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McCall's paintings helped make Kubrick's 2001 vision real
McCall's space program paintings in Life and other magazines caught the eye of director Stanley Kubrick, who later asked McCall to paint posters and conceptual artwork for a movie he was developing. In 1967, McCall, his wife, and younger daughter were in England, where he worked closely with Kubrick on four oil paintings that would form the basis of MGM's advertising campaign for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
After the movie was completed, Kubrick destroyed all the models and miniatures, leaving only the movie itself and McCall's paintings to guide the makers of the sequel. MGM later donated McCall's 2001 paintings to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
"In the paintings I did for 2001, I felt that the flawless scenes and sets, so beautifully designed and fabricated, required a very precise treatment, which I can achieve most successfully in oil. This is something Kubrick and I discussed together." |
His love of aviation and space embraced the future, too
While painting the story of the current space program, McCall began to envision what space technology might look like in the future. He sees a future where life in space will not only be possible but desirable. His paintings help us examine our past as well as envision our future destination—space.
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