About the artist:

Ardis Hughes known as Artie among friends was not only an illustrator but was also a "sidewalk artist" creating watercolors and oils of architectural buildings in the United States and Europe. Many of the architectural works of art ended up on corporation literature and institutions such as Carnegie Hall. Some of his clients were Thomas English Muffins, The Sobel Foundation and magazines such as Liberty. Ardis Hughes was an assistant to Saul Tepper who was a student of Dean Cornwell. Ardis was a close friend to John Gannan, a renowned watercolor and wash artist for many major magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post. Richard Lillis, a pulp cover artist' was also a close friend to Artie. All of these illustrators were located on the upper west side of Manhattan during the 30's through the 60's. Besides the illustration work, Artie created many architectural works of art of many famous buildings in Manhattan and Europe. The other area of artwork was portraiture paintings and watercolors of famous personalities and everyday people. Interestingly enough, Ardis Hughes could have been solely a portrait artist, but choose to remain free of any one particular area of art and instead freely dedicated himself to be an all around artist.