by Josh Kirby’s art has graced hundreds of book covers – perhaps dozens of Terry Pratchett novels, most notably the best-selling Discworld series.
However, his work is much more extensive – Kirby’s paintings have graced the covers of volumes by Ray Bradbury, Ian Fleming, HG Wells, Jack Kerouac, Herman Melville and Neil Gaiman, and he has produced posters for films including the film. Star wars franchise.
Now the family of the artist, who died in 2001, is seeking an arts philanthropist to hold together the large collection of original paintings and ensure that Kirby’s original artworks are preserved for the future in one or more museums or galleries.
Rob Liano, who represented the Kirby estate, said: “There are around 400 finished paintings and several hundred sketches in various media, ranging from detailed gouache renderings to pencil and pen sketches. It’s a massive collection spanning seven decades and a beautiful story of Josh’s workflow, creative process and art.
“Our goal is to increase and extend Josh’s legacy, whether through a foundation or scholarship in his honor, expanding the product, increasing publicity and continuing to expose his work to further recognition of his impact on the art world – and that requires funding. .”
The person undertaking the project will need fairly deep pockets. “It would have to be somewhere in seven figures,” says Liano.
At the age of 22, Ronald William Kirby was commissioned to paint a portrait of the Mayor of Liverpool, Elder Joseph Jackson Cleary.
It was 1950, and Kirby was then known as Josh, a nickname given to him by fellow students during his six years at Liverpool College of Art who compared his work to Sir Joshua Reynolds, the 18th century portraitist. But Kirby, born in Waterloo, Liverpool, in 1928, would leave his hometown and his portrait painting behind as he moved to London to forge a career in book cover art – particularly science fiction and fantasy.
His first published painting was on the cover of a now forgotten science fiction novel by Dan Morgan. Cee-Tee Manin 1954. Two years later he was commissioned to create the cover for the Pan paperback edition of Ian Fleming’s James Bond adventure Moon. During the 1970s Kirby’s career took off and he moved into film poster artwork, including Star wars sequence Return of the Jedi.
From the mid-1960s until his death in 2001 at the age of 72, Kirby lived and worked in a former rectory in Norfolk, choosing a cramped space as his studio. Liano said: “He painted most of the time in a narrow space with a large window letting in light from the north. This space was literally a pantry off the dining room. There was plenty of space for his chair, an easel, a small radio and one wall with lots and lots of sketches and reference material. There may or may not have been a skull living at the top of one of the piles, which appears in more than one of Josh’s horror illustrations.”
The estate has had many approaches to buying individual pieces from hundreds of paintings, but is keen to keep the collection together, perhaps spread over several galleries, organized by theme.
Liano added: “We have kept the collection intact on purpose and would prefer it to stay that way as much as possible as it is rare for one artist to have such a large collection. It can be divided by genre – horror, sci-fi, Discworld, etc – without dilution and it can live forever that way.”
Liano said the family is looking for a permanent home or homes for the collection – currently most of the paintings are in storage – so that the work “can inspire and influence more artists, and people can followers of his art to see him in person”. He added: “We are passionate about placing the works in contexts where their stories can continue to be told within the context of the history of the genres that Josh helped shape.”
Fraser Scott, who runs the London-based A Gallery and also acts as an agent for artists, is working with the Kirby estate to seek a patron. He said: “A collection like Josh Kirby’s needs to be public because it is so widely known as part of our culture.
“Although it may be clear in 2024 how Kirby works Star warsdisc world, Hitchcock present or there are numerous other examples of importance, centuries in the future that importance has greatly increased – when we look back at artefacts from the 1700s, we wish there had been much more preserved for history.
“This is an opportunity to secure one of the great artists of our time [has] his original paintings have been preserved and will be available to view for generations to come.”
And if there is no philanthropist to come? “We haven’t decided what’s going to happen then,” Liano said. “But we will never sell it in pieces until the collection is completely diluted. Josh wouldn’t want that.”
