John
Berkey
California Gold
Rush (1999)
Candidate
for Elvis stamp
As
a staff artist at the Brown & Bigelow advertising firm for
eight years, John Berkey produced more than 500 calendar images,
featuring everything from pastoral scenes to historic tableaus,
before turning to freelance illustration in 1963. Renowned for
his robust and impressionistic style, he has created paintings
for book covers, movie posters, advertisements, and such periodicals
as National Geographic, Life, Time, and TV Guide.
Among those attracted to his masterful science-fiction illustrations
was the young George Lucas, who commissioned him to work on the
pre-production designs for Star Wars. His images appear on 16
U.S. stamps.