Richard Amsel - Prince of Poster Illustration
The period ranging from the late 1930's through the late 1980's was a golden era of illustration for American artists.
Among a long list of illustrious artists, Richard Amsel emerged as one of the most talented, versatile and prolific creators, leaving an impressive legacy of work in a 15 year career tragically cut short by disease at the age of 37.
Using a mixed media technique that combines pencil, colored pencils, pen, acrylics and ink, Amsel produced some of the most instantly recognisable poster images in the span covering the 1970s and first half of the 1980s.
But, even though his last work was produced in 1985, even today there’s hardly anyone who hasn’t seen it.
Amsel’s talent shone from an early age. In 1969, after graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art, Amsel responded to a nationwide poster design contest launched by 20th Century Fox for the film version of the musical “Hello Dolly”. Out of thousands of entries, his concept won the coveted first prize, starting him thus in a career designing film posters.
From then on, Amsel’s artistry would capture the eye of the entertainment industry and art directors, creating posters, magazine covers, LP covers, paperback book covers, and magazine ads and illustrations,
One of his most famous relationships was with TV Guide, which spanned from 1972 through 1984, creating a total of 38 covers, out of which only three were not finally published.
Among the many portraits he created for the magazine are those of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor, John Travolta, Johnny Carson, Bette Midler, Lucile Ball, Tom Selleck, Nancy Reagan, JFK & Jackie Kennedy, Prince Charles & Diana Spencer, and many others.
In addition, his cover illustration of comedian Lily Tomlin for Time Magazine is at the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
Amsel’s early work bears the influence of art nouveau, psychedelia and the strong colour contrasts of graphic art favoured at the time.
His posters for “Woodstock” (1970), and “Hello Dolly” (1969), his LP cover illustration for “The Divine Miss M”, and some of his book covers and magazine illustrations are examples of his work at this time.
His later work is heavily reminiscent of the work of Victorian illustrators, such as Arthur Rackham.
In Amsel’s work, though, the line work gains greater expression through layers of color and textures, a technique favoured in the 1970's and explored by other great illustrators such as Bernie Fuchs and Eric Earnshaw.
In these illustrations, Amsel builds up the image through several layers of ever detailed drawing, almost as if emerging from the surface, but the drawing is left unfinished on purpose in order to underscore the expressive line work, achieving a warm and striking final result.
Illustrations done in this style include the posters for “The Champ”(1979), “Riders of the Lost Ark”, “Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome”(1984), among many others.
However, regardless of his style, Amsel’s work was always grounded on strong composition and an absolute mastery of drawing and a strong eye for composition.
Unlike other poster illustrators, Amsel’s designs evidence his sharp graphic eye, making the most of the space with creative solutions that blend font and illustrations in one memorable image that both encapsulates the film’s premise and entices the viewer.
As further evidence of his skills and dedication to his craft, the majority of Amsel’s finished artwork closely resemble his original roughs and sketches, with very few variations.
Much of his unused art - created for commissions that were later rejected or cancelled -, reveal the extraordinary finesse of Amsel’s eye for line and composition.
Unused art for “Yentl”
Amsel’s poster designs for “Up the Sandbox” (1972), “The Sting” (1973), “Chinatown” (1974), “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974), “Julia” (1977), “Death on the Nile” (1978), “Flash Gordon”(1980), and “The Dark Crystal” (1982) are instantly recognizable and have all become great examples of fine poster design.
For “The Sting”, Amsel left aside his usual illustration techniques and decided to pay homage to one of the most important American illustrators of the early 20th century, J.C. Leyendecker.
Amsel aptly mimicked Leyendecker’s trademark line and illustration technique, making it his own. The result is an image that is not only representative of the film, but one that captures the style of the time in which the story is set, and continues to be iconic up to this day.
Despite the evident artistic quality of his work, Amsel did not consider it good enough to be exhibited as art, marking the distinction between Fine Art and it’s lesser cousin, Commercial art, a concept which was prevalent at the time, and shared by many artists.
Luckily, this concept has changed over time, bestowing his work the recognition it deserved due to the undeniable quality of his craftmanship.
The visual ingeniousness and the fine artistic workmanship of Richard Amsel’s work became a source of inspiration to countless aspiring artists and illustrators around the world.
We can only guess what heights he would have reached if his life had not been cut short so untimely during the AIDS pandemic in 1985.
To Learn More...
If you wish to learn more about the life and work of this superb artist, visit this tribute web page, containing images, and interviews with those who knew Amsel.
http://www.adammcdaniel.com/RichardAmsel.htm
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