For millions of fans around the world, the Star Wars poster that Tim and Greg Hildebrandt created in 1977 became the definitive illustration of that galaxy far, far away. It's an exciting, vibrant and unforgettable image that is even more astonishing when you realize that it was created in just 36 hours. While it's only one of countless beautiful pieces of art that Tim created in his life -- including hundreds of other inspired Star Wars illustrations -- the Star Wars poster is truly iconic and will always loom large in the imagination. We will miss Tim's artistry and talents tremendously.
-- George Lucas
Tim Hildebrandt, who made up one half of the prolific artist team known to many Star Wars fans as the Brothers Hildebrandt, sadly passed away recently from complications due to diabetes. Tim and twin brother Greg Hildebrandt shared a vast and varied career of illustration spanning several genres, from children's fairy tales and comic book heroes to Tolkien landscapes and epic space fantasies. For Star Wars fans, however, the legacy of Tim and Greg Hildebrandt goes back to the very roots of the Star Wars phenomenon.
Among the earliest images fans associate with 1977's release of A New Hope is the classic poster illustration of Luke and Leia heroically poised before a looming Darth Vader. Though this poster's design was originally conceived by Tom Jung (whose artwork was ultimately used for theatrical display), it was the Hildebrandt's unique take on it that was enthusiastically embraced by the public and fervently sought out by eager fans.
T-shirts and pin-up posters bearing the Hildebrandt artwork became wildly popular, capturing at once the fantasy, humanity, and uniqueness of the Star Wars experience. Sales of merchandise bearing the Hildebrandt image were unprecedented, successfully carrying the Star Wars message into schoolyards and suburban neighborhoods -- places traditional theater and billboard advertising couldn't reach. Newspapers also ran the Hildebrandt artwork throughout the year, infiltrating Sunday morning breakfasts and train rides to work.
The success of the image quickly spread across national borders -- a rare Spanish-language one-sheet featuring the Hildebrandt artwork was printed for international use, and in England, a rare horizontal poster devised in the standard 30"x40" British quad format expanded the image's landscape to accommodate the film's title. It is one of the most beautiful and sought-after Star Wars posters today.
Many fans are familiar with the brothers' famous poster image, but Tim and Greg Hildebrandt also created two more Star Wars images in 1977 which were included in the widely-published Star Wars Album. While the U.S. version includes a dramatic image of Obi-Wan and Vader locking sabers, international printings showcase a dimly-lit cantina scene. Though rarely seen, the style and mood of these illustrations re-emerged years later in a prolific series of paintings done by the brothers for 1996's Shadows of the Empire trading card set.
Marketed as "a Star Wars multi-media event", Shadows of the Empire bridged the years between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and introduced a new threat to the galaxy -- crime lord Xizor. In a rush of creativity, the brothers feverishly painted scores of images inspired by the storyline, culminating in a 100-piece Hildebrandt-illustrated Shadows card series.
According to The Art of the Brothers Hildebrandt, which reproduced each of the Shadows artworks along with sketches and descriptions, Tim's favorite from the series was a quiet image of R2-D2 and C-3PO among the trees of an ancient forest. Tim explained that he always enjoyed the opportunity to incorporate nature and technology, a preference he'd exhibited years earlier in an unused piece of merchandising art done for Return of the Jedi. In it, the cold angular lines of an Imperial scout walker stand in stark contrast to the lush organic forms and soft filtered light of Endor. Fittingly, the juxtaposition of technology with nature was one of the formative visions that inspired George Lucas to create Star Wars in the first place.
1999's Episode I inspired a second flood of Star Wars artwork from the Brothers Hildebrandt, this time for the profusely-illustrated Great Big Flap Book. Creating scores of new paintings from The Phantom Menace, the brothers were again able to infuse the spirit of their earliest Star Wars designs into this artwork, earning them the rare distinction of having illustrated for both Star Wars trilogies.
Though their work in the Star Wars universe became less intense in recent years, Tim and Greg Hildebrandt continued to make public appearances amid their busy schedules, attracting throngs of eager fans hoping to share a moment with the artists whose name had become synonymous with Star Wars illustration. Like the lone red "HILDEBRANDT" signature that glows like a brand on their earliest works, the iconic image of Luke and Leia standing triumphant beneath a radiant star-filled sky remains deeply engrained in the public mind -- probably more so than any other image associated with the saga.
For fans and art lovers alike, Tim's contribution to the Star Wars saga, to the Hildebrandt aesthetic, and to our imaginations will be deeply missed.
To view artwork by Tim, Greg, and the Brothers Hildebrandt, please visit their official website here.
