 A little-known artist named Francis Cugat was commissioned to illustrate the book while Fitzgerald was in the midst of writing it.The cover was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was so enamored with it that he told his publisher he had "written it into" the novel.Fitzgerald's remarks about incorporating the painting into the novel led to the interpretation that the eyes are reminiscent of those of fictional optometrist Dr. T. J. Eckleburg, depicted on a faded commercial billboard near George Wilson's auto repair shop, which Fitzgerald described as