Scot D. Ryersson is an award-winning illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, graphic artist and writer. In addition to many critiques and essays on film and literature, he is the co-author of the internationally bestselling biography Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati, as well as The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse.

Ryersson is Co-Director of The Casati Archives, devoted to preserving the artistic and cultural legacy of Luisa Casati

Luisa Casati

Luisa, Marquise Casati Stampa di Soncino was an eccentric Italian heiress, muse, and patroness of the arts in early 20th century Europe...

. It was founded by Ryersson and Michael Orlando Yaccarino in 1999 upon the original publication of Infinite Variety. In addition to original materials, books and ephemera, this library contains artwork reproductions and photographs of and inspired by Marchesa Casati.

Trained at London’s Chelsea School of Art and Design, for many years Ryersson was a motion picture poster designer in the United States, Canada and Europe. Credits include advertising campaigns for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Ghost (1990) and Witness (1985), The Changeling

The Changeling (film)

The Changeling is a 1980 horror film directed by Peter Medak and starring George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere . The story is based upon events that writer Russell Hunter said he experienced while he was living in the Henry Treat Rogers Mansion of Denver, Colorado.-Plot:Scott stars as Dr...

(1980), Children of the Corn

Children of the Corn (1984 film)

Children of the Corn is a 1984 horror film based upon the 1977 short story of the same name by Stephen King. Directed by Fritz Kiersch, the film stars Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton...

(1984), Working Girl

Working Girl

Working Girl is a 1988 romantic comedy film written by Kevin Wade and directed by Mike Nichols. It tells the inspiring story of a Staten Island-raised secretary, Tess McGill , working in the mergers and acquisitions department of a Wall Street investment bank...

(1988), She Devil

She-Devil (film)

She-Devil is a 1989 American film starring Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr. It was directed by Susan Seidelman. It is the second adaptation of the novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by British writer Fay Weldon, after a BBC TV adaptation was first broadcast in 1986.-Plot:Ruth is a frumpy,...

(1989), Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary (film)

Pet Sematary is a 1989 horror film adaptation of Stephen King's novel of the same name. Directed by Mary Lambert and written by King, the film features Dale Midkiff as Louis Creed, Denise Crosby as Rachel Creed, Blaze Berdahl as Ellie Creed, Miko Hughes as Gage Creed, and Fred Gwynne as Jud Crandall...

(1989) and Presumed Innocent

Presumed Innocent (film)

Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress....

(1990). Ryersson was presented with two Art Directors of London Awards for his poster designs for the British films Evil Under the Sun

Evil Under the Sun (1982 film)

Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film based on the 1941 novel Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie.-Production:The screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer and an uncredited Barry Sandler...

(1982) and Another Country (1984). The concept poster design for The Silence of the Lambs was voted fifth place of the "Fifty Greatest Film Posters of All Time" by Britain's Empire magazine, while earning sixteenth place for the same accolade by the US publication Premiere in their August 2001 issue.

In 2007, Ryersson began creating a series of mixed-media, found-object art collages called Arcanifacts to further explore his artistic obsessions with the arcane and phantasmagorical.

Articles co-written with Michael Orlando Yaccarino

• Painted Lady-The Marchesa Casati; Bizarre (UK): 2000.
• Medusa in Pearls-The Marchesa Casati; aRUDE (U.S.A.): 2001.
• Passion Player-Gabriele D'Annunzio; aRUDE (U.S.A.): 2001.
• The Dandy Boys; Bizarre (UK): 2001.
• Daydream Believer-The Marchesa Casati; The Idler (UK): 2002.
• Haute Bizarre-Couturier Claudia Scarsella; Art-is-Life (U.S.A.): 2002.
• Siren of the Century-The Marchesa Casati, Art-is-Life (U.S.A.): 2002.
• Aesthetic Assassin-Comte Robert de Montesquiou; Art-is-Life (U.S.A.): 2004.
• Life on the High Seas of Culture-Nancy Cunard; Art-is-Life (U.S.A.): 2004.
• Luisa and Gabriele; Primo (Belgium): 2005.
• The Temptations of St. Jean; aRUDE (U.S.A.): 2005.

Misc

• Fire and Ice: The Life and Films of Brigitte Helm; Filmfax (U.S.A.): No. 84, April/May 2001.

Literary awards

All are for Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati (various editions)

• What We Love Selection, October 2006, Deutsch Vogue (Germany)
• Best Books Winter 2004/2005, Elegant Lifestyle (U.S.A./UK./Germany)
• Banner Books of the Year, 2004, Pointe Magazine, (U.S.A.)
• Top Ten Most Read Books, 2003, Academia News (Italy)
• Book of the Week Selection, March 3–9, 2003 La Repubblica (Italy)
• Biography of the Year 2000, First Finalist, Independent Publisher Book Awards (U.S.A.)
• Bestseller List – ‘Books Everyone Likes,’ 2000, Lambda Literary Foundation (U.S.A.)
• Paperback of the Week Selection, October 2–8, 2000, Time Out London (UK)
• Certificate of Merit in Biographical Writing, 2000, Writer’s Digest (U.S.A.)
• Book of the Year Selection, 1999, Bibel (Sweden)
• Book of the Year Selection, 1999, Gay Times (UK)
• Book of the Year Selection, 1999, Sunday Telegraph (UK)