James Bond Poster Artist Robert McGinnis Dies at 99

Robert E. McGinnis, creator of some of the most memorable posters for James Bond movies, died on March 10 aged 99, it was confirmed.

The prolific artist worked on promotional material for Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, the original comedy Casino Royale and Live and Let Die. You can see some of his most famous work below.

McGinnis was known for defining a stylized female form known as the McGinnis Woman, which appeared on many book and album covers of the 20th century.

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Confirming that he’d passed last month, a post on Legacy.com by his three children commented: “It’s likely you have seen one or more of his artwork images somewhere.

“They appeared in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, Reader’s Digest and Guideposts; on very many book covers (especially paperback books, spanning many genres, from detective to mystery to gothic to historical fiction to romance to fantasy); in the form of personal-project paintings that included many Old West scenes; and also on movie posters for culturally significant movies

“He was an active, competitive and innately hard-working person, and, most of all, he loved to draw and paint. His drive to succeed and his endurance at the easel enabled him to leave behind a body of work that will never be matched.

Robert McGinnis’ Thoughts on Digital Artwork

“Remember Bob… when you see the Breakfast At Tiffany’s movie poster image of Audrey Hepburn with a cat perched on her shoulder. Our father created that!”

In 2015 McGinnis described painting as “a deeply ingrained habit,” telling Tripwire: “I go down to my studio and be quiet and put on a bit of music, sit there and work on a painting, something that I have a feeling for, an affection for. It’s very satisfying and I may be deceiving myself in thinking I am accomplishing something. I couldn’t do anything else.”

He confirmed that he hardly ever received movie poster commissions in the digital age, adding: “Posters don’t have that human warmth, the strengths and the weaknesses of a painter or an artist.

“Sometimes they can be flawed and now you can have a computer which can make perfect images… I can’t knock computer art and the work that they do, because it’s just so imaginative and wonderful. But that flavor is gone.”