George Lucas and Lucasfilm honor the late Drew Struzan following the poster artist and illustrator’s passing. Struzan is the artist behind a number of the most iconic film posters in historical past, together with these for The Factor (1982), Again to the Future (1985), in addition to quite a few traditional Lucasfilm titles within the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
Struzan handed away on October 13 on the age of 78, a number of years after being identified with Alzheimer’s illness. Lucas has now shared a press release on the Lucasfilm web site, paying tribute to the artist and his legendary profession. Learn Lucas’ remark under:
“Drew was an artist of the best order. His illustrations absolutely captured the thrill, tone and spirit of every of my movies his paintings represented. His creativity, by a single illustrated picture, opened up a world lively in vivid colour…even at a look. I used to be fortunate to have labored with him time and time once more.”
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy additionally shared variety phrases about Struzan, highlighting his distinctive inventive model and his contributions to a number of the most iconic films in Hollywood historical past. She calls his work “timeless” and praises the way in which he elevated viewers relationships to the flicks for which he created posters:
“When one thinks of iconic film poster artists, Drew Struzan is the primary title that involves thoughts. Drew’s unforgettable paintings has touched so many hearts all through the years, and I’ve been grateful to have labored with him on movies comparable to E.T., Again to the Future, Hook, and the Indiana Jones sequence. His paintings is so imaginative, so stunning, it elevated the movie-going expertise for these movies earlier than audiences even stepped foot right into a theater. Drew’s work is timeless, and can undoubtedly encourage each artists and movie lovers for generations to come back.”
Struzan’s dying was confirmed on Tuesday with a poster from his official Instagram account. “It’s with a heavy coronary heart that I need to let you know that Drew Struzan has moved on from this world as of yesterday, October thirteenth,” the poster reads. “I really feel it is crucial that you simply all know what number of occasions he expressed to me the enjoyment he felt figuring out how a lot you appreciated his artwork.”
Struzan created posters for over 150 movies, changing into a go-to artist for the likes of Lucas and Steven Spielberg. His artwork model was one outlined by daring designs, dramatic compositions, and loads of colour. In a press release to The Hollywood Reporter, Spielberg additionally honored the late artist:
“Drew made occasion artwork. His posters made lots of our films into locations … and the reminiscence of these films and the age we have been after we noticed them all the time comes flashing again simply by glancing at his iconic photorealistic imagery. In his personal invented model, no person drew like Drew.”
Certainly one of Struzan’s most beloved early works is the poster for the 1978 re-release of Star Wars: A New Hope, a poster for which he collaborated with Charles White III. This poster later grew to become generally known as the “Circus Poster,” although it is nonetheless Tom Jung’s poster that is still the one most intently related to A New Hope.
Struzan went on to make posters for The Empire Strikes Again (1980), and Return of the Jedi (1983), too. As with A New Hope, these posters aren’t those most related to these movies, however the identical cannot be mentioned for the Star Wars prequels.
Struzan’s poster work defines the promotional artwork model for The Phantom Menace (1999), Assault of the Clones (2002), and Revenge of the Sith (2005). It’s these posters which might be broadly used on streaming service tiles and Blu-ray covers to today.
All three of the principle theatrical posters for the Indiana Jones films have been additionally Struzan’s work. As well as, Struzan made posters for a lot of different movies, together with The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), The Goonies (1985), Blade Runner (1982), Massive Hassle in Little China (1986), Dangerous Enterprise (1983), and Coming to America (1988), amongst many others.