arts

For those of us that remember the Hildebrandt calendars of 76/77/78, this book is a dream come true. Greg and Tim Hildebrandt created enormously successful calendars inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Those calendars are not only a treasured collectors item, but the paintings themselves set a standard for Tolkien art that has yet to be matched. So it's no surprise that with the ever looming shadow of the Peter Jackson epic getting bigger, we finally have a book that includes all those wonderful paintings........and more. This volume has all the original paintings from each of the calendars, sketches for the paintings, as well as photos and sketches of the costumes. Includes a pull-out poster of a painting created especially for this book. Fifty-six color illustrations, 97 sketches, 127 photographs. The reprints are simply beautiful. The text was written by Greg's son. He looks back in time when he was a child posing for his dad and uncle as the Hobbits in all of their paintings for their calendars. So if you're a fan of Tolkien and The Brothers Hildebrandt, by all means don't pass up this truly awesome book. It's about time...

This great book is LONG overdue...this is the first time all the Hildebrandt Tolkien calendar art from the 1970's has been collected in one place (there are some nifty newer pieces, too). While the pictures are slightly smaller than they were in the original calendars (occasionally, they're bigger), the photographic reproduction is head and shoulders above the old sources. The colors are richer and truer than ever. The assorted preperatory sketches are priceless, too. The commentary by Greg's son, Greg Jr, is mostly silly, as it is told from the point of view of a five-year-old onlooker---but the comments by the artists themselves really helped me to appreciate the artwork even more. Highly recommended...especially for anyone who finds the current Tolkien art by Alan Lee to be too cold. This is the REAL stuff!

As any Brothers Hildebrandt fan knows, Greg and Tim's first Tolkein calender went on to become a worldwide bestseller. Some of the art,such as Unexpected Party or Gandalf with the Balrog was simply brilliant. Some of it looks dated today such as the hideous 1976 granny dress that Galadriel wears or the Sgt. Pepper mustache on Aragorn and the silly looking Fell beasts ridden by Nazgul who look like they're about to fall off at any minute. Oh well. Nobody got out of the 70s without some style howlers. Laugh at the funny stuff and be awed by the great.

One of the strongest and most charming elements of the book is the descriptions from Greg Hildebrant's son who was five when the brothers began working on the calenders. Young Greg's memories are full of wonder that's in keeper with what his uncle and father were working on. It's not all sweetness and light however, young Greg remembers that toward the middle of the project things got increasingly difficult in the studio. The pressures of the deadline, creative disagreements and artistic disappointments (Among other things the brothers didn't have time to do a huge battle scene that they'd planned) and the need to do separate projects are all mentioned.

Besides all three Hildebrandt calenders, the book has pictures of privately commissioned works (some of which are better than the orginal paintings), prelim sketches, and photos of the models. If you loved the work of the brothers or have just discovered it this will be a highly entertaining treat for you.