Ever since I read The Art of the Modern Movie Poster (Chronicle Books, 2009), I’ve been fascinated with European artists — especially Jerzy Flisak, an amazing Polish artist who died in 2008. Not much is known about his personal life, but his beautifully abstract work is unforgettable. Down below, check out his takes on the following movies: El Dorado, The Great Gatsby, Roman Holiday, Two For The Road, Young Frankenstein, and The Conversation.
Obviously, I’m not the only Jerzy Flisak fan. Check out the eerie resemblance between Flisak’s 1978 Polish poster for an Italian film called Down and Dirty and that of last year’s Paul Giamatti starrer, Cold Souls. Coincidence? Doubt it.
You know you must be pretty good if they make a documentary about you. And that’s exactly what they did with Robert McGinnis.
Famous for his iconic James Bond movie posters, McGinnis was also great at drawing the ladies. Apparently, he was so detailed that he once even requested Sophia Loren’s dress be sent to his studio to complete the poster for Arabesque.
Check out the trailer for Painting the Last Rose of Summer…
Meet John Solie, yet another movie poster artist who now mainly does Western Art (Remember Robert Tanenbaum and Howard Terpning?). By the way, what’s up with all these ex-movie poster illustrators into Western Art? Maybe it pays better.
Anyway, Mr. Solie is well-known for his portraits of the well-known (i.e., celebrity portraits) and has done a ton of stuff for TV Guide, Reader’s Digest, and even NASA! I guess those astronauts must’ve loved Strange Brew.
Considering the recent NBC-Conan O’Brien/Jay Leno debacle, I thought I would put up the posters of my favorite talk show-themed movies, The King of Comedy, Talk Radio, and Network. (Unfortunately, the “mad as hell”-speech is actually quite timely.)
Once called by The New York Times as “the most successful living American artist you’ve never heard of”, Howard Terpning illustrated many of the biggest Hollywood classics of the 60’s and 70’s. Like Robert Tanenbaum, he eventually moved on from movie posters to focus exclusively on portraits of Native Americans, cowboys, and the American West.
Check out the rest of his ter-pelicious portfolio here.
Look out, Wilt Chamberlain — here comes Warren Beatty! In honor of the recent announcement that Mr. Beatty slept with almost 13,000 women in Peter Biskind’s new book, Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America, I thought it might be nice to get between the sheets and sneak a peek at some of his past one-sheets…
Bill Gold Advertising is undoubtedly one of the most successful poster design companies in the history of the movie business. This New Yorker was chiefly known for his productive relationships with Bob Peak and Clint Eastwood, with whom he worked with for over 30 years of his movies.
Speaking of Clint, there’s an excellent book out now called Clint Eastwood Icon: The Essential Film Art Collection…
Movie Poster Museum 