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Barr, George

Entry updated 30 June 2025. Tagged: Artist, Fan.

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(1937-2025) US illustrator, one of the most meticulous of sf/fantasy artists, although for many years his prominence as an artist for Fanzines since 1959 tended to overshadow his professional work; early illustration venues included George Scithers' Amra, Richard E Geis's Science Fiction Review, Tom Reamy's Trumpet and the fanzine incarnation of Locus. He received little by way of formal art training, although he was lucky enough to be mentored by two notable artists: Mary Kimball Johnson (1906-1994) and Harold "Jack" Vigos (1914-1983). Barr was nominated five times for the Hugo as best fan artist, winning in 1968. However, he had by then already sold his first professional illustration to Fantastic, the cover for the magazine's March 1961 issue.

Barr was a very prolific creator of interior illustrations for SF Magazines, using ball-point pen as his medium. His paperback covers for Ace Books, DAW Books and others are also well known. His often delicate, sometimes whimsical, colour artwork, influenced by his appreciation of the work of Arthur Rackham (1867-1939), Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) and Hannes Bok, involves laying watercolour washes over ball-point lines. In a field that for a long time emphasized brightness, his pastel shades were almost unique – almost, but not quite, because of course Richard Powers and others often used similarly muted palettes for their cover Illustrations. More recently Barr created many interior illustrations for Asimov's Science Fiction, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine (see Marion Zimmer Bradley) and especially Weird Tales, where he regularly wrote and drew the "Illustrated Limerick" Poetry feature from Winter 2000/2001 to March/April 2006.

He also produced record covers, artwork for Dungeons & Dragons, and a scattering of short fiction 1989-2003 in such venues as Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine and Weird Tales. A useful showcase of his artwork to the mid-1970s is Upon the Winds of Yesterday, and Other Explorations (graph 1976). Barr's professional activity slowed considerably after 2006, although he contributed several later items of interior art to anthologies and to the 2016 Worldcon souvenir book. [JG/PN/JGr/DRL]

George Edward Barr

born Tucson, Arizona: 13 January 1937

died Livermore, California: 19 April 2025

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