Ryan Baker //
I've not seen much in the way of Italian propaganda art - it's a category usually dominated by the United States, the USSR and the most despicable of Germany's checkered past - but this is a particularly brutal poster direct from Mussolini's Rome circa 1940.
More artwork from Toronto's Phantom City Creative, this time a glorious tribute to Robert Wise's 1963 adaptation of Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel "The Haunting of Hill House." An incredible and terrifying novel became remains one of the crown jewels of the horror genre, an exquisite and frightening film without monsters - except, of course, Hill House itself ... or at least whatever walks there.
Best known for classics like "The Sound of Music" and "West Side Story," Robert Wise seemed to have produced and directed "The Haunting" as an ode to his former mentor, a man for whom Wise served as editor and ultimately went on to direct his first feature films for while at RKO (sequel "Curse of the Cat People" and "Mademoiselle Fifi," both in 1944, and the Karloff/Lugosi period horror film "The Body Snatcher," based on a Robert Louis Stevenson story). Lewton's largely credited with the creation of cinematic psychological horror and Wise certainly put that approach to use in "The Haunting."
Basil Gogos' first of many covers for Forrest J. Ackerman's "Famous Monsters of Filmland" is this sickly portrait of Vincent Price as Roderick Usher from Roger Corman's Poe-inspired "House of Usher" that same year. Gogos was told the commissioned image was to be "something unusual, something colorful, something new."
Even if you don't recognize Alex Ross' name, you've likely seen his work; his photorealistic renditions of classic comic book characters has been made one of the most well-known and in-demand commercial artists of our time, lending his style to not just denizens of the comics industry, but to musicians, video games, feature films and more.
The above image of Marvel's Iron Man was created for a limited run of 250 prints as part of a series called "Alex Ross Visions." You can stay up-to-date and browse Ross' artwork at his official site, though if you're looking to buy, you'd better have a sizeable chunk of change at the ready.
Artist Basil Gogos created some of the most enduring images of cinema's monsters in bold, vibrant color for the genre magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, illustrating nearly fifty covers over the course of the publication's 191-issue run. Pictured above is Gogos' take on actor Henry Hull in Jack Pierce's make-up for the 1935 film "Werewolf of London."
To see more of Gogos' work, Vanguard's 2005 book "Famous Monster Movie Art of Basil Gogos" boasts not just fantastic quality images of Gogos' work, but a biography of the artist buttressed by Gogos' own recollections.
You should also peruse Gogos' official site, and you'd better believe I'll be posting more of his work in the weeks to come.