To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tail Fin in 1999, Cadillac Motors and their longstanding ad agency, DMB&B, came up with a novel idea to dovetail this GM brand's multi-million dollar Art & Science campaign. The renowned artist Tom Fritz was commissioned to do an oil panting (shown below) commemorating the 1949 DeVille tail fin. Afterwards, a limited quantity (in the thousands) of promotional prints were made available and distributed to Cadillac dealerships, owners, enthusiasts and company employees.

This type of marketing and promotion further galvanizes the strength behind the "Harley Earl" brand and clearly establishes how this man's artistic might literally went on to touch millions of car buyer's lives. For example, the winning tail fin symbol which rested on tens of millions of manufactured automobiles (1949 to 1963) before the innovative trend peeked out in the early sixties, is an enduring work of art by Earl that from the moment it was introduced on Cadillacs, over fifty years ago, gave car owners an extra receipt for their money in the form of a visual prestige marking. 

Poster-print (above) dimensions , 17" x 20", and caption: The Cadillac DeVille, introduced in 1949, virtually inaugurated the “tail fin era” of American automobiles. This iconic style was another creation by the legendary GM design engineer Harley Earl, who took his inspiration from the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane. He also chose the name “DeVille” meaning “of the city” in French.

From time to time, these wonderful prints show up on eBay.

Cadillac also shared the information below: