When George Lucas was first pitched the idea of a cosmic fantasy that happened a long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, it was the artwork of Ralph McQuarrie that the young filmmaker used to communicate his strange, otherworldly concepts and characters. McQuarrie became renowned for his art labors on the film, and for years Star Wars scholars have analyzed and discussed every sketch and painting, well, not every one, it turns out.
In the months after the lavish, 400-page retrospective "The Art of Ralph McQuarrie" was published in 2007.
"We thought that we had seen all of Ralph’s 'Star Wars' work here at Lucasfilm — literally hundreds of production paintings, matte paintings and sketches, all carefully photographed, inventoried and preserved," Sansweet said. "But because his home furnace needed to be repaired a few years ago, and a forgotten bookshelf unit had to be moved to let the repairman get at it, Ralph discovered an old box on a shelf that was filled with the treasures."
By then it was too late to add them to the art book. Now Lucasfilm has incorporated these "lost" pieces into a McQuarrie masterworks exhibit that will be staged at Celebration V in Orlando, FL in August. There will be reproductions of one hundred pieces from McQuarrie's personal collection -- design work on characters, creatures, spacecraft, weapons, and worlds. There are numerous thumbnail sketches and original pencil drawings that were used in the making of the now iconic "Star Wars" production paintings, Christmas cards and other items. Now, we have a look at two pieces of McQuarrie's lost Star Wars art. Check them out below.
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