Richard Bober (August 14, 1943 – December 10, 2022) was an American artist best known for his work for science fiction, fantasy, and similar paperback novels.
Early life and education
Bober was born in
, on August 14, 1943.
One of his teachers in high school was the artist Lee E. Gaskins. Bober studied art at the
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...
from 1961 to 1966, although he did not graduate. He then studied at the
Art Students League
The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...
.
Career
While holding a series of jobs, he began his professional art career in the late 1960s. Bober's style was
Romantic, and he primarily worked in oil.
Bober began painting covers for paperback novels in the 1970s. Among Bober's most notable commercial work are his covers for
Dell Publishing
Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...
's 1970s paperback reissues of the "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" novels, Lee J. Hindle's 1984 book ''Dragon Fall'',
Bantam's 1980s and 1990s "Inspector Burnet" novels by
S. T. Haymon, Dell's 1980s and 1990s "Scene of the Crime" detective-crime novels reissues, crime novels in the 1980s and 1990s by
Nancy Pickard
Nancy Pickard (born September 19, 1945 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American crime novelist. She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. She also se ...
,
Janet Taylor Lisle
Janet Taylor Lisle (February 13, 1947 – October 5, 2023) was an American author of children's books and young adult novels that range between fantasy and reality.
Early years
Lisle was born on February 13, 1947, in Englewood, New Jersey. She g ...
's "Investigators of the Unknown" novels of the 1980s and 1990s,
Stephen Goldin
Stephen Charles Goldin (born February 28, 1947) is an American science fiction and fantasy author.
Biography
Goldin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A graduate of UCLA with a bachelor's degree in Astronomy, he worked for the U.S. Navy a ...
's "Parsina Saga" novels of the 1990s, and
Gene Wolfe
Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and nove ...
's ''
The Book of the Long Sun
''The Book of the Long Sun'' (1993–1996) is a series of four science fantasy novels or one four-volume novel by the United States, American author Gene Wolfe. It is set in the same universe as ''The Book of the New Sun'' series that Wolfe inaug ...
'' novels of the 1990s.
In 2023, Amory Sivertson of podcast ''
Endless Thread'' identified Bober as the illustrator of the 1976 paperback reissue of
Madeleine L'Engle
Madeleine L'Engle DStJ (; November 29, 1918 – September 6, 2007) was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including ''A Wrinkle in Time'' and its sequels: ''A Wind in the Door'', ''A Swiftly Tilting Plan ...
's ''
A Wrinkle in Time
''A Wrinkle in Time'' is a Young adult fiction, young adult science fantasy novel written by American author Madeleine L'Engle. First published in 1962, the book won the Newbery Medal, the Sequoyah Book Award, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and ...
''. This well-known piece of science fiction/fantasy art had not been attributed for 47 years.
In addition to commissioned work, Bober also designed game art, his most notable work being the box cover for the 1994 edition of ''
RuneQuest
''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of ...
''.
Bober died on December 10, 2022.
References
External links
Past Auction Results for Richard Bober Art - Richard Bober on artnet(Retrieved 2 March 2011.)
*
1943 births
2022 deaths
American illustrators
People from Elizabeth, New Jersey
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