The Original Movie Posters Blog - Art of the Movies

It was with great sadness that we learned last week of the passing of artist Greg Hildebrandt. 

If you are a Tolkien or Star Wars fan. You will know the work of The Hildebrandt Brothers.

When we look at a movie poster we may admire the art, but few of us are likely to consider the genesis of the idea. Where did the initial vision of the poster come from?

In many cases, it is likely to have come from an Art Director.

This week we celebrate a new exhibition at New York's Poster House highlighting the work of Art Director extraordinaire, Dawn Baillie.

It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of multi-talented artist and illustrator, Dan Goozeé.

If you are a movie poster or James Bond fan, you will have come across his work.

A must-have book for any movie poster fan has just been published, The Movie Poster Art of Robert Tanenbaum.

Even if you do not know his name, we are certain that you will know his work!

This week we were saddened to hear of the passing of artist Roger Kastel.

His illustrations for 1974's Jaws and the 1980 Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back are as iconic as movie poster come.

This week's blog post celebrates his life and contribution to movie poster art.

A few weeks ago, we reported that the late Richard Amsel was being inducted in to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame.

Look at the list of this year’s inductees and you will find another name familiar to movie poster fans...

It is a real thrill every time we track down a beautiful example of Richard Amsel’s incredible movie poster artwork. This week we were lucky enough to find two.

They say that good things come in threes and in this instance, the third came in the form of news of the late artist’s legacy.

We have written before of our love of illustrated posters of the twentieth century.  The rise of the personal computer all but killed the art form, but that is changing .

This week, the BBC recognised that with a wonderful article on the 40th Anniversary poster for The Return of the Jedi, by British artist Matt Ferguson.

Each New Year we read big predictions for the twelve months that lie ahead. The rise of Artificial Intelligence is always on the list.

Computers can now beat grandmasters at chess and even (nearly) drive cars. Could they produce movie posters?

Let's have a look!

Back in early 2021 we shared the journey of artist, author, screen-writer and film-maker Adam McDaniel and his forty year mission to promote and preserve the work of artist Richard Amsel.

After thousands of miles and over fifty interviews, one hundred hours of footage is currently being edited into Amsel: Illustrator of the Lost Art and Adam has just shared a teasing trailer with us!

Enjoy!

In recent blog posts we have written of our love of the art of illustrator Richard Amsel. If you haven’t had chance, please do check out our post on film-maker and author Adam McDaniel’s work to preserve and promote the work of this astonishing artist, taken from us far too early.

We have identified thirty-two Amsel movie posters that we believe made it to movies theatres / cinemas. Here they all are...

We often write bemoaning the lack of recognition of movie poster designers and artists. They do not appear in a film’s credits but without them there is no movie.

They do however have their own niche awards and to celebrate their 50th Anniversary, five previous winners were asked to create a list of fifty movie posters that they believe have changed entertainment marketing.

Here are a few highlights from their selection…