Hannes BOK

Hannes Bok (1914-1964) is considered to be one of the premier fantasy illustrators of the twentieth century. Dying young, he left behind a mostly uncollected array of wonderful and astonishing black-and-white pulp illustrations, a dozen or so dazzling dust jacket covers, and an as-yet-undetermined number of gorgeous color paintings, most of them quickly snapped up early by connoisseurs and still under heavy guard in private collections. And it was only due to the efforts of a few dedicated admirers, who published the first Bok collections, that the richer part of his legacy still survives. But even these early Bok collections are out of print and going for high prices in the collectors' market. As a consequence, none of Bok's artwork is currently available to the general public, and there is still much that has never been reproduced in the first place."Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration" redresses this by bringing back into print not only his out of print artwork but many newly discovered drawings and paintings, reproduced here for the first time. In addition, "A Life in Illustration" also includes a rich selection of critical and biographical background material, including a nostalgic memoir by Ray Bradbury, incisive tributes by fellow artists, a newly uncovered letter of encouragement by Maxfield Parrish, and Bok's own concise autobiography, as well as his long unavailable essay, "Hannes Bok Looks at Fantasy Art and Illustration," a cogent elaboration of his artistic credo. "Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration" could well prove to be the definitive edition honoring his life and work.