John Berkey (August 13, 1932 – April 29, 2008) was an American artist known for his space and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

themed works. Some of Berkey's best-known work includes much of the original poster art for the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' trilogy, the poster for the 1976 remake of ''King Kong'' and also the "Old Elvis Stamp". Berkey produced a large body of space fantasy artwork, producing utopian scenes of bubble-shaped, yacht-like spaceships. His distinctive painterly style has been evaluated as "at once realistic, yet impressionistic and abstract", and his space craft designs as being "distinctly elegant, yet clearly technological and unmistakably Berkian; more inspired by luxury yachts and manta rays than NASA". He has been described as "one of the giants in the history of science fiction art".

Early life

John Berkey was born in Edgeley, North Dakota in 1932. Berkey's early childhood was spent in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen ( Lakota: ''Ablíla'') is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, located approximately northeast of Pierre. The city population was 28,495 at the 2020 census, making it the third most populous cit ...

. When he was aged six, he and his family moved to St. Joseph,

Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-designated regions and divisions, division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North ...

and then to

Excelsior, Minnesota Excelsior is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. Excelsior's historic commercial district along Water Street is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the town has many Victorian archi ...

. In 1950, Berkey graduated from high school and went on to study at the

Minneapolis School of Art The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) is a private college specializing in the visual arts and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. MCAD currently enrolls approximately 800 students. MCAD is one of just a few major art schools to offer ...

. He resided in Shorewood, Minnesota.

Career

Berkey worked as a freelance artist from the 1960s, after an eight-year stint at

Brown & Bigelow Brown & Bigelow is a company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that sells branded apparel and promotional merchandise. History The company was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hiram Brown. On June 24, 1924, Bigelow was convicted fo ...

, a

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

advertising agency. There, he produced up to seventy calendar paintings a year, which featured historical scenes of the

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nat ...

s, road and railway construction, agricultural and industrial scenes.

Book covers & magazines

Among other commissions, Berkey regularly produced artwork for magazines such as ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'', '' Omni'', '' Science Fiction Age'', ''

Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * ...

'', '' National Geographic'', ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program TV listings, listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine, TV Guide Mag ...

'' and ''

The Plain Truth ''The Plain Truth'' was a free-of-charge monthly magazine, first published in 1934 by Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of The Radio Church of God, which he later named The Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The magazine, subtitled as ''The Plain Truth ...

''. Berkey made his mark in science fiction publishing with his

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...

for

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remain ...

' 1972 reprint of the ''

STAR Science Fiction A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

'' series. Following this success, he went on to design a large number of book covers including works by

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. Heinlein and ...

Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fac ...

Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

, Glen Cook and many more. For the 1972 edition of Asimov's novel, ''

The Caves of Steel ''The Caves of Steel'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov. It is a detective story and illustrates an idea Asimov advocated, that science fiction can be applied to any literary genre, rather than just being a limited g ...

'', Berkey's cover art featured a self-portrait with his arm showing exposed

cybernetic Cybernetics is a wide-ranging field concerned with circular causality, such as feedback, in regulatory and purposive systems. Cybernetics is named after an example of circular causal feedback, that of steering a ship, where the helmsperson ma ...

mechanics.

NASA

In the 1960s, Berkey was commissioned by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

to produce artworks depicting the Apollo space program and other missions, as part of the NASA Art Program. He continued to paint space exploration subjects, including

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operation ...

and the

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster On January 28, 1986, the broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated above the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 11:39a.m. EST (16:39 UTC). It was ...

Film work

Berkey declined an invitation from

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

to work on the 1968 film '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. In 1974, Berkey was commissioned to render the key art for ''

The Towering Inferno ''The Towering Inferno'' is a 1974 American disaster film directed by John Guillermin and produced by Irwin Allen, featuring an ensemble cast led by Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. It was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the novels '' The ...

'', which became the largest grossing film of 1974. This established Berkey's reputation and he went on to produce poster artwork for a number of other blockbuster films including the 1976 remake of ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'', '' Orca the Killer Whale'' (1977), ''

Meteor A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as mic ...

'' (1979), '' Black Stallion'' (1979), ''

Superman III ''Superman III'' is a 1983 superhero film directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the third installment in the ''Superman'' film series and a sequel to '' S ...

'' (1983), and ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

'' (European release, 1984). He also produced promotional artwork for '' Airport '79: The Concorde'' (1979).

''Star Wars''

In 1975, the young filmmaker

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chai ...

purchased several pieces of Berkey's science fiction artwork. The paintings served as visual reference material while Lucas was trying to pitch his ideas to film studios for a new space fantasy film, ''

The Star Wars ''Star Wars'' comics have been produced by various comic book publishers since the debut of the 1977 film ''Star Wars''. Marvel Comics launched its original series in 1977, beginning with a six-issue comic adaptation of the film and running for ...

''. Among the paintings was one of a rocket-plane diving down through space towards a gigantic mechanical planet (the image had been used as cover art for the 1972 reprint of the short story anthology '' Star Science Fiction Stories No.4''). It is thought that this painting in particular had a strong influence on the

production design In film industry, film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions an ...

of ''Star Wars'' and served to inspire the film's leading

concept art Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in films, video games, animation, comic books, or other media before it is put into the final product. Concept art usually refers to world-building artwork used to inspire the d ...

ist, Ralph McQuarrie, and the model maker Colin Cantwell, whose early designs for the

Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of annihilating entire planets into rubble, and serves to e ...

battle station bore a strong similarity to Berkey's painting. A number of other ''Star Wars'' spacecraft, such as Star Destroyers, may also have been influenced by Berkey's designs of naval-style ships with smooth hulls and conning towers bristling with antennae. Berkey was commissioned by

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...

and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

in 1976 to provide some of the first poster art for ''Star Wars''. Among this work was a painting which depicted the character

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The ...

brandishing a lightsaber, flanked by Princess Leia Organa the robots

C-3PO C-3PO () or See-Threepio is a humanoid robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise who appears in the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the sequel trilogy. Built by Anakin Skywalker, was designed as a protocol droid intended to a ...

and

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date. At various points throughout the course of the films, R2, ...

