EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 24 © 2018 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

73 René Ferracci Perhaps one of the best movie poster designers of all time, and an illustrator with many styles. Ferracci, an artist of multiple styles, used them all effectively in his movie posters, and sometimes even used photographic montages. During his tenure as a movie poster artist between the years 1950 to 1980, he produced more than 3,000 movie posters, although some in collaboration with other artists. Born in 1927 in Paris, and of Corsican origin, Ferracci was schooled at the Ecole des Arts et Industries Graphiques Estienne (ESAIG) under engraver and painter René Cottet (years later Ferraccci would also teach at that same school), where he learned intaglio (a printing process in which the type or design is etched or engraved). In 1949, after his military service, he became head of advertising at MGM France. There he was in charge of the press releases, which in those years represented an important part of advertising for the cinema. Armedwith his pen and ink, he did countless catchy hooks for films in the most popular newspapers of the time: France Soir and Paris Presse . In the early 1950s, he became the art- director of Filmsonor-Cinédis and, during the weekend, he continued to work and offered posters to Fox, Paramount and Associate Artists. FACING PAGE: ‘ Le Trésor de la Sierra Madre’ / ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’ (1962). Re- release poster done by Yves Thos under the supervision of Ferracci for this original 1948 Humphrey Bogart film. This same stunning image was used as the cover for the restored double-disc American DVD version of the film in 2003. Although many critics claimed Ferracci had his name added to images done by other artists, Thos, a capable artist himself, never did better work then when guided by Ferracci. BELOW LEFT: ‘ Black Moon’ (1975). Ferracci also did many posters himself, as this gloomy one from his “watercolour period” shows. BELOW RIGHT: ‘ Le Salaire de la Peur’ / ‘Wages of Fear’ (1953). One of Ferracci’s first movie posters, relying on the old-time method of a striking image with a black background.