LEN STECKLER
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Steckler observed the world around
him in images, and started drawing when he was five years old. An aunt,
who recognized his talent often took him to museums where he saw the work of
Sargent, Homer, Rembrandt and other great painters. At an early age he identified
with the world of Art and he knew that this was what he loved most. After a stint
in the Air Force, he attended Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design.
He honed his craft at the Art Student's League, where he studied with the eminent
artists and teachers of the time such as Frank Reilly, Yasou Kuniyoshi, Edwin Dickensen,
and Robert Beverly Hale. He won the prestigious gold medal for watercolor from the
National Academy of Design.
In pursuit of his career, Steckler became a successful illustrator in New York City,
where his work appeared in some of the most prestigious magazines of their day such as
The SATURDAY EVENING POST, COSMOPOLITAN, McCALLS, and GOOD HOUSEKEEPING. He also did
illustrations for major advertising campaigns, most notably, an award-winning
campaign for Diet Pepsi. As Steckler's creativity evolved, he became fascinated by the "art of the
photograph". To this medium, he brought the fundamentals of art that he
understood deep within his being. The result was Len Steckler becoming a
world-famous and award-winning photographer. Best known for his photographs of beautiful women
and the world of fashion, his work appeared in VOGUE,
HARPER'S BAZAAR, LIFE, LOOK, and all the great magazines of the day. In
addition to his "beauty" and "celebrity" photographs, Steckler was being approached
by advertising agencies for print campaigns. His client list includes:
Revlon, Noxell (Noxema and Cover Girl cosmetics), American Airlines, United
Airlines, A T & T and Proctor & Gamble to name just a few. His photographs and
articles appeared in PHOTOGRAPHY ANNUAL, POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, INFINITY, and
U.S. CAMERA. His body of photographs from the 60's and 70's are
cutting-edge, even by today's standards.
Steckler soon found a new medium for his creative expression: Commercial and
Industrial film. As a Director/Cinematographer, Steckler explored the "art
of the photograph" with the added dimension of motion. He won recognition as
a filmmaker and was the recipient of the Silver Lion award from the Venice
Film Festival, the Golden Eagle award, numerous Clio awards, and Art
Director's awards from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Steckler was the director and cinematographer for the live segments
of the Emmy-award winning show, "Free to be you and me." He has two
short subject films in the permanent collection of New York's Museum of
Modern Art. After moving to Los Angeles, Steckler produced and/or directed many films
for television. Steckler's film "Mercy or Murder" garnered an Emmy nomination
for Robert Young.
Although he never stopped painting, in the early 90's, Steckler underwent what he would
later describe as an epiphany. During a trip to Israel and while visiting Jerusalem,
he bought sketch pads and watercolors and each night he would paint his expression of the
sights and sounds that he experienced that day and the feelings they evoked.
Permeating light playing on stone, powerful vistas, the extraordinary colors,
the intermingling of the multi-hued peoples, and their spirituality, all moved
him to re-examine his life's work. It were as if his life had moved full circle,
and he now knew that he had to redirect all of his energy toward painting on a full-time basis.
Upon his return to Los Angeles, Steckler withdrew from all projects, and in a
burst of artistic focus and exuberant creativity, he has spent the ensuing
years painting and drawing and examining new paths of expression for his art.
To Steckler, the IMAGE is the first and foremost element of art as a language, along with
structure, perspective, light and shade, color, and composition. He believes that at its core,
art should elicit a feeling, a reaction. It should contain human experience,
communicated with craft and skill, and its language should be universally understood,
even though it comes from subjective observation and individual vision.
As Steckler observed recently,