Robert McCall 1919-Infinity R.I.P.

I just heard today on NPR that space artist Robert McCall died on February 28 of this year. Though his name might not be well known, just about everyone has seen his art. If you've ever been fortunate enough to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, (I haven't), that giant mural that you saw was his. He has other murals in various space centers across the country. He also designed several U.S.stamp sets commemorating manned and unmanned space exploration. He designed several astronaut mission patches. He was official artist for NASA during the Apollo era. He did conceptual artwork for the movies THE BLACK HOLE and STAR TREK; THE MOTION PICTURE (but....don't blame him for the movies). But of course, his most famous piece was the poster art used for the movie 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. You know the one; the Pan Am(!) space shuttle jetting out of the still-under-construction space station, with the Earth and Moon hanging in the background.

But for me the first image that came to mind upon hearing the news was the painting of his that I clipped out of a magazine when I was a kid and hung up over my bed. It was one of his beautiful floating cities with a spaceship launching away from it toward the stars.

*sigh* The news was another reminder that the future just ain't what it was.

If you're still not remembering his stuff, Google him and throw a party for your eyes.

As for me, I'm just gonna go settle down with a book of his artwork.