Special Collections News

The Artist's Telescope: Science Fiction and Illustration

An Exhibit
3rd floor, Charles Deering Library, Northwestern University Library
March 2 – June 30, 2009
For questions and directions: 847-491-3635

Isaac Asimov defined science fiction as the branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advances on human beings. Using narrative and illustration, authors and artists explore the possible consequences of technology for social, political and ecological issues. This exhibit traces changes in the depiction of interplanetary worlds in popular literature. 19th century authors such as Robida and Grandville illustrated their own fantastical visions of future worlds. Authors like Jules Verne were able to base their lunar or Martian landscapes on maps printed from images seen with powerful telescopes. Heroes like Flash Gordon and the possibilities of space travel captured popular attention in comics and pulp magazines before World War II, and the Space Race fueled a booming interest in science fiction. As space flight became a reality, the art which illustrated science fiction favored artists such as Chesley Bonestell who had technological expertise. Surrealistic styles used by illustrators such as Richard Powers, Kelly Freas, and Ed Emshwiller also became popular. Science fiction illustration entered a kind of golden age when publishers satisfied the public's appetite with inexpensive paperbacks. These books became collectible, not just as stories, but for their vivid cover art, leading in turn to a market for the original paintings. The selection of books and magazines displayed here reveal artists' perspectives on science fiction from its beginnings to the mid-1970s.

--Curated by Sigrid Pohl Perry, McCormick Library of Special Collections; installation design by Kitz Rickert, Northwestern University Library Conservation Lab

Film clips: The computer work station in the exhibit area has a DVD of selected video clips:
Chesley Bonestell, background artist, The War of the Worlds (1953)
Ed Emshwiller, independent filmmaker: Outside the Lines: Sunstone (1987), Crossings and Meetings (1995), and Eclipse (1998)
Flatlandia (1980) based on Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott; adapted by Michele Emmer et al, Brown University