newly discovered Flora cover?

We recently discovered this Camden 7" EP that might very well feature an overlooked Flora cover.

The catalog number, CAE-138, dates the release to 1954, during which Flora designed 18 covers for RCA Victor, ten of them 7" EPs for RCA's Camden budget subsidiary (two of which were for the Festival Concert Orchestra, a generic name for an aggregate of stellar musicians who were under contract to other labels). Some were credited to or signed by Flora, others not.

Here's why we think it's a Flora:

• The soldier’s eyes. It's a Flora stare.
• The two-color scheme.
• The soldier’s eyes. Flora was a primary exponent of fried-egg eyes.
• The lady’s boobs.
• The soldier’s eyes.
• The dotted fill in the typography.
• Alternating color backdrop.
• The soldier’s eyes.
• The lady’s dress.
• The lady’s face has a Flora smile.
• The lady is floating in mid-air.
• The soldier’s eyes.

If it's a Flora (as we believe), it's hardly a top-tier Flora, but we'll add it to the catalog.

Crosby Classics

We're grateful to Jeffrey Ferguson, who alerted us to this previously overlooked early Flora cover.

Based on the catalog number (M-555) and some internet research, this cover dates from 1944, which would make it the earliest known illustrated Jim Flora cover. Though unsigned, the tiger-striped typography and horseback rider point to Flora as the artistic culprit. In 1944 he was art director of Columbia, which was issuing back catalog in 78 folio format owing to a recording ban (a musicians union stoppage) and a shellac shortage (due to the war effort). These Crosby recordings dated from the early 1930s.

Spectators — new fine art print

At JimFlora.com we're issuing our first new limited edition fine art print in over a year. Spectators, an uncirculated 1940s-era tempera, depicts a phantasmagoria of grotesque faces, with stray limbs. This work has not previously been reproduced or published anywhere. The original is owned by Flora's godson, Keith McAllister, of California, who granted us permission to professionally photograph the work and issue it as a limited edition print. 

Only twenty-five (25) prints of Spectators were produced for this edition. Each print is hand-numbered in the lower right, hand-titled in the lower left (beneath the art), and authenticated on the reverse with the stamped seal of Jim Flora Art (a Flora family enterprise).