Years ago we had discovered in Josh’s journal that he was commissioned to paint a film poster design for The Empire Strikes Back but we had never seen the painting… until now.
Josh Kirby's original signed hand-painted artwork for "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" was sold at auction for over £50,000!
This piece is rendered in water colour, acrylic and gouache on Colyer & Southey CS2 Fashion Board and was commissioned by the advertising agency Feref (Kirby worked as a freelance artist for them) who had the contract to provide campaign artwork designs for Lucasfilm on the sequel.
Kirby met the studio's remits with the inclusion of Han and Leia ("Gone with the Wind"-style); Bespin the Cloud City; Luke astride a Taun Taun,;the new character of Lando Calrissian; and, of course, Darth Vader.
The inclusion of Vader was important as he was last seen spinning off into outer space at the end of "Star Wars" and in the years between productions had become so popular and integral to the series his return was guaranteed and the cinema going audience had to be made aware of this.
Sadly for Kirby, the studio decided against this concept for the campaign but it must have been a close decision for such a detailed painting to be completed for consideration.
Signed "Kirby" beneath R2-D2.
