Artist Richard Amsel had a short life (1947-1985) and an even shorter career, but he made the most of it. During his 16 years as a commercial illustrator, Amsel created over 35 different TV Guide covers and a couple of dozen movie posters for some of the most most popular and important movies of the 1970s. Steeped in nostalgic forms from the pulps to art nouveau, Amsel’s work is evocative of an era gone by and remains timeless.

Here’s a small gallery of Amsel’s work. We begin with Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

An alternate version of the poster for Chinatown (1974)

A terrific poster for a not-so-terrific movie, Lucky Lady (1975)

Amsel’s farewell to John Wayne for his last film, The Shootist (1976)

Robert Mitchum’s second outing as private eye Phillip Marlowe gets the Amsel treatment (1978)

Amsel evokes James Bama’s Doc Savage with this pulp-inspired one-sheet (1981)

Now, some TV Guide covers. Welcome Back, Kotter (1979)

A salute to All in the Family (1980)

Amsel’s take on the original King of Late Night (1981)

Lady cops Cagney & Lacey by Amsel (1983)

James Garner and Mary Tyler Moore in Heartsounds (1984)

Crockett. Tubbs. Miami Vice. Amsel.  (1985)

There’s lots more art by Amsel out there. A good place to start looking is here.