One of the Great American Illustrators and Artists

Ernest Chiriacka

In recent years there has been a resurgence of one of America's great illustrators and artists, Ernest Chiriacka. A decade ago the name was only known to astute pulp art and illustration aficionados along with a select group of western art collectors. The times have changed and his name and work are getting more and more recognition each day and this allusive master is now getting his deserved acclaim. The art and life of Ernest is a testimony to the creative spirit. A tireless artist that spent more than a normal lifetime in pursuit of artistic perfection. The time is right Mr. Chiriacka to shine a light on your past, your paintings, your sculpture and illuminate your talent to the world once again.



Biography


Ernest Chiriacka, artist, illustrator, and sculptor, was born Anastassios Kyriakakos, May 11, 1913 in New York City of Greek ancestry. Know as "Darcy" to his friends and family, he grew up on the lower east side and began his art career painting signs for local shops. In the 1930s he studied art in NYC at the Mechanics Institute, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League. He studied with Harvey Dunn, a famous protege of Howard Pyle, at the Grand Central School of Art. Chiriacka went on to a celebrated career as an important magazine cover artist. He was among the top artists that painted covers for pulp magazines. He also illustrated nationally-circulated family magazines, such as The Saturday Evening Post, American, Good Housekeeping, Liberty, Colliers, Esquire, Coronet and Cosmopolitan. He is best known for his pin up paintings for Esquire Magazine Annual Calendars in the 1950's. He was also one of the top cover artist for paperback books. Chiriacka retired from illustration in the 1960's and began to paint as a fine artist. Like other artists that were influenced by Harvey Dunn, such as Tom Lovell and Robert G. Harris, Chiriacka developed a deep appreciation for the American West. After his career in magazine illustration ended in the 1960s, he devoted much of his time to paintings of western scenes for exhibition in nationwide fine art galleries.
He married Kathryn Giarderlli in 1937. They lived most of their married life in Great Neck, NY. They had two children, Leonard and Athene. After his wife's death in 2001 he lived with his daughter Athene Westergaard, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He spent his last years traveling with her to Europe, Great Britain, and the Caribbean, spending winters on Tortola, BVI and Veiques, PR. His last great project was a foundation for the arts in New Mexico for impoverished children, which includes an art gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe.