The poster art of Bob Peak
Apr 10, 2007
top: Apocalypse Now (1979), Camelot (1967).
bottom: The Comfort of Strangers (1990), The Black Stallion (1979).
Bob Peak was one of the top Hollywood poster artists of the Sixties and Seventies. His site has a fairly extensive gallery which includes sketches and unused artwork. Movie poster art now is invariably the product of anonymous Photoshop artists and all the poorer for losing this kind of individual touch.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive
Previously on { feuilleton}
• A premonition of Premonition
• Perfume: the art of scent
• Metropolis posters
• Film noir posters
13 comments or trackbacks
#1 posted by Eroom Nala
Apr 10th, 2007
I remember seeing The comfort of Strangers on the big screen but don’t remember seeing that poster anywhere.
The My Fair Lady one on his webpage is too well known to need reproducing. It’s used on the cover of the DVD I have.
I think I like the Camelot one the best although the Apocalypse Now one is pretty striking too.
#2 posted by John
Apr 10th, 2007
I’d not seen the Comfort of Strangers one before but I like its faux-Klimt style.
His famous Apocalypse Now one with the big sun was an image I borrowed for The Call of Cthulhu:
http://www.johncoulthart.com/haunter/cthpage2.html
#3 posted by Trev
Apr 10th, 2007
Bill Sienkiewicz must’ve been a huge fan of this guy.
#4 posted by John
Apr 10th, 2007
Sure enough, Sienkiewicz mentions him as an influence here:
http://www.tlchicken.com/view_story.php?ARTid=1211
#5 posted by Eroom Nala
Apr 10th, 2007
I just finished reading Elektra Assassin with some pretty striking Sienkiewicz artwork that someone at work lent me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra:_Assassin
http://www.wordsandpictures.org/Elektra/elektra_gallery_1.html
#6 posted by John
Apr 11th, 2007
Nice work. I’ve not seen much of his early stuff.
#7 posted by sebastiane
Nov 8th, 2007
i love Bob Peak art, he’s been one of the best poster designer of its time. altough my favorite is Richard Amsel..
#8 posted by John
Nov 8th, 2007
Hi Sebastiane. Yeah, Amsel is great as well, in fact I have an original poster of his, one of the designs for Chinatown. A shame there doesn’t seem to be a decent site for his work although there’s a good page here:
http://www.americanartarchives.com/amsel.htm
#9 posted by sebastiane
Nov 8th, 2007
hi John, thanks for the link, I agree no good sites on Amsel. I have a small selection of his works in original, almost everything of the 70′s. Are you familiar with East Europe movie posters? great pieces of art there as well.
#10 posted by John
Nov 9th, 2007
Yes, the Poles are great too, especially Franciszek Starowieyski. Very radical interpretations. The only reason they haven’t featured here is they seem to have been mentioned quite a lot recently on other sites.
#11 posted by Matthew Joseph Peak
May 17th, 2010
Hi John and all, Nice to see this posting on my dad! For those who would have an interest…I have started a new OFFICIAL BOB PEAK site http://BobPeak.net that I’m just getting started with (large pics, projects info and video clips), and an online art gallery that carries his work (and others) http://SanguinFineArt.com
And if anyone has any questions about my dad, please shoot me a line! Matthew Peak
#12 posted by John
May 18th, 2010
Hi Matthew, and thanks, that’s a great site. Really good to see his artwork at large size with rich colours. I’ll keep checking back!
#13 posted by Ellie
Aug 26th, 2010
Matthew, I would like to ask about the font on the Camelot poster. I assume it was hand drafted, but is there a name for it?