Patrick Nagel

Patrick Nagel was an American artist and illustrator whose distinctive style became emblematic of the 1980s. Best known for his sleek, stylised portraits of women, Nagel created a visual language that captured the glamour and sophistication of the era. His work, characterised by bold lines, flat colours and minimal shading, continues to be celebrated for its iconic representation of 1980s aesthetics.

Nagel was born in 1945 in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Los Angeles. After serving in the Vietnam War, he attended the Chouinard Art Institute, which is now part of the California Institute of the Arts, and received a BFA degree from California State University, Fullerton. He initially worked as a graphic designer, but it was his commissioned work for Hollywood clients like MGM, United Artists and Universal that brought him widespread recognition.

Nagel began contributing to Playboy magazine in the mid-1970s. His illustrations became a regular feature in the magazine, and quickly gained a cult following. His subjects, often depicted with angular features, alabaster skin and dark hair, became synonymous with the image of the modern woman of the 1980s. A fan of Pre-Raphaelite painters, Patrick Nagel drew on the aesthetics and clean lines of Art Deco with a Pop sensibility to his use of blocks of colours. Nagel was ubiquitous in that era’s commercial art scene in Los Angeles. He painted a portrait of Joan Collins and created the iconic cover art for Duran Duran’s 1982 album Rio.

Patrick Nagel died in 1984 at the age of 38 due to a heart attack. Today, Nagel’s work was widely reproduced and collected, with his prints becoming highly sought after.