with guard and policeman, parliament and more, original 1970's for a publication, image area, unsigned, image area 20" by 32"...Robert "Bob" Peak was born May 30, 1927 in Trinidad, Colorado. He grew up in Kansas and attended Wichita State Univ. from 1944-45 and 1946-49. Peak majored in geology with a minor in art and got a part time job in the art department of McCormick-Armstrong where he gained the confidence to choose an art career and learned the skill of versatility by doing layout, illustration and lettering. Studied at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, CA graduating in 1951. Taught at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, at the Art Students League in New York where he had moved in 1953, and the Famous Artists School. Considered "the father of the contemporary movie poster," Peak transformed the approach to movie advertising from basic collages of film stills or head shots to flamboyant artisticillustrations creating posters for more than 130 films. He also produced 45 covers of Time Magazine, designed over 30 stamps and 31 watercolor paintings for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and did numerous illustrations for TV Guide and Sports Illustrated. He died in Scottsdale, Arizona on August 1, 1992.Exhibitions: Wichita State Univ., 1972, 1982; Ringling Museum of Art; Society ofIllustrators; Design School Gallery, Philadelphia, 1986. Awards: over 100 awards from the Society of Illustrators; Artist of the Year, Artists Guild of New York, 1961; Illustrators Hall of Fame; Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hollywood Reporter, 1992.Collections: National Portrait Gallery; American Museum of Sports; Academy of MotionPicture Arts & Sciences; Wichita State Univ. SOURCES:Susan Craig, "Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945)"AskART, www.askart.com, accessed Oct. 21, 2007; Topeka Public Library. Kansas Artists List. (Mar. 11, 1988).; http://www.bobpeak.com/, accessed Nov. 29, 2007; New York Times (Aug. 6, 1992); Pamphlet file at the Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library in Washington, DC.This and over 1,750 other biographies can be found in Biographical Dictionary of Kansas Artists (active before 1945) compiled by Susan V. Craig, Art & Architecture Librarian at University of Kansas.