BarbaraZ+Gatsby

The cover art for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s //The Great Gatsby// is one of the most widely known works of art in 20th century American Literature. Francis Cugat was appointed the task to create a cover for the literature prior to its release on April 10, 1925. When the final copy of the cover was completed, Fitzgerald was so taken aback that he claimed he had “written it into” the novel. The cover demonstrates many symbolic figures that are presented throughout the novel. The background color is a cobalt blue, which represents the night sky. Through this cobalt blue sky, the black-outlined eyes of a woman are visible. It is merely a quick linear sketch of a woman’s hairline and very heavily emphasized saddened eyes. If you look closely inside the sketched black eyes, the pupils are a shade of lighter blue and the irises reveal two nude women lounging. Her eyes’ gaze express sorrow. The woman does not have any other facial features such as a nose or ears. Her eyes suggest that they can be interpreted as those of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg (the old billboard that stands by George Wilson’s auto shop). Fitzgerald describes in the novel that Dr. T.J. Eckleberg’s eyes are “blue and gigantic…they look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a non-existent nose.” (Fitzgerald, 27). On her right cheek, a green tear is coming down from her eye. The woman also has brightly red colored lips, which is said to complete the “sensual” triangle. This sensual triangle can be interpreted very differently. The “triangle” can be either the Tom’s Mistress, Myrtle and Tom and Daisy. But it can also symbolize Daisy’s love for Gatsby while she is married with Tom. Daisy’s face can easily be associated with the cover art as Nick states that Daisy’s face is “sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth.” Fitzgerald, 13). Nick also states that Daisy is the “girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs” (Fitzgerald, 85). This image is clearly seen in the cover art as the woman whose face floats in the dark over the lit signs. The green tear that is descending from her right cheek is portrayed to be the light “that burns all night” at the end of Daisy’s dock in which Gatsby sees across the river. The green light is reflected below the woman’s face into the water, which separates Daisy from Gatsby. Below the sketched woman’s face, the metropolitan skyline is brightly lit with colored carnival lights. Cugat accurately depicted in his image what was described in the novel at Gatsby’s extravagant outdoor parties. The lights are very bright and stand out by the cobalt blue sky. Gatsby’s parties were always illuminated throughout the entire garden and as Nick states there were, “enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden” (Fitzgerald, 44). In the brightly colored carnival, an illuminated Ferris wheel is also seen spinning. This refers to the passage when Nick tells Gatsby that his home “looks like the world fair”(Fitzgerald, 86). Cuget’s cover art for //The Great Gatsby// truly symbolizes the essence of the novel. It is a piece that needs to be analyzed over and over in order to truly understand how it relates so well to the story. The portrait contains many symbols and textures, which ultimately tell a story of its own.
 * Francis Cugat’s cover art for The Great Gatsby**
 * By Barbara M. Zoino**

Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. //The Great Gatsby 1953//. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953. Print. Scribner, C. (2003). Celestial eyes o metamorphosis to metamophosis. Retrieved from http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/essays/eyes/eyes.html The Great Gatsby. (2010). In //Wikipedia.// Retrieved February 17, 2010, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby