Roger Kastel, an artist who over the decades has worked across cinema, books and comics, has died. He was 91.
Kastel is probably best known for two pieces. The first is his poster for the original Jaws, one of the most famous in movie history (even though it was originally painted for Peter Benchley's 1974 novel!), featuring a composition that has been copied, parodied and paid tribute to countless times over the decades.
The second is his Empire Strikes Back poster which by my count, even 43 years later, is visible in my house in at least two places (a blockmounted poster in my office and the VHS copy of the movie on my shelf)
The news of Kastel's passing was first shared by his peers in the art world, including Drew Struzan:
While Kastel is most famous for those two pieces, he also spent decades as a successful artist working across publishing and comics. Look at some of this stuff! Amazing!
If you'd like to see more of Kastel's work, there's a gallery at his official site.
