Helmut Wimmer

Last updated
Helmut Wimmer
Born
Helmut Karl Wimmer

(1925-12-08)December 8, 1925
Munich, Germany
DiedMarch 20, 2006(2006-03-20) (aged 80)
Stuart, Florida
Known forPainting
Notable workArtist's Rendition of a Black Hole (1971)
SpouseFrancie Schwaige

Helmut Wimmer (1925-2006) was a painter who, as the staff artist for New York's Hayden Planetarium from 1954 to 1987, created representations of cosmic vistas which were used during the planetarium shows. [1]

Born in Munich, at the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a sculptor and architectural model maker. Taken as a prisoner of war by the Russians while serving in the German army, his talents were noticed, and he was assigned to a team tasked with the repair of the ornamental plaster works of the government buildings in Gorky. [2]

In addition to work used in planetarium shows, Wimmer provided illustrations for numerous astronomy books and text books, and his work frequently appeared in the American Museum's Natural History magazine. Of particular note is his 1971 illustration for Physics Today , entitled Artist's Rendition of a Black Hole - a "colorful schematic concept of black hole phenomena [which] has been copied extensively, sometimes without proper credit." [3]

A painting depicting the close passage of a comet by Wimmer was used as the cover art for the album Mysterious Traveller , by the jazz fusion band Weather Report, released in 1974.

He also designed an educational children's board game entitled "Space Hop", which was published by Teaching Concepts in 1973. The game taught players about the Sun and its planets, moons, comets and asteroids.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Freas</span> American science fiction artist

Frank Kelly Freas was an American science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and he was the second artist inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Emshwiller</span> American illustrator and filmmaker (1925–1990)

Edmund Alexander Emshwiller was an American visual artist notable for his science fiction illustrations and his pioneering experimental films. He usually signed his illustrations as Emsh but sometimes used Ed Emsh, Ed Emsler, Willer and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Colman Smith</span> British occultist, artist and illustrator (1878–1951)

Pamela Colman Smith, nicknamed "Pixie", was a British artist, illustrator, writer, publisher, and occultist. She is best-known for illustrating the Rider–Waite tarot deck for Arthur Edward Waite. This tarot deck became the standard among tarot card readers, and remains the most widely used today. Smith also illustrated over 20 books, wrote two collections of Jamaican folklore, edited two magazines, and ran the Green Sheaf Press, a small press focused on women writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kip Thorne</span> American physicist (born 1940)

Kip Stephen Thorne is an American theoretical physicist known for his contributions in gravitational physics and astrophysics. Along with Rainer Weiss and Barry C. Barish, he was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David A. Cherry</span> American artist

David Cherry is an American artist, author, and illustrator of science fiction and fantasy and has also done substantial work as a marketing artist, concept artist, and 3D modeler in the game production industry. Cherry served as Lecturer and Head of the Art Department as well as Head of the master's degree Program for artists at The Guildhall at SMU, a graduate college dedicated to studies for people who want to work in the game production industry. Cherry was also an attorney, as well as a past president of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists (1988–1990). He has been nominated eleven times for Hugo Awards, and 18 times for Chesley Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxfield Parrish</span> American painter and illustrator (1870–1966)

Maxfield Parrish was an American painter and illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His career spanned fifty years and was wildly successful: the National Museum of American Illustration deemed his painting Daybreak (1922) to be the most successful art print of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N. C. Wyeth</span> American illustrator and painter (1882–1945)

Newell Convers Wyeth, known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 paintings and illustrated 112 books — 25 of them for Scribner's, the Scribner Classics, which is the body of work for which he is best known. The first of these, Treasure Island, was one of his masterpieces and the proceeds paid for his studio. Wyeth was a realist painter at a time when the camera and photography began to compete with his craft. Sometimes seen as melodramatic, his illustrations were designed to be understood quickly. Wyeth, who was both a painter and an illustrator, understood the difference, and said in 1908, "Painting and illustration cannot be mixed—one cannot merge from one into the other."

The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have served as the inspiration to painters, musicians, film-makers and writers, to such an extent that he is sometimes seen as the "father" of the entire genre of high fantasy.

Do not laugh! But once upon a time I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic to the level of romantic fairy-story... The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama. Absurd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Carmichael</span> 20th-century Canadian artist

Franklin Carmichael was a Canadian artist and member of the Group of Seven. Though he was primarily famous for his use of watercolours, he also used oil paints, charcoal and other media to capture the Ontario landscapes. Besides his work as a painter, he worked as a designer and illustrator, creating promotional brochures, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, and designing books. Near the end of his life, Carmichael taught in the Graphic Design and Commercial Art Department at the Ontario College of Art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Booth</span>

Franklin Booth was an American artist known for his detailed pen-and-ink illustrations. He had a unique illustration style based upon his early recreation of wood engraving illustrations with pen and ink. His skill as a draftsman and style made him a popular magazine illustrator in the early 20th-century. He was one of the first modern ex libris designers in the United States.

Craig Mullins is an American digital painter, and leading international concept artist. He has created art for books, video games and films. He is often considered to be a pioneer in the field of digital painting, painting digitally for many years before drawing tablets were available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Coggins</span> English painter (1911–2006)

Jack Banham Coggins was an artist, author, and illustrator. He is known in the United States for his oil paintings, which focused predominantly on marine subjects. He is also known for his books on space travel, which were both authored and illustrated by Coggins. Besides his own works, Coggins also provided illustrations for advertisements and magazine covers and articles.

Charles Green Shaw was an American painter, poet, writer, and illustrator. He was a key figure in early American abstract art. Shaw's paintings are part of most major collections of American Art, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Corcoran Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Musee d'Art Moderne de Paris, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Whitney Museum.

Milford "Mel" Joseph Hunter was a 20th-century American illustrator. He enjoyed a successful career as a science fiction illustrator, producing illustrations for famous science fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov and Robert A. Heinlein, as well as a technical and scientific illustrator for clients such as The Pentagon, Hayden Planetarium, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Franklin (artist)</span> American cartoonist

Jim Franklin is an artist, illustrator, and underground cartoonist best known for his poster art created for the Armadillo World Headquarters, a former Austin, Texas, music hall. He is also known for his detailed, surrealistic illustrations of armadillos, making them an emblem of underground music.

<i>Space Hop</i> Educational board game

Space Hop is an educational board game about astronomy published by Teaching Concepts in 1973.

Wimmer is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derrick Pitts</span> American astronomer

Derrick Pitts is an American astronomer and science communicator. Pitts studied at St. Lawrence University and has been employed at the Franklin Institute since 1978 where he is chief astronomer and director of the institute's Fels Planetarium. Pitts is a frequent guest on radio and television to explain the science of astronomy and share his enthusiasm for science in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Hole (artist)</span> British artist (1846–1917)

William Brassey Hole was a Scottish Victorian painter, illustrator, etcher, and engraver, known for his industrial, historical and biblical scenes.

<i>E-hon</i> Japanese term for picture books

E-hon is the Japanese term for picture books. It may be applied in the general sense, or may refer specifically to a type of woodblock printed illustrated volume published in the Edo period (1603–1867).

References

  1. Hevesi, Dennis (25 January 2007), "Helmut Wimmer, 80, Painter With Planetarium for a Canvas, Dies", The New York Times, retrieved 19 October 2011
  2. Franklin, K. L., Helmut K. Wimmer (1925-2006) , retrieved 13 September 2015
  3. Franklin, K. L., Helmut K. Wimmer (1925-2006), archived from the original on March 31, 2012, retrieved 13 September 2015