This year marks the 40th Masquerade at Comic-Con International. Presented by HBO, there were a total of 41 entries (individuals and groups). I am happy to report that my own personal favorite entry – “Giant Monsters All Out Attack” – won best of show… [Read more…]
The Daily Mail must be an easy get for a puff piece on movie prop memorabilia, going by their latest article on the “prototype” stormtrooper helmet being put up for auction (again) by Nate D Sanders this month. It reads as though it was repurposed from the auction house material, without the benefit of any third party analysis or questions about the provenance of the item. A similar helmet was pulled from auction by Christie’s last month, and their have been questions raised about the background of these “prototype” stormtrooper helmets attributed to Andrew Ainsworth’s work on Star Wars: A New Hope going back for years now. [Read more…]
This is an update to the article published on Monday (see “Christie’s Withdraws “Prototype” Star Wars Stormtrooper Prop Helmet with Andrew Ainsworth Provenance from Upcoming Auction“). As mentioned in that prior article, unfortunately, no images were provided of the sides and back of the helmet. A friend in the UK previewed the upcoming Christie’s auction, and took photos of the “prototype” Storwtrooper prop helmet, which has since been withdrawn from their sale (#5446). These additional images are important, in that the single image provided in the online lot description/catalog only included one “straight on” style image which did not show whether the lower, back side of the helmet had the “ribbed” decoration (a detail that most other “prototypes” have shared). [Read more…]
Today Christie’s has withdrawn Lot 136 from their upcoming Sale #5446, a prop attributed to Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and described as a “prototype Imperial Stormtrooper’s helmet“. There has been ongoing public debate and controversy over movie prop Stormtrooper helmets trading for sale in the marketplace for years, and some of this debate and discussion intersected the legal battles between Lucasfilm and Andrew Ainsworth. In the auction description, Andrew Ainsworth was named as the source of provenance for the prop withdrawn from the current Christie’s sale. [Read more…]
Swann Galleries will be holding a two-part auction of the “Property from the Estate of Fillmaker Gary Winick” and “19th and 20th Century Photographs and Photobooks” on April 4th in New York. Gary Winick, a director and producer, tragically died after a struggle with brain cancer and complications that followed. He passed at the age of 49 about a year ago. [Read more…]
Amid the topics of copyright ownership, enforcement of a U.S. judgment in the UK, determination of “works of art”, and other issues as featured in mainstream media reports about the ongoing legal battle between Lucasfilm LTD (LFL) and Andrew Ainsworth and his Shepperton Design Studios (SDS), what has not garnered as much focus is the debate over which artist originally sculpted the iconic stormtrooper helmet design that was adopted for use in Star Wars: A New Hope and the films that followed. [Read more…]
As reported last month, the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising is hosting their annual costume exhibit (see FIDM Hosts “19th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design” Wardrobe Museum Exhibit”). Today, ABC news provided coverage of the exhibit in a television news broadcast, which can also be viewed on the web. [Read more…]
The Gnomon Workshop is hosting their third annual Master Class online event February 11th – 25th. Artists and lecturers will include Vitaly Bulgarov (Blizzard), Jeremy Engleman (Dreamworks), Neil Huxley (Digital Domain), artists from Weta Workshop (Scott, David and Paul), ILM (Grzegorz Jonkajtys), and more. [Read more…]