Arthur B. Singer

Arthur Bernard Singer (4 December 1917 7 April 1990) was an American wildlife artist who primarily specialized in bird illustration.

Early life and education Singer was born on 4 December 1917 in New York City, to a family of artists, the son of Tessie (Kirshbaum) and Sigmund Singer, and was raised in mid-Manhattan. In the 1930s he made friends with several jazz musicians active in Harlem, including Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, both of whom he sketched during this period. This friendship lasted a lifetime, and in 1950s Ellington asked Singer to design a number of album covers, including a design that became the album cover for In a Mellow Tone.

Career Influenced by Carl Rungius, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, and Wilhelm Kuhnert, Singer became a full-time illustrator and artist by 1955. An assignment from The American Home magazine in 1956 cleared the path for him as a wildlife artist for the rest of his life. He died of esophageal cancer in his home in Jericho, New York on 7 April 1990.