René Bouché and CBS in the 1950s...

Even if you're not familiar with his name, if you're a fan of classic television, you've no doubt seen the work of Mr. Bouché.

Although more famous as a fashion illustrator and his works of expressionism, Mr. Bouché had an ongoing fascination with portraiture, and was hired by the Tiffany Network in the 1950s to do renderings of some of their notable stars.

I don't know who owned this collection of prints that I just received, and which are pictured below, but I'm almost certain it must have been a previous CBS executive. I've not found any evidence to suggest that a series of these prints was ever released to the general public, so I'm guessing that what you see was part of a limited run of images that were available to some of the network bigwigs.





I can't tell you where they came from, but I can tell you where they're going to stay...!

For more about Mr. Bouché, his website is here...:

René Bouché : Artist of His Time

- Kevin

 

I got them from a musician, actually... but I'm trying to find out a little more history on the set.

I was flabbergasted when I saw these... finding one CBS Bouché print would have been " a find". Finding six in a bunch strains the bounds of credibility!

They need a bit of archival curating/restoration, but I can have that done over time. I love the Benny... my wife loves the Gleason (which, truth to be told, I'd never seen before).

More to come, I'm sure...!

- Kevin

 

I've seen the Sullivan, used as an interstitial slide during an "Ed Sullivan Show" broadcast, and have spotted the Lucy/Desi and Sinatra sketches on the web... and I agree with you about the Sinatra sketch.

Yes, the Benny & the Skelton sketches are pretty iconic... but there's a funny story about Benny's, which I'll post link to, once I'm back at my regular keyboard.

- Kevin

 

Bouche also did a sketch of Judy Garland as one of his last works, in 1963-- it was used as a TV Guide cover, prior to the debut of her ill-fated CBS variety series.



- Kevin

 

Here's the story about Jack Benny's Bouchè portrait-- actually part of a profile about CBS Creative Director William Golden:

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"Here’s another example of how [Golden] dealt with the endless stream of unqualified individuals who tried to encroach on his domain:

Bill flatly refused to submit art for approval to anyone. On another occasion, he commissioned the artist Rene Bouché to do a drawing of a certain television star for a newspaper ad. When the star saw the sketch in the paper he exploded. He demanded that only authorized photographs be used in all future ads. I (CBS executive Jack Cowden) was one of many who urged Bill not to make an issue of the matter but to go along with the request. Instead, Bill immediately commissioned Bouché to do another drawing of the same performer and again refused to show it to the star. Eventually the new sketch appeared in another ad and became the famous trademark– on the air and off– of America’s all-time favorite comedian: Jack Benny."

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The full article is here:

The Creative Integrity of William Golden

- Kevin

 

Bouchè's Benny & Skelton sketches were used as TV Guide covers. A Murrow illustration by Hirschfeld was colored and used for a TVG cover in 1956, if I remember properly...

Yep-- here it is...:





Bouchè's Murrow **was** used for a Columbia LP cover, though...



- Kevin