Richard Merkin

Life & Legacy

Richard Marshall Merkin (October 9, 1938 – September 5, 2009) was an American painter, illustrator and arts educator. Merkin's fascination with the 1920s and 1930s defined his art and shaped his identity as a professional dandy. Many of his works depict the interwar years, painting narrative scenes in bright colors of jazz musicians, film stars, writers, and sports heroes. Merkin was as well known for his outré sense of clothing style and collections of vintage pornography (in particular Tijuana bibles) as he was for his painting and illustration work.
He appears on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) and in a scene in the 1974 film The Great Gatsby.