Comments on: Futuristic American illustrator from the 1940s/50s

Question: Futuristic American illustrator from the 1940s/50s

gentle — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:54:09 -0800

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.

By: Beautiful Screaming Lady

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:56:47 -0800

Syd Mead?

By: gentle

gentle — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:57:51 -0800

No. I did say 1940s/50s.

By: Bunglegirl

Bunglegirl — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:16:37 -0800

"Antonio Sant`Elia" doesn't quite fit (1915).

By: chez shoes

chez shoes — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:20:54 -0800

Is it one of the illustrators from this exhibition? (Radebaugh is among them.)

By: Beautiful Screaming Lady

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:23:09 -0800

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.

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:29:06 -0800

I seem to remember something like this being posted on Boing Boing last year...

By: rhizome

rhizome — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:29:10 -0800

Paleo-Future maybe

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:54:52 -0800

rhizome, that's definitely where they linked to, I remember it. Having a dig around there might yield an answer.

By: TedW

TedW — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:22:28 -0800

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.

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Mon, 18 May 2009 20:35:26 -0800

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.

By: gentle

gentle — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:24:55 -0800

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.

By: gentle

gentle — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:23:05 -0800

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.