The Artists - Remembering Greg Hildebrandt
It was with great sadness that we learned last week of the passing of artist Greg Hildebrandt.
Born a twin on 23rd January 1939, Greg would spend the larger part of his career working closely with his brother Tim (1939 - 2006). They studied together at the Meinzinger Art School and began to paint commercially in 1959 under the name The Brothers Hildebrandt.
Influenced by Disney, post war sci-fi and comic books, but underpinned by an appreciation of American twentieth century giants such as Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish, their work combined the imagination of dreamers with rare artistic skill. The results, fantastical images that hung on bedroom walls all over the world.
The Brothers came to prominence with their work on calendars inspired by the work of Tolkien. Their first calendar, for 1976, purportedly became the best selling calendar of all time. 1977's would sell close to half a million copies. Their interpretations of Middle Earth continued until Tim's passing in 2006.
For movie poster fans, Tim and Greg are best known for their work on the Style 'B' poster for 1977's Star Wars. 20th Century Fox considered the Style 'A' artwork by Tom Jung too dark and wanted the image reworked. Famously, The Brothers had thirty-six hours to produce the artwork. For British fans, the result sits alongside Tom Chantrell's Style 'C' as the defining artworks for the film.
You may also recognise their hands in the 1977 re-release poster for Barbarella and the incredible illustrated poster for 1981's Clash of the Titans.
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Working independently, Greg provided cover artwork for many magazines, books and albums and also illustrated a range of classic stories, including Alice In Wonderland, Peter Pan and Robin Hood. He was working well in to his eighties, even contributing artwork to a 2022 anthology in support of Ukrainian refugees.
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Greg Hildebrandt passed, on 31st October 2024, aged 85, with his wife Jean beside him. A documentary on his life and work is currently in production.
