Image used with the permission of the Trustees of the Josh Kirby Estate.
Liverpool artwork of the day – Tuesday July 17 2007. ‘Discworld’ by Josh Kirby at Liverpool Walker Art Gallery until September 30 2007
Yesterday we attended the tour of the Josh Kirby exhibition given by Dr Paul O’Keeffe, it was, as always, entertaining and informative.
A very good exhibition too, over 200 works I think, Kirby kept copies of everything, even when he had a large commission for a painting he would paint another copy exactly the same for himself.
This image is of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Pratchett said ‘I only invented the Discworld, Josh created it’
You really need to see these works close up to enjoy all the detail, there’s a lot of it.
This exhibition spans Kirby’s artistic career from his early days as a freelance artist to his famous cover illustrations for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and Eric/Faust fantasy books.
Kirby’s work has adorned the covers of some of the most iconic science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as famous film posters such as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and Monty Python’s Life of Brian. The exhibition displays his best-known work alongside the less familiar, including his stylish illustrations for Corgi and Panther publishers in the 1950s and 60s. It provides a unique opportunity to view Kirby’s often highly complex paintings un-cropped and in their original format.