The Movie Poster Art of Robert Tanenbaum
Many middle-aged film fans can close their eyes and imagine a small number of movie posters. We encountered them during our first trips to a cinema or movie theatre, clutching a parent or guardian’s hand, fidgeting as we waited in the 100m queue and then staring open-mouthed at images framed on the cinema wall. They have stayed with us forever.
My dad was (and still is) a big sci-fi fan and the posters for Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica are etched in to my cultural core.
It was only thirty years later that I began to appreciate that these were important pieces of art. Someone had designed them, had toiled to bring the image to life and then spent late evenings responding to last minute demands for alterations.
Their creations are a far cry from the Photoshopped floating heads of movie posters of the early 2000’s. Their illustrated posters have an emotional weight that a photo mosaic has never matched.
Movie poster illustrators were frequently banned from signing their name on their work, consigning many to an anonymity that the quality and impact of their work did not deserve.
Movie enthusiast and pop culture analyst Dennis L. Prince has a similar story to tell. In the 1970’s he poured over film advertisements and an image in a 1974 edition of Reader’s Digest captured his imagination. One of the first promotional pieces for Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws, it showed a shark breaching with a struggling man within its razor sharp teeth.
Forty years later he spotted an almost invisible signature hidden within the image, “Tanenbaum”. Dennis tracked down the artist - Robert Tanenbaum - and together they began digitising his artworks and capturing the stories that accompany them.
Robert Tanenbaum in 1983
When Robert joined Washington University in St Louis, he had never had an art lesson, but still won first place in the all college portrait contest. His natural versatility made him a perfect fit for an advertising studio and in 1964 he moved his family to L.A., hoping to create movie posters for Hollywood blockbusters. Unfortunately, his agency didn’t work with film studios. Undeterred, Robert put together a slide deck of his work and went to the studios himself. His tenacity paid off and decades later his body of work covers over 250 films and includes many movie posters that you will know instantly.
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When the idea of a book emerged, Dennis and Robert turned to crowd-funding and a Kickstarter campaign to fund publication. We had to get involved. Why? Well, who painted the Battlestar Galactica poster you see above? Robert Tanenbaum!
Dennis and Robert’s book, The Movie Poster Art of Robert Tanenbaum, pays homage to the artist’s work and also his knack for recalling a good story. Over 200 wonderful illustrations sit alongside the hilarious tales and compelling anecdotes that accompanied their creation.
It includes not only amazing movie posters that many will recognise, but unused commissions that would have been lost forever and many wonderful preparatory sketches
For any fan of the Golden Era of Movie Art Posters, this is a must-have book.
The variation and breadth of work is quite simply stunning.
You can find out more about Robert’s work at his website. You can also purchase The Movie Poster Art of Robert Tanenbaum here.
Illustrator and movie poster artist Robert Tanenbaum
