Retro-Future: To The Stars!

"QUANTUM SHOT" #322 Link - by Avi Abrams Rare & Beautiful Vintage Visions of the Future This is the start of a new series: an extensive collection of the most inspiring and hard-to-find retro-futuristic images. We will try to stay away from the well-known American pulp and book cover illustrations and instead will focus on the artwork from some rather unlikely sources: Soviet and Eastern Bloc "popular tech & science" magazines, German, Italian, British fantastic illustrations and promotional literature - all from the Golden Age of Retro-Future (from 1930s to 1970s). Wait for images to load. (source: TM-1970, Russia) ("Galactic Manoeuvre", by Nikolai Nedbailo) (source: TM-1953, Russia) (source: TM-1956, Russia) (image credit: retro-futurismus.de) Part 1. Space never looked better... and perhaps never will Retro-futuristic art, in a way, can be called a double-fantasy: imaginary future wrapped in imaginary past. Which makes this style doubly interesting, if not doubly obsolete... In this part we will showcase rarely seen art, done in 1930s to 1970s, mostly from "Teknika Molodezhi" (TM), "Yuny Tekhnik", "DetGiz" (Russia) and German retro-future sites. Earth's Orbit: (TM cover, Russia, 1950) (images credit: Klaus Burgle) "Breaking a Space Traffic Jam" by Frank Tinsley, 1959 (image via Plan59) To the Moon! (art by Noel Sickles for the "Rocket to the Moon", 1949) "To Other Worlds!", Detgiz, Russia, 1939 "Lunar Unicycle" by Frank Tinsley, 1959 (image via Plan59) (image credit: Klaus Burgle) (TM cover, Russia 1953) (source: TM, Russia) "Nuclear Rocketship" by Frank Tinsley, 1959 (image via Plan59) "Destination Moon" rare art, 1950 (image credit: Erik Theodor Lässig, Germany) Bigger Moon base: (source: TM, Russia) (original unknown) (images credit: Kurt Röschl, right - art by Ed Emshwiller) To Mars! (TM cover, Russia 1966; right - art by Andrey Sokolov) "Mars Snooper" by Frank Tinsley, 1959 (image via Plan59) To Venus! Battling off the Communist astronaut invasion! (Perry Rhodan, Jan. 1962) Interesting Planetary Vehicle: very strange flip-flop caterpillar style of moving - (source: TM, Russia 1966) To Saturn and Beyond: (TM cover, Russia 1954) Other Worlds Screens from the Russian science fiction movie "Planeta Bur" (The Planet of Storms) - 1959: (images via woodmal) This is a collage made from various promotional art from this movie, created by Vladimir: (image credit: o-vladimir) (image credit: Klaus Burgle) (art by Andrey Sokolov) (art by Nikolai Nedbailo) ("First Contact", by Nikolai Nedbailo) Space Lift Concept: (source: TM, Russia 1970) Detailed Chart of Starships: (source: TM, Russia 1955) Socialist Space Workers by Gennady Golobokov, 1973 - (source: TM, Russia 1973) Photon Starships in Deep Space: (art by Andrey Sokolov) Let us know about other rare and unusual futurist art; next issue will be devoted to architectural and transportation visions of retro-future... Article by Avi Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend. CONTINUE TO PART TWO! -> READ THE REST OF OUR "RETRO-FUTURE" SERIES! -> Permanent Link......+StumbleUpon ...+Facebook Category: Art,Vintage - Related Posts: Ladies & Robots, Communist Gothic Visions