Richard M. Powers
Encyclopedia
Richard M. Powers was a science fiction illustrator.
1921 into a Catholic family, Richard Michael Gorman Powers spent most of his early life supported by his mother and aunt. His father left the family when Powers was young. At eleven, Powers was introduced to art when his uncle gave him a sketch book, although in later life his uncle's wife would try to prevent from making any art. He became one of the most influential science fiction
artists of all time.
He began by working in a conventional pulp
paperback style, but quickly evolved a personal Surrealist idiom influenced by the cubists and surrealists, especially Picasso and Yves Tanguy
. He also dabbled in abstract art and collage
at a later age before dying in 1996 at the age of 75.
From the 1940s through the 1960s, he did many of covers for Doubleday. During the 1950s and 1960s, he served as an unofficial art director for Ballantine Books
.
He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle on June 21, 2008.
The estate of Richard Powers, which includes original artwork, is represented by Worlds of Wonder.
, former frontman of the British New wave band XTC
released a limited edition CD of music inspired by Powers' art titled POWERS.
special editions of classic science fiction novels, including a 1986 edition of The Gods Themselves
.
Life and work
Born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
1921 into a Catholic family, Richard Michael Gorman Powers spent most of his early life supported by his mother and aunt. His father left the family when Powers was young. At eleven, Powers was introduced to art when his uncle gave him a sketch book, although in later life his uncle's wife would try to prevent from making any art. He became one of the most influential science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
artists of all time.
He began by working in a conventional pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
paperback style, but quickly evolved a personal Surrealist idiom influenced by the cubists and surrealists, especially Picasso and Yves Tanguy
Yves Tanguy
Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy , known as Yves Tanguy, was a French surrealist painter.-Biography:Tanguy was born in Paris, France, the son of a retired navy captain. His parents were both of Breton origin...
. He also dabbled in abstract art and collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
at a later age before dying in 1996 at the age of 75.
From the 1940s through the 1960s, he did many of covers for Doubleday. During the 1950s and 1960s, he served as an unofficial art director for Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
.
He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle on June 21, 2008.
The estate of Richard Powers, which includes original artwork, is represented by Worlds of Wonder.
Cultural influence
In 2010, Andy PartridgeAndy Partridge
Andrew John "Andy" Partridge is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has been known as Sir John Johns and Melchior and rose to fame as a founding member, guitarist and chief songwriter of the pop/new wave band, XTC. He lives in Swindon, Wiltshire, where he was raised.Partridge also...
, former frontman of the British New wave band XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...
released a limited edition CD of music inspired by Powers' art titled POWERS.
Illustrated books
Powers provided interior illustrations for a number of Easton PressEaston Press
Easton Press, a division of MBI Inc., based in Norwalk, Connecticut, is a publisher specializing in high-quality leather-bound books. In addition to canonical classics, poetry and art books, they publish a large library of science fiction and popular literature as well.Some of Easton Press's...
special editions of classic science fiction novels, including a 1986 edition of The Gods Themselves
The Gods Themselves
The Gods Themselves is a 1972 science fiction novel written by Isaac Asimov. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973....
.
- American Tall Tales, Adrien StoutenburgAdrien StoutenburgAdrien Stoutenburg was an American poet and a prolific writer of juvenile literature. Her poetry collection Heroes, Advise Us was the 1964 Lamont Poetry Selection.- Life :...
, interior illustrations (Puffin, 1976) ISBN 978-0-14-030928-7) - The Number of the BeastThe Number of the Beast (novel)The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
(1980), interior artwork and cover illustrations, first edition
Album covers
- Symphonie FantastiqueSymphonie FantastiqueSymphonie Fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties , Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is one of the most important and representative pieces of the early Romantic period, and is still very popular with concert audiences...
Hector BerliozHector BerliozHector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
, Charles Munch, conductor, Boston Symphony OrchestraBoston Symphony OrchestraThe Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
. RCA Victor, 1955
Partial list of book covers
- The Long Loud SilenceThe Long Loud SilenceThe Long Loud Silence is a science fiction novel written by Wilson A. Tucker. It was first published in hardback edition by Rinehart & Co. in 1952, followed by Dell paperback editions in 1952 and 1954....
(1952) - Tomorrow, the StarsTomorrow, the StarsTomorrow, the Stars is an anthology of speculative fiction short stories, presented as edited by Robert A. Heinlein and published in 1952.Heinlein wrote a six-page introduction in which he discussed the nature of science fiction, speculative fiction, escapist stories, and literature. None of the...
(1952) - Childhood's EndChildhood's EndChildhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival ends all war, helps form a world government, and turns the planet into a near-utopia...
(1953) - More Than HumanMore Than HumanMore Than Human is a 1953 science fiction novel by Theodore Sturgeon. It is a fix-up of his previously published novella Baby is Three with two parts written especially for the novel....
(1953) - Expedition to EarthExpedition to EarthExpedition to Earth is a collection of science fiction short stories by Arthur C. Clarke.There are at least two variants of this book's table of contents - in different editions of the book . Both variants include the stories History Lesson and Encounter in the Dawn...
