Exhibit: Science Fiction Art from the Golden Age
UMass Amherst Libraries Hosts
Hubert Rogers and Astounding Magazine: Science Fiction Art From the Golden Age (1930s-1940s)
The exhibit features the art of Hubert Rogers, the most important science fiction artist in the United States in the late 1930s and 1940s. N. C. Christopher Couch of the Program in Comparative Literature, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, UMass Amherst, and Elizabeth Scott of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library will introduce the exhibit and Rogers’s work at an opening talk and reception on the Lower Level, Wednesday, December 6 at 4:30 p.m. Professor Couch teaches courses on science fiction, and Ms. Scott is the daughter of the artist. The opening, which is free and open to the public, will begin on the Lower Level and continue on the 25th floor.
Originally from Canada, Rogers found fame as an illustrator in New York. His paintings and drawings appeared in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction at the moment that a group of writers who would become famous and influential around the world began to publish their earliest and most important works. Among the classic science fiction works he illustrated were Methuselah’s Children by Robert Heinlein, Slan and The World of Null-A by A.E. van Vogt, “Nightfall” and Foundation by Isaac Asimov and Grey Lensman by E. E. “Doc” Smith. Rogers created both original color paintings which were published on the covers of the magazine and black and white illustrations for the interior pages. During World War II, Rogers returned to Canada to create art for posters and other publications to support the war effort. Later in his career, he became one of Canada’s most prominent portrait artists.
The exhibition will include original oil paintings, sketches and finished pen and ink drawings as well as publisher’s proofs of the color covers for the magazines. Many rare issues of Astounding magazine and other publications will be displayed, as well as books and magazines featuring his inspirational wartime posters and his work as a portraitist.
The W.E.B. Du Bois Library is open limited hours during UMass Amherst winter break. See the event web site, above, for details.
