"Democratic Vistas" by Richard McGuire

I was very struck by the cover of the New York Times Book Review this week, an illustration by Richard McGuire.

Called "Democratic Vistas," it shows Obama looking out over the long stretch of the U.S., his left hand on an "open to the left side" Bible. Far off, across city, field, plain, and the Rockies, there's an image of the Golden Gate Bridge.

It's a gorgeous image, and it hasn't been posted to The New York Times website – to have seen the image Sunday, you had to get your hands on a print version of the paper.

I emailed Richard to ask if I could scan and post it here, and he generously said yes. I think he should offer it as a lithograph (if he's able to do so), to sell among all that other Obama memorabilia.

McGuire has created some wonderful children's books, in addition to many covers of The New Yorker. He's also been working on an animated film project, Fear(s) of the Dark, produced by Prima Linea. He discusses that project here in an interview with Steven Heller. Heller is co-founder fo the MFA in Design Criticism at the School of Visual Arts, and author of the very interesting on-line Daily Heller. Here's an admiring post about McGuire at a weblog called daddytypes.com, too.

That's it for now...I'm off to watch at actual Transformative Moment take place, as Obama becomes our 44th president. It's quite extraordinary and thrilling!