Futuristic American illustrator from the 1940s/50s

May 18, 2009 2:54 PM

I'm looking for an American illustrator from the 1940s/50s who painted detailed, photorealistic, optimistic visions of the future, often with scientific explanations of how and why things would pan out this way.

I came across an extensive collection of pictures on the net a year or two ago (and I vaguely remember them being presented as though he was a great but "forgotten" genius), but now I can't find it again. I'm pretty sure it wasn't Arthur Radebaugh, but I'm not completely sure; I say that mostly because (a) I can't find many Radebaugh pictures on the net, and (b) the ones I do find don't look familiar at all. But Radebaugh is definitely very similar in the way he envisioned automobiles, cities and so on.

posted by gentle to media & arts (12 comments total)

Syd Mead?
posted by Beautiful Screaming Lady at 2:56 PM on May 18, 2009

No. I did say 1940s/50s.
posted by gentle at 3:57 PM on May 18, 2009

"Antonio Sant`Elia" doesn't quite fit (1915).
posted by Bunglegirl at 4:16 PM on May 18, 2009

Is it one of the illustrators from this exhibition? (Radebaugh is among them.)
posted by chez shoes at 4:20 PM on May 18, 2009

I did say 1940s/50s.

Yes, you did, didn't you. But given that Syd did his best work in the 50s and early 60s, I thought it was worth trying.
posted by Beautiful Screaming Lady at 4:23 PM on May 18, 2009

I seem to remember something like this being posted on Boing Boing last year...
posted by Happy Dave at 4:29 PM on May 18, 2009

Paleo-Future maybe
posted by rhizome at 4:29 PM on May 18, 2009

rhizome, that's definitely where they linked to, I remember it. Having a dig around there might yield an answer.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:54 PM on May 18, 2009

There were a number of artists doing this about that time, often with spaceflight as the subject; perhaps one of the artists mentioned on this website about space art is the one you want.
posted by TedW at 5:22 PM on May 18, 2009

Long shot, but Chesley Bonestell? He had the right time frame, the photorealism, the exhaustive research, and the recognition in his time but not so much today. But his work focused more on spaceflight, and I'm not sure I've seen anything of his that deals with automobiles and cities of Earth.
posted by booksandlibretti at 8:35 PM on May 18, 2009

Beautiful Screaming Lady: According to Wikipedia Syd started working in 1959. Both of the portfolios that you linked to are from the 1960s, however.

It's probably not Bonestell either — seems like he hardly did anything not set in outer space — but thanks for reminding me. Genius.

Anyone know where I can find collections of Radebaugh's pictures? Google Images is not being very helpful.
posted by gentle at 3:24 AM on May 19, 2009

Incidentally, Syd Mead's wonderful late-1960s "Portfolio of Probabilities", linked by to Beautiful Screaming Lady above, can be purchased on eBay for a mere $775.
posted by gentle at 4:23 AM on May 19, 2009