Richard Amsel’s career was far too short, but the amount of work he managed to fit into it is extraordinary.
He was still a student when his artwork was chosen for Hello, Dolly!, and over the following years he moved between film posters, album covers and a long run of TV Guide covers. He could draw a recognisable likeness beautifully, but his work never feels like a row of celebrity portraits pasted together.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is the obvious collector favourite. Amsel produced artwork for both the original release and the later re-release, and the imagery has become so bound up with Indiana Jones that it is difficult to separate the two. That is usually the sign that a movie poster has done its job rather well.
What we enjoy about Amsel is the detail. There is a slightly more decorative, almost editorial quality to some of his work compared with the broad cinematic sweep of Peak or the glowing atmosphere of Alvin. You can keep finding little decisions in the drawing after the main image has already grabbed you.
Amsel died in 1985 at only 37. The limited length of the career makes the body of work feel unusually contained, and it is one of the most rewarding corners of illustrated American movie advertising to explore.
Poster Spotlight
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Amsel's defining image for Indiana Jones — so bound up with the character that it is hard to separate the two.
View Poster
The Sting
An earlier campaign showing Amsel's decorative, almost editorial approach to a very different kind of film.
The Last Picture Show
A quieter, more atmospheric commission, useful for seeing the range beyond his best-known blockbuster work.
A Note for Collectors
Raiders has multiple legitimate theatrical issues and later printings. Identify release, format and country carefully rather than using the artwork alone. Attribution should be based on established campaign information.
Explore More
Browse our Richard Amsel collection and Movie Posters, or continue with John Alvin and Bob Peak.
Original Posters by Richard Amsel
A live look at Richard Amsel posters currently in the Printed Originals collection.
