Artist Tom Jung’s Painting That Introduced ‘Star Wars’ To Moviegoers In 1977 Fetches $3.875M

A painting that introduced “Star Wars” in 1977 and was reproduced as a movie poster, sold for $3.875 million at an auction on Wednesday

A significant piece of cinematic and pop cultural art sold on Wednesday for nearly $3.9 million at the Dallas headquarters of Heritage Auctions. This historic work of acrylic and airbrush art, painted by Tom Jung, was the first widely seen image of George Lucas’s Star Wars and was released with newspaper ads in May of 1977, less than two weeks before the film’s premiere. It also adorned many billboards, magazine articles, and theater programs.

The film, Star Wars to which the artwork is based on, officially opened in U.S. theaters on May 25, 1977, becoming a massive, unexpected cultural and global phenomenon that’s launched one of the most iconic franchises in the history of cinema. Its original theatrical release, which began in a limited number of theaters, transformed filmmaking by ushering in the modern-day blockbuster.

The highly successful artist known not only for his Star Wars art has created other masterpieces such as poster art for Doctor Zhivago, Grand Prix, Le Mans, The Dogs of War, and most notably The Empire Strikes Back. In one interview with The New York Times, while discussing the film’s success, Jung mentioned something to the effect that the studio didn’t know what it had and that it was a huge stroke of luck that it “was a hit.”

At the time he was commissioned, through a third party and not 20th Century Fox, to create the art while he was working as a freelance illustrator. He was only given the theme of ‘Good Over Evil,’ along with a few photos in color and some in black & white, 2.25-inch stills on contact sheets taken from an original 35mm cut of the film. The piece he created went on to be recognized and replicated around the world and remains a focal point of the fantasy element of Star Wars. It is now widely regarded as several notches above every other poster in the franchise that followed, and there have been some good ones; see Drew Struzan’s work.

Jung’s artwork is renowned for its dynamic and “hyperbolically romanticized” illustration of Luke Skywalker, holding a glowing lightsaber above his head in a heroic, almost Conan the Barbarian-esque pose, and Princess Leia with a blaster pistol at his feet. The composition features Darth Vader’s looming helmet in the background, a team of X-wing starfighters launching for the surprise attack, Han Solo and Skywalker receiving medals, and the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, which were added at the last minute.

The droids are absent from the early reproductions of the painting and later appeared when the movie poster and the billboard were produced. The exact date of the latter is unknown but it was around June or July 1977, said Charles Epting, the director of pop culture and historical consignments at Heritage Auctions..

The artwork sets a dramatic and epic tone for the film that became globally recognized and widely replicated with many artist having different reiterations later.

“For most of America, this was the first time they got a glimpse of the galaxy far, far away,”
Epting also said.

The story goes that “Star Wars” producer Gary Kurtz kept the original artwork hung on his office wall for years before passing it down to his family members. The reasons for the sale at auction appear to be related to the family’s situation and the high market value of the piece. “The sale set records for the highest selling piece of memorabilia from the film franchise and, in general, for any movie poster artwork.” Prior to this, the highest price for franchise memorabilia was Darth Vader’s lightsaber, which sold at auction for $3.6 million.

The franchise, now a global cultural phenomenon, introduced us to iconic characters and a vast saga encompassing three theatrical trilogies, spin-off films, television series, and an extensive collection of books, comics, video games, and merchandise known collectively as the Expanded Universe, and much more.

“The painting is not just film memorabilia but is also a cultural artifact and part of American history,” Epting said. “The emotional connection that people form with ‘Star Wars’ movies also helps explain the sales price,” he said.

“Anyone who’s seen these movies or the marketing materials around it — you see this piece, your heart starts racing.”

Well, our hearts are certainly still racing, that’s for sure. You can read more about the further reiterations of this astounding piece in an article by Gizmodo. They go further into changes made by other artists who took liberty commercially with Jung’s work.

Next month, PropStore Auctions will be auctioning off a Boba Fett blaster. This is expected to fetch more than 900,000 dollars. This screen-used blaster from The Empire Strikes Back is considered the only surviving example and has been photomatched to the film. It’s made from a modified WWI British flare pistol. Keep an eye out for how much this one reels in. Boba is very popular with the collectors. Thanks to Justcolleting for the scoop.

May the Force be with you….

Author Chad Stevens is a graduate from Wayland Baptist University with a Business Administration degree with a concentration in Health and Marketing. After serving in the United States Navy and finishing college he discovered the world of free-lance writing. His articles have appeared in Star Wars News Net, Outerplaces, Nerdist and Movienewsnet.com as well as many other entertainment-related websites. In his free time he enjoys reading, writing, TV, collecting rare films, and spending time with his family. His favorite films are Blade Runner, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Jaws, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.