Chuck Wilkinson born Charles William Wilkinson (August 1932 - December 2010) was an American commercial illustrator best known for his nostalgic depictions of F. Scott Fitzgerald era society and sporting events. Chuck Wilkinson’s career spanned four decades of the latter part of the 20th century at a time when hand painted illustrations often blurred the boundaries between illustration and painting. As Chuck’s distinct painting style developed, his work appeared regularly in Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, Family Circle and Sports Illustrated alongside stories by authors such as Zelda Fitzgerald, Richard Bach and Daphne du Maurier. He produced artwork for national ad campaigns for Merrill Lynch, Creighton Shirts, San Pellegrino and McLouth Steel Corporation. By 1979 he was creating poster artwork for movies and television most notably for the film “A Little Romance”(1979), and several posters for Mobil Masterpiece Theatre including the posters for “Love for Lydia”(1979), ”Therese Raquin”(1981), “Love in a Cold Climate”(1982) and “Nancy Astor”(1984). He also produced book cover and interior plate illustrations for Bantam, Dell and The Franklin Library. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Chuck attended nationally recognized Cass Technical High School. He then attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, studying with the artist Richard Lindner among others. A true Midwesterner he returned to Detroit, working as an illustrator and college professor there for his entire career. Initially employed by a newly formed Detroit ad agency run by John F. McNamara, and later working as a freelance illustrator receiving commissions through agencies in New York City, his first professional recognition came from the Detroit Art Directors Club in 1968 with a medal for a cover illustration, which ran in the Detroit Free Press’ Detroit Magazine. His work also received acknowledgement from his peers in the yearly journals published by the New York based Society of Illustrators. Simultaneous with his illustration career, Chuck taught illustration design and drawing classes for many years at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, formerly known as Center for Creative Studies. In addition to his commercial work, Chuck also painted many personal works, which he referred to as “parable paintings” and for which he coined the term “didactic surrealism”. He often used these paintings as spiritual teaching tools when speaking within his worship community. These paintings lay out Chuck’s personal view of Christianity, sometimes in a direct almost folkloric way, and often employing a Hawthorne-like narrative allegorical style. Toward the end of his career, he devoted his attention mainly to this subject matter, producing a body of work separated from his commercial work in every aspect except painting style. Chuck’s commercial work and his personal work, when viewed together, give insight into the life and viewpoint of an important contributor to the world of hand painted illustration.