
So this image landed in my WhatsApp stream as some wit photoshopped Richard Amsel’s famous Raiders of the Lost Ark movie poster and retitled it ‘Raiders of the State Coffers’ in a tilt at the Zuptas (Jacob Zuma and the Gupta clan).
Richard Amsel (December 1947 – November 17, 1985) was an American illustrator and graphic designer. His career was brief but prolific, including movie posters, album covers, and magazine covers.
His work for the adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark remains the artist’s most famous. Amsel did two separate posters, one for the film’s initial 1981 release and another for its re-release a year later; George Lucas and Steven Spielberg reportedly own the originals, respectively.
With his “Raiders” art Amsel has, in his own words, “accomplished something”. “Commercial art can be and sometimes is art, but if someone hangs a poster, it is still a poster pretending to be something it’s not. My work is basically for the printed page, and not for hanging in living rooms… If, however, I paint or draw something that takes people into the realm of fantasy, then I feel that I’ve accomplished something.”
Alan Straton
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