(1953) - Ahead of TimeAhead of TimeAhead of Time is a collection of science fiction stories by Henry Kuttner, first published in hardcover by Ballantine Books in 1953.-Contents:*"Or Else"* *"Home Is The Hunter"*...
(1953) - Star Science Fiction Stories No.1Star Science Fiction Stories No.1Star Science Fiction Stories No.1 is the first book in the anthology series, Star Science Fiction Stories, edited by Frederik Pohl. It was first published in 1953 by Ballantine Books, without numeration, and was reprinted in 1972 as "No. 1". The book featured the first appearance of Arthur C...
(1953) - Citizen in SpaceCitizen in SpaceCitizen in Space is a collection of science fiction short stories by Robert Sheckley. It was first published in 1955 by Ballantine Books...
(1955) - Who Goes There? and Other StoriesWho Goes There? and Other StoriesWho Goes There? and Other Stories is a 1955 collection of science fiction stories by John W. Campbell Jr., published by Dell Books in 1955...
(1955) - The Human AngleThe Human AngleThe Human Angle is the second collection of science fiction stories by William Tenn, published simultaneously in hardcover and paperback by Ballantine Books in 1956...
(1956) - Reach for TomorrowReach for TomorrowReach for Tomorrow is a collection of short stories by science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke. The stories all originally appeared in a number of different publications.-Contents:...
(1956) - Robots and ChangelingsRobots and ChangelingsRobots and Changelings is the second collection of fantasy and science fiction stories by Lester del Rey, published by Ballantine Books in 1957.-Contents:* "The Pipes of Pan" * "Little Jimmy" F&SF 1957)...
(1957) - StarburstStarburst (Alfred Bester)Starburst is a collection of science fiction stories by Alfred Bester, originally published in paperback by Signet Books in 1958. Signet issued at least four reprint editions of the collection over more than twenty years; British editions were published by Sphere Books and Pan Books.-Contents:*...
(1958) - On an Odd NoteOn an Odd NoteOn an Odd Note is a collection of short stories written by Gerald Kersh, published as a paperback original by Ballantine Books in 1958. No other editions were issued.-Contents:* "Seed of Destruction...
(1958) - Man of EarthMan of EarthMan of Earth is a science fiction novel by Algis Budrys, first published in 1958 by Ballantine Books.-Plot summary:In Man of Earth, Allen Sibley is a businessman who is about to be indicted for bribery of a public official. Desperate to escape prison, he pays a fortune to the mysterious Doncaster...
(1958) - WolfbaneWolfbane (novel)Wolfbane is a science fiction novel by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, published in 1959. It was serialized in Galaxy in 1957, with illustrations by Wally Wood....
(1959) - Far RainbowFar RainbowFar Rainbow is a 1963 science fiction novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky set in the Noon Universe.- Plot summary :The novel tells the story of the Rainbow catastrophe of 2156. It starts very simple, as a Wave observer Robert Sklyarov notices an unusually persistent Wave and reports it to the...
(1963) - GreybeardGreybeardGreybeard is a science fiction novel by British author Brian Aldiss, published in 1964.-Plot summary:Set decades after the Earth's population has been sterilised as a result of nuclear bomb tests conducted in Earth's orbit, the book shows a world emptying of humans, with only an ageing, childless...
, (1964) - The InvincibleThe InvincibleThe Invincible is a science fiction novel written by Stanisław Lem and published in 1964. It originally appeared as the title story in Lem's collection Niezwyciężony i inne opowiadania . A translation into German was published in 1967; an English translation by Wendayne Ackerman of the German...
(1964) - The Second Invasion from MarsThe Second Invasion from MarsThe Second Invasion from Mars , subtitled Diary of a Sane [Person] , is a relatively short 1968 science fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky that portrays two weeks from the life of a common person in highly unusual circumstances...
(1968) - The Daleth EffectThe Daleth EffectThe Daleth Effect, also known as In Our Hands The Stars, is a book written by Harry Harrison and published in 1970.-Reception:James Blish described the novel as "a driving action story . . . at once as exciting and as somber as John le Carre . . . though not, I am afraid, as well written."...
(1970) - Vermilion SandsVermilion SandsVermilion Sands is a short-story collection by J. G. Ballard, first published in 1971. All the stories are set in an imaginary vacation resort called Vermilion Sands which suggests, among other places, Palm Springs in southern California...
(1971) - The Fabulous RiverboatThe Fabulous RiverboatThe Fabulous Riverboat is a science fiction novel, the second book in the Riverworld series by Philip José Farmer.A shorter version of the novel was serialized in If magazine as "The Felled Star" and "The Fabulous Riverboat" .-Overview:Departing from the plot of To Your Scattered Bodies Go, the...
(1971) - Roadside PicnicRoadside PicnicRoadside Picnic is a short science fiction novel written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky between January 18 and November 3 of 1971. As of 1998, 38 editions of the novel were published in 20 countries. The novel was first translated to English by Antonina W. Bouis...
(1977) - Firing the CathedralFiring the CathedralFiring the Cathedral is a novella by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock . It is part of his long-running Jerry Cornelius series....
(2002)
External links
- Dave Hartwell's account of Richard M. Powers
- A large collection of Richard M. Powers' published artwork: The Powers Compendium