2001 A Space Odyssey

Artist: Bob McCall
Format: UK Quad (30"x 40")
Condition: Excellent
Year: 1968

Description

In early 1964 Stanley Kubrick began work on his next film, a science-fiction feature that explored mankind’s place in the universe. Kubrick and science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke would spend the next four years working on what would eventually become “2001: A Space Odyssey”. One of the most acclaimed films of all time, “2001” has influenced film in a multitude of ways and ensured Kubrick would have a lasting legacy as one of the greatest directors of all time.

 

Presented here is the rarer B-Style Quad poster for Kubrick’s classic. American artist Robert McCall provided the artwork for both posters (see the Style-A version below) and the similarities between the two are clear. Both feature colour schemes mainly of blue and blacks and centre around images capturing the true vastness of space. Unusually for science fiction film posters, particularly of the time, the design is relatively free of any action-packed illustration yet still works brilliantly in presenting the awe, wonder and epic-scale that Kubrick had intended. Conveying the mysterious and eerie qualities of space, the design is certainly intriguing, raising questions like who are these men and what are they doing?

 

Such is the impact and popularity of Kubrick’s film that re-releases are frequent and as such a plethora of posters have been created. Below is the poster for the 2001 re-release, shown courtesy of www.moviepostermem.com). Featuring some of McCall’s original artwork alongside imagery of the famous floating foetus with earth in the background, it is no doubt a nice contemporary poster for the film and combines artwork and photographic imagery to a good effect.

 

This particular poster has been linen-backed.