Infinite Worlds - The Fantastic Visions Of Science Fiction Art
(1997 - Virgin Books)

(by Vincent DiFate) A well-regarded survey of science-fiction art by a science-fiction artist. Because of its scope, a single volume would have to be too big & heavy by half, and indeed this one is. It has 320 pages of which 306 are dominated by the art (only 125 unclutteredly feature a single large reproduction). The art pages include a dozen pieces that spread across the book's gutter (three unnecessarily so) and about three-quarters of those are acceptable in that presentation, if not ideal. Most of the book is taken up by an alphabetical gallery of the artists, but a not-insignificant first section tries to provide an overview of the publishing context that sporadically gave employment to so many. Unfortunately, this essay consistently gets distracted by the biographical details of the noted artists when they appear, even though they will all be repeated in the biographies in the gallery section. I admit, I poured over the biographies first, which made reading all the repetitions in the overview section tedious. Nearly every piece is accompanied by a caption supplying the artist's name within a narrative about the use or purpose of the work. There is a two-page index at the back of the book. Some of the storied artists don't have a piece that gets featured singly on a page, but the ones who do are: Paul Alexander, James Bama (4)**, Wayne Barlow (4), Rudolph Belarsky, Earle K. Bergey (2), John C. Berkey, Hannes Bok, Chesley Bonestell (6), Howard V. Brown (3), Reynold Brown*, Alice Carter, Edd Cartier**, Joseph Clement Coll (3), Vincent DiFate (4)*, Leo & Diane Dillon (4), Elliot Dold, Bob Eggleton, Dean Ellis, Lou Feck, Virgil Finlay (3), Lorraine Fox, Frank Frazetta (2)*, Fred Freeman, Jack Gaughan, Jean-Jacques Grandville, James Gurney (3), Stephen Hickman**, Greg Hildebrandt**, Tim Hildebrandt (2)**, Mitchell Hooks, Paul Lehr (3), Albert Lorenz, Carl Lundgren, Robert McCall, Robert McGinnis*, Syd Mead, Stanley Meltzoff (2), Henri de Montaut, Leo Morey, Al Parker, Frank R. Paul (3), Fred Pfeiffer, Walter Popp (2), Richard Powers (5)***, Don Ivan Punchatz (2), Albert Robida, Manuel Sanjulian, John Schoenherr (2), Alex Schomburg (2)**, Robert E. Schulz, Ed Soyka, J. Allen St. John*, Darrell K. Sweet (3)*, Gene Szafran, Herb Tauss, Murray Tinkelman (3), Ed Valigursky (2), Boris Vallejo (2)*, H.R. VanDongen, Ron Walotsky*, James Warhola (2), H.W. Wesso, Michael Whelan (4)*, Wally Wood (2), N.C. Wyeth and UNKNOWN.

* - Note that the 'well-presented' pieces here by Reynold Brown, DiFate, St. John, Frazetta, McGinnis, Sweet, Vallejo, Walotsky, and Whelan, can all additionally be found so in their own collections on The List (in Sweet & DiFate's cases, some long pieces actually get a better presentation here).

** - Note that the 'well-presented' pieces here by Bama, Cartier, Schomburg, Hickman, and The Hildebrandts, cannot be additionally found so in their own collections on The List.

*** - Note that in regards to the 'well-presented' pieces here by Powers, some, but not all, can additionally be found so in his own collection on The List.

other Sci-Fi art collections

Planet Of The Apes Artist Tribute