/> Weidman's work was used to colorfully decorate the set in Peggy Olson's office and other rooms in the fictional 1960s ad agency.<ref name=variety/><ref name=latimes/>

The inclusion of Weidman's prints in ''Mad Men'' led to new opportunities. Urban Outfitters licensed a line of pillows emblazon with Weidman's mid-century art.<ref name=variety/> In 2008, Steven Kurutz, a writer for ''The New York Times'' published a book on the artist and his work, "The Whimsical Works of David Weidman" through Gingko Press.<ref name=latimes/> A retrospective of his work opened on June 28, 2014, at the Weidman Gallery, now located on Melrose Avenue. Weidman attended the opening of exhibition, which ran until July 31, 2014.<ref name=latimes3>{{cite news|first=Lisa |last=Boone |title=David Weidman retrospective on view through July |url=http://www.latimes.com/home/la-lh-david-weidman-show-1963-20140717-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2014-07-18 |access-date=2014-08-30}}</ref>

David Weidman died of congestive heart failure at his home in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on August 6, 2014, at the age of 93.<ref name=latimes/> He had lived with his wife and family in the home since they built it in the 1950s.<ref name=variety/> He was survived by his wife, Dorothy Weidman, whom he married in 1953, and three children, Lenna Weidman, Josh Weidman and Troy Weidman.<ref name=latimes/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0917781|name=David Weidman}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidman, David}} Category:1921 births Category:2014 deaths Category:American printmakers Category:20th-century American ceramists Category:Animators from Los Angeles Category:Hanna-Barbera people Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:People from East Los Angeles, California