Victor Reinganum (1907–1995) was an influential British artist and illustrator whose career spanned several decades of the twentieth century. Born in London, he pursued formal artistic training between 1925 and 1928 at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and the Académie Julian in Paris, where he also received private instruction from the prominent modernist painter Fernand Léger. After a brief tenure as an art director at Elstree Studios from 1928 to 1929, Reinganum embarked on a highly successful career as a freelance illustrator.
Reinganum is perhaps most widely recognized for his striking book dustjacket designs. Among his most notable commissions were the cover illustrations for the first editions of Muriel Spark's celebrated novels, The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960) and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961). In addition to his literary designs, he was a prolific contributor to the Radio Times, for which he designed numerous illustrations, including a Christmas issue cover and the publication's first cover commemorating the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960.
Although he was never an official member of any formal Surrealist group, Reinganum's fine art practice shared significant stylistic ground with the movement. His paintings often featured poetic abstractions on the border of figuration, frequently employing biomorphic forms. In his later years, his fine art received renewed appreciation, with his works being featured in retrospective exhibitions dedicated to English Surrealism.
