Bernie Fuchs | Magazine illustrator, 76

Bernie Fuchs, 76, an illustrator whose influential work for magazines ranging from Cosmopolitan to Sports Illustrated seamlessly blended qualities of traditional narrative with hints of abstract composition, died of esophageal cancer Sept. 17 at a care facility in Fairfield, Conn.

He was adept at balancing art and commerce. He met the needs of mass-circulation magazines accustomed to Norman Rockwell-style realism, but he injected a fresh vitality and impressionism that became hugely popular and transformed the illustration field. He even experimented with bold designs based on the abstract expressionism movement popularized by painters Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning (see his work via http://go.philly.com/fuchs).

"Bernie combined the best of both worlds," said illustrator Murray Tinkelman, director of the University of Hartford's master of fine arts program and chair of the New York-based Society of Illustrators' hall of fame committee.

He entered the hall in 1975. He was among the youngest inductees on a roster that includes Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, and John James Audubon.

- Washington Post