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For the first 5 years of her life, illustrator Sulamith Wülfing (1901-1989) & her parents lived in complete seclusion. She had visions of angels, fairies, gnomes & nature spirits from age 4 that continued throughout her life & inspired her art. Much of her art was lost in WWII.
Surrealist illustrations for the poems of Lautreamont, 1967, by Czech artist Adolf Hoffmeister (1902-1973). A poet, novelist & translator, he set up an anti-fascist magazine in 1930. He was chased out of France by the Nazis then later chased from Czechoslovakia by the Communists.
The Hermit. Stefan Żechowski (1912 - 1984) was a Polish individualist who was forced to work designing postage stamps of Lenin & Marx under the rule of Stalin - "or else be ostracised and starved if not imprisoned". He created 100s of secret images: dreams, nightmares & eroticism
Pt. 2. If you've ever found yourself without a home, the paintings of Cristobal Toral (1940- ) might touch you.
1st Steampunk film: lost forever. The 1919 adaptation of H.G Well's "The First Men in the Moon" was the 1st full length Sci-Fi movie ever made. It's in the BFI's "75 most-wanted lost films" list. It tells of a mission to an Alien-infested moon in 1890. Only 1 image remains (pic4)
MOONBATS. The pejorative expression comes from the Great Moon Hoax (1835) in which U.S scientists 'discovered' human-like creatures on the moon: "Unlike earth-bound humans, these creatures ... had wings composed of a thin membrane, without hair, lying snugly upon their backs."
The First Moon Hoax. In 1835, a series of hoax articles appeared in the New York Sun claiming that a civilization had been discovered on the moon by means of telescope - and that bat-like winged humanoids "Vespertilio-Homo" resided on a lunar surface that had vegetation & water.
Pt.3. The stunning hand-painted spaceships of John Berkey (1932-2008). Berkey painted both for pleasure & commission. Over his career he "avoided computers." His futuristic space images have almost single-handedly defined the look of modern, hi-tech sci-fi.
The very first sketches for the first Star Wars poster for the first Star Wars film - by John Berkey ,1976. George Lucas owned several of Berkey's Sci-fi paintings & used them as reference material while he pitched his ideas to film studios for a new space fantasy film: Star Wars