, and a number of

Imperial stormtrooper Stormtrooper are soldiers in the fictional ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Introduced in '' Star Wars: A New Hope'' (1977), the stormtroopers are the shock troops/space marines of the autocratic Galactic Empire, under the l ...

s; in the background is a large figure of

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the ...

looming behind them, a similar composition to the theatrical poster artwork for ''Star Wars'' by

Tom Jung Thomas Jung is an American art director, graphic designer, illustrator, and storyboard artist.The Star Wars Poster Book, Stephen J. Sansweet, Chronicle Books (October 13, 2005)The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Fil ...

and the

Brothers Hildebrandt Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, known as the Brothers Hildebrandt (born January 23, 1939), are American twin brothers who worked collaboratively as fantasy and science fiction artists for many years. They produced illustrations for comic books, movie p ...

. When the

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film was published, '' Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker'', the United Kingdom edition published by

Sphere Books Sphere Books is the name of two British paperback publishers. History The original Sphere Books was launched in 1966 by Thomson Corporation. Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin. The name was retired in 1990. In 1 ...

featured

by Berkey (

' US edition originally featured a cover by Ralph McQuarrie). Another of Berkey's original paintings for ''Star Wars'' was a poster depicting the final battle over the Death Star from the final scenes of the film. Berkey reportedly never saw ''Star Wars'', and this is evidenced in the fact that he illustrated multiple

Millennium Falcon The ''Millennium Falcon'' is a fictional starship in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Designed by Joe Johnston for the movie ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'' (1977), it has subsequently appeared in ''The Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), ''The Em ...

spaceships (in the film there is only one). Berkey said of the poster in an interview, "It was the first time that I was asked to paint fictional space crafts not of my own design". The painting was issued as a souvenir poster that was included in the first release of the ''Star Wars'' Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by 20th Century Records. Berkey's involvement in ''Star Wars'' was brought to an end after a conflict of interest with his work for rival film studio Universal on the 1978 TV series '' Battlestar Galactica''. Berkey revisited the ''Star Wars'' universe in 1983 when he was commissioned to provide the cover artwork for the Atari

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

, '' Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle''.

Postage stamps

In 1992, the

US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

held a public vote on the design of a new

commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

which was to feature

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

. Two designs were shortlisted: a younger Elvis by

Mark Stutzman Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

, and an older Elvis by John Berkey. Stutzman's "Young Elvis" won the competition with over 75% of the votes. Berkey nevertheless went on to design 15 other postage stamps, including the 1991 Christmas stamp featuring an illustration of

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

Honors and awards

In 1999, John Berkey received the Spectrum Award for Grand Master. In 2004 he was elected to the

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

' Hall of Fame. On March 22, 2007,

honored him with "John Berkey Day." John Berkey was Artist Guest of Honor at

Minicon Minicon is a science fiction and fantasy convention in Minneapolis usually held on Easter weekend. Started in 1968 and running approximately annually since then, it is one of the oldest science fiction conventions in the midwest United Stat ...

35 in 2000.

Death and legacy

Berkey died of heart failure on April 28, 2008 at his home in

. Many of his original paintings are periodically on display at ArtOrg in

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota and Rice counties in the State of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 census. History Northfield was platted in 1856 by John W. ...

. In his lifetime, Berkey influenced a number of artists, especially science fiction artists, among them James Gurney, Drew Struzan,

Vincent Di Fate Vincent Di Fate (born November 21, 1945) is an American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and realistic space art (hardware art) illustration. He was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on June 25, 2011. Di Fate was bor ...

Stephen Youll Stephen Youll (born 8 June 1965 in Hartlepool) is a British science fiction artist. He got his start in the genre when his work, done in conjunction with his twin brother Paul, was seen in 1987 at the 45th World Science Fiction Convention in B ...

, John Picacio,

Brandon Peterson Brandon Peterson is an American comic book writer and artist, known for his work on Marvel Comics from Paterson New Jersey and Top Cow's '' Codename: Strykeforce'' in the 1990s. Career Peterson's early works for Marvel include a ''New Warriors' ...

and

Michael Kaluta Michael William Kaluta, sometimes credited as Mike Kaluta or Michael Wm. Kaluta (born August 25, 1947), is an American comics artist and writer best known for his acclaimed 1970s adaptation of the pulp magazine hero ''The Shadow'' with writer De ...

. Artist

Corrie Erickson Corrie may refer to: Arts and entertainment * nickname of ''Coronation Street'', a long-running British television soap opera ** '' Corrie!'', a play written to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of ''Coronation Street'' in 2010 * The Corries, a Scott ...

studied under Berkey.

References

* *

External links

John Berkey Art Ltd.
official website of the John Berkey estate *
John Berkey in the Science Fiction EncyclopediaInternational Association of Astronomical ArtistsInternational Space Art Network
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berkey, John American speculative fiction artists 1932 births 2008 deaths Science fiction artists Film poster artists People from Excelsior, Minnesota People from LaMoure County, North Dakota American illustrators Space artists American poster artists