Ed Emshwiller
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Edmund Alexander Emshwiller ("Emsh") (1925-1990) was a visual artist notable for illustrations of many science fiction magazine covers. Born in Lansing, Michigan, he graduated from the University of Michigan in 1947, then studied at École des Beaux Arts in Paris with his wife, the award-winning writer Carol Emshwiller (née Fries).
As "Emsh", "Ed Emsh" and sometimes "Emsler", between 1951 and 1979 Emshwiller created covers and interior illustrations for dozens of science fiction paperbacks and magazines, notably for Galaxy and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
In 1964 a Ford Foundation grant allowed Emshwiller to pursue his interest in film. Active in the New American Cinema movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, he created multimedia performance pieces, cine-dance and experimental films, while also filming low-budget features and documentaries. After a period as artist-in-residence at the Television Laboratory WNET/13 (New York), he moved to California in 1984, serving as dean of the School of Film/Video at the California Institute of Arts from 1979 to 1990.
There seems to have been no "typical" Emsh cover. His painterly treatment for the August 1951 Galaxy recalls later work by Leo and Diane Dillon.
External link
- Beyond Bedlam cover, August '51 (http://www.sciencefictionmuseum.com/classics/gc5108.html)