Elvis' Golden Caricatures Volume 9 (Aloha from the '70s)

THIS COLLECTION OF IMAGES of Elvis in the ’70s makes up “Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 9.” It is a collection of artwork looking at the final years of Presley through the eyes of (mostly relatively) young caricaturists from around the world. This is also the final volume of caricatures that I have scheduled at this time.

As with the first eight volumes, there are images that stress Presley’s enduring masculine beauty during the much of his final years, and there are images that flat out poke fun at his appearance.

Whenever possible, I have linked the artist’s name to a website where more of his/her work can be seen.

Enjoy …

Artist: Unknown

This makes Elvis look so good it barely qualifies as a caricature—but what else would such exaggerated features be considered if not caricature?

Artist: Cheryl Ng

Another image featuring what appears to be a drawing of Elvis’s head from the ’50s atop a ’70s jumpsuited body.

Artist: Constantinos

This heavy-lidded Elvis looks more the stoner than the seducer—which was, unfortunately, true for much of the ’70s.

Artist: unknown

This heavy-lidded Elvis does look like a seducer—he also looks more like the ’50s Elvis than the ’70s Elvis.

Artist: Sumit Barua

Oddly, this image reminds me a bit of Bob Dylan over the past twenty years or so.

Artist: Jota Leal

This is a personal fave: Elvis Presley, fit and happy.

Artist: Zuo Chen

Here, Elvis looks like he did in the early ’60s, making movies like Follow That Dream and Kid Galahad and Girls! Girls! Girls!

Artist: Marco G

Nice drawing that makes Elvis look Lord Byronesque or a character out of a Jane Austen novel.

Artist: Alberto “Sting” Russo

This Aloha Elvis is one of the most grotesque images that I included in any of the nine volumes of “Golden Caricatures.” Albert Russo is one of my very favorite caricaturists and I hope to compile a volume devoted just to his work on Elvis.

Artist: Carreno

This is more a light illustration than an actual caricature, but the slight exaggeration of facial features squeaks it in as a caricature.

Artist: unknown

From the neck down, this looks like photo-realism. From the neck up, pure caricature. This would have made an effective poster for a lot of walls.

Artist: David Levine

Mr. Levine was the regular illustrator/caricaturist for The New York Review of Books for decades. No less a master cartoonist than Jules Feiffer dubbed him “the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the 20th Century.” Alas, his style made many of his subjects look like they had head-colds, like Elvis here.

Artist: unknown

Elvis as king.

FEATURED IMAGE: Artist Caroline Vos is better known as an illustrator, but this caricature of a rather lascivious-looking Elvis was created for the cover of the fifth-anniversary edition of Vegas Seven magazine (below). The art director wanted Ms. Vos to capture Elvis as he might look if he was a fit 80-year-old, but reminiscent of his younger years. Here Elvis reminds me of actor James Woods, who also does a good job of looking lascivious.

POSTSCRIPTUALLY, I have planned four volumes of caricatures of Elvis in the ’50s, and two each for the ’60s and the ’70s. There are at least two artists who have done enough high-quality caricatures of Presley to merit a volume of their own, Al Hirschfeld and Alberto “Sting” Russo. Plus there are a few special articles:

This is the fifth-anniversary edition of Vegas Seven magazine with the fabulous caricature of an aging Elvis by Caroline Vos.

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