By Devin Zydel on 2009-08-02
A selection of limited edition James Bond giclee prints created by Barnett Plotkin are available to order at www.jamesbondillustrations.com.
Originally created between 1979 and 1981, these 007 illustrations graced the covers of the US Jove paperback editions of the following Ian Fleming novels:
- Casino Royale
- Live and Let Die
- Moonraker
- Diamonds are Forever
- From Russia with Love
- Doctor No
- Goldfinger
- For Your Eyes Only
Barnett Plotkin’s designs included on the 2008 Ian Fleming centenary stamp cards
These illustrations were then reintroduced into the world of James Bond last year when they were reproduced as stamps (along with several other popular styles of 007 covers) by The Royal Mail of England and Wales in Honor of Fleming’s centenary.
Born and raised in Valley Stream, New York, Barnett Plotkin went on to study at Pratt Institute in New York City, graduating in 1952 with a major in illustration and two years post-graduate study in figure painting. He has worked in the field of commercial illustration for the past 50 years; this has included medical illustration.
Experimentation with varied media and styles has often inspired some of his most eclectic and satisfying work, without the constrictions associated with the commericail field. Among his many clients have been Wrangler Jeans, Citibank, Prudential, IBM, Swingline, Hunts Foods, US Steel, P. Lorillard, Medical Economics, The Franklin Library, and Bantam, Jove, Fawcett., Harlequin and NAL paperbacks.
Barnett Plotkin is a life member of the Society of Illustrators and the 1984 past chairman of their internationally-acclaimed Annual Show. His work was included in “The Art and Culture of the American Labor Movement,” which opened in 1983 in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin, and traveled throughout the major capitals of Western Europe for several years. The artwork was originally inspired for a division of Wrangler Jeans and was most recently seen in a group show at the Smithtown Arts Council, Smithtown, New York and at a retrospective at the Society of Illustrators, New York City. It was described by the NY Times as “the embodiment of power without the need for words.” Newsday wrote, “appealing in its very overtness.” Many of his portraits, landscapes, and drawings are in private collections.
In 1997, Barnett Plotkin was honored by Nassau County, New York along with William Baldwin and Susan Isaacs as their favorite artists, actors and writers of the year.
He has been a member of the US Air Force Art Program since 1968, and his work has been exhibited at the Society of Illustrators in New York, The Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., The Pentagon, Andrews Air Force Base, and Dayton Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.
In September 1999, The Society of Illustrators elected him Chairman of Government Services, with the Air Force Art Program being the major contributor.
Plotkin’s illustrations for Casino Royale, From Russia with Love, Doctor No, Goldfinger and For Your Eyes Only are available to order as 20″ x 30″ unframed prints. Each is a limited edition of 250 and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Cost is $395.00 per print (plus shipping and handling).
Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest literary 007 coverage.
