'Star Wars Art: Posters' book review

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Few pieces of artwork distill the passion for Star Wars as do posters. From Tom Jung's iconic one-sheet for Episode IV to Roger Kastel’s Gone with the Wind–inspired painting for Episode V and beyond, Star Wars has enjoyed nearly four decades of poster art from some of the most renowned artists working in movies. The fifth book in the George Lucas–curated Star Wars Art series, Posters collects the best artwork from all six Star Wars films, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series, and limited-edition prints. This collection unites all of the action, artistry, and drama of a galaxy far, far away into one lavishly produced tome. - from the publisher’s promotional material
On October 14, 2014, Abrams Books, in conjunction with Lucasfilm Limited, published Star Wars Art: Posters, the fifth and final volume in a series personally curated by George Lucas. Featuring Drew Struzan’s artwork for Lucasfilm’s 1982 “Revenge of the Jedi theatrical advance one-sheet on the dust jacket, Star Wars Art: Posters collects a wide selection of concept art, design sketches, and finished poster art from six feature films, concerts, and various Star Wars TV productions, including Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

This lavishly illustrated coffee table volume is 180 pages long features a wide selection of works by a small army of artists. The plates are presented in chronological order, starting with Ralph McQuarrie’s early concepts for posters based on Lucas’s The Star Wars script and ending with promotional art for Disney XD’s Star Wars: Rebels (2014) and a digital poster for 2010’s Star Wars Celebration V.

Star Wars fans will, of course, recognize iconic posters for the six existing live-action films. Some of the most famous posters include Marvel Comics artist Howard Chaykin’s “Star Wars Poster 1” (1976), which later became the basis for the cover art for Marvel’s Star Wars #1 issue. and Roger Kastel’s famous poster for The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
However, the book casts a wider net than just the films. Star Wars Art: Posters also contains reproductions of posters for Lucasfilm’s TV movies Ewoks: The Battle for Endor and its sequel Caravan of Courage, plus 1978’s Star Wars: The Concert and National Public Radio’s Star Wars: The Radio Drama (1981)
Star Wars Art: Posters features a foreword by legendary poster artist Drew Struzan, whose association with Star Wars dates to the early 1980s and includes cover art for many of Del Rey/Bantam Spectra’s Star Wars Legends novels. There’s also an introduction by Roger Kastel, an illustrator who specialized in paperback cover art but was commissioned by Lucasfilm to create The Empire Strikes Back’s famous Gone With the Wind-inspired poster. Kastel’s work emphasized the romantic aspects of Episode V and is reputedly George Lucas’s favorite Star Wars poster.    
 
This volume’s 120 4-color illustrations, some of which are not widely known, are beautifully reproduced. It’s a visual treat for both Star Wars fans and poster art aficionados.

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