The Fabulous Women of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell

The Fabulous Women of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell
by Boris Vallejo, Julie Bill, Anthony and David Palumbo [759.58 qVal]

The field of science fiction and fantasy publishing has recently gone through some growing pains, inspired in part by negative reactions to the traditional kind of fantasy artwork that seems to objectify women. As the publishing industry moves away from book and magazine covers with beautiful women in chainmail, holding big swords, it seems worthwhile to look back at two of the artists whose fame was most notably linked to that type of cover art -- Boris Vallejo and his wife Julie Bell. This beautiful hardbound art book reproduces dozens of each of these artists' works from the 1960s, 70s and 80s, that originally appeared on book and magazine covers, in calendars, on trading cards, and in gaming literature. The colors are lush, the female figures are curvy yet powerful, and the dragons, unicorns, alien beasts, spaceships and other fantasy or scifi set pieces are gorgeous. Vallejo's work epitomized the space opera movement in those earlier decades, and even if you find the cheesecake elements of his paintings to be somewhat off-putting today, there's no denying the strength of his heroines, and the impact his work has had on fantasy illustrations for over 40 years. [NOTE: Fair warning, there is nudity involved in some of these illustrations, including those works by Julie Bell.]. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Fantastic Art of Boris, and Icon: A Retrospective of the Grandmaster of Fantastic Art by Frank Frazetta.]

[ Imaginistix -- the official web site of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell ]

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