The Artists - Reynold Brown
A few weeks ago, we reported that the Society of Illustrators was inducting the late Richard Amsel in to their Hall of Fame. Look at the list of this year’s fellow inductees and you will find another name familiar to movie poster fans, Reynold Brown.
Even if you have not heard his name, you know his work.
William Reynold Brown had a very successful and varied career, long before he painted his first movie poster. Born in 1917 in San Gabriel, California, his first paid illustration work was for a comic serial about a hot shot pilot, Tailspin Tommy. In the pre-War years he continued on an aeronautical theme, producing incredibly detailed 'cut away' technical drawings of aircraft for North American Aviation.
Post-War, he moved to New York and began a career as a commercial illustrator. In four years he produced more than 200 magazine illustrations and over 40 book covers – including some of the first paper-backs ever published.
In 1951 he returned to California and began a twenty-six year association with the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. It was there, during an exhibition of his own work, that he met Maurice Kallis, Art Director for Universal Pictures.
Over the coming decades, he produced amazing artwork for over 300 movie campaigns. While his paintings cover the full spectrum of movies, including war films, Westerns and big budget classics such as Spartacus, it is his work in the 1950's, on horror and burgeoning sci-fi films, that is most recognised today.
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If you would like to know more about his life and work, we whole-heartedly recommend reading Reynold Brown - A Life In Pictures by Daniel Zimmer and David J. Hornung.
Reynold Brown will be inducted in to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2023. The Society’s citation reads:
Realist painter Reynold Brown (1917 – 1991) earned accolades and recognition in several genres of illustration during his lifetime.
His career began right after high school while employed as a comic artist working (uncredited) under Hal Forrest on the Tailspin Tommy strip.
After a stint at the Otis Art Institute in California and the emergence of WWII, Brown worked as a technical artist for North American Aviation where he created the first cut-away illustrations of fighter planes.
With his heightened technical skills and artistic ability realizable, Brown relocated to New York City and began a freelance career earning commissions for periodicals like Argosy, Popular Science, Saturday Evening Post, Boys’ Life, Outdoor Life, and Popular Aviation. In addition, his work graced the covers of numerous paperbacks.
In 1950, Brown and his family moved back to California where he began teaching at the Art Center College of Design. It was during this time that Brown’s career changed direction once again, and for the next twenty years Brown would create some of his most iconic work, appearing on film posters for MGM, Universal Pictures, Disney, Warner Bros., AIP, and others.
During the 1970s, Brown switched gears yet again and dove into the Western genre with a focus on action shots and portraits. Today, his work remains highly collectible and influential.
