The Future Is Now: Harry Lange's Daring Original Artwork Created for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey on Sale for the First Time

Born in Germany, Lange, an art director with an extensive background in aviation design, moved to America in the 1950s and started working for US military illustrating flying manuals. He then went to the US Army Ballistic Missile Agency (AMBA) before heading the Future Projects Section at NASA, where he worked on spacecraft designs.

While preparing to leave NASA, Lange met science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, who in 1965 introduced him to film director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick, who insisted on complete realism for the sets, spacesuits and spaceships needed for a project he and Clarke were collaborating on called Journey to the Stars, enlisted Lange for his design team. The eventual film would soon be renamed 2001: A Space Odyssey, and its design team, including Lange, received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction.

"There are many reasons why 2001: A Space Odyssey is such a classic, but in many ways it all starts with Lange's work," says Theron Kabrich, who along with Jim Hartley founded and serves as director of the SFAE. "One of most important aspects of 2001 and Lange's artwork is that it represented blueprints for the future, and a lot of what was predicted became real. The fact that Lange was a draftsman who could draw these inventions that could seem tangible gave them an integrity you don't get with most science fiction.

Lange's mission, set forth by Kubrick, was to create scientifically based concepts and designs that would render to the viewer that the idea of space travel wasn't some far-flung fantasy – it was an entirely plausible possibility. Lange started work on the project in New York in 1965, and having sketched the film's spacecrafts within a period of six months, moved with his family to England where he continued work on the film for the next two years. So realistic were Lange's designs that when US astronauts paid a visit to the film's production studio in Borehamwood, England, they dubbed the enterprise "NASA East."

"Lange's illustrations were very detailed, and so were the finished works," says Kabrich. "You might not notice every aspect of the spaceship when you watch the film, but Kubrick and Lange made sure all the minute details, every button that could be pushed, were in there. It was important to them that every little element was specific, functional and real."

The 2001 File is a fascinating guided tour of Lange's thought and design process that led to the realization of the iconic film. Among its hundreds of sketches, drawings and illustrations, from early concepts to the final designs, are many of the central elements that figured in 2001: A Space Odyssey, including:

The Orion III Spaceplane – the craft that took commercial passengers from Earth to orbit.

Space Station 5 – this gigantic wheel-spaced craft rotated to create artificial gravity in order to acclimate passengers to space. Among its earthly conveniences were a Hilton Hotel, Howard Johnson's restaurant, lounge areas, photo booths and department store shopping.

Aries 1B Lunar Landing Shuttle – this is the craft that took officials from Space Station 5 to the Moonbase in Clavius Crater on the Moon (where a Monolith had been discovered).

Clavius Moonbase – ground plans, landing platforms, Lunar Docking Vehicles, the Tycho Cave Site and research base and other Lunar vehicles.

The Monolith – the key element in the film's narrative. Lange's designs for the Monoliths began as different geometric shapes that developed into a pyramid design, which was built to scale on the set. Ultimately, it was replaced by the final concept – a simple yet imposing 12-foot high flat black rectangle.

The Discovery Interplanetary Spaceship – the ship that housed the team of astronauts (along with the infamous HAL 9000 computer) on their secret mission to Jupiter. The craft featured a gravity-simulator centrifuge, a pod bay with several pods, a control deck and the computer's memory center.

Space Suits with Helmets – integral to the authenticity of all astronaut scenes, these designs drew heavily on Lange's time at NASA.

"Lange's illustrations are stunning to look at, and as you take them in you realize that they represent a kind of guided dreaming," says Kabrich. "2001 came at a very important period of time – America was working on going to the moon, and the film made space exploration seem imminent. Kubrick, Clarke and Lange didn't put it so far out into the future that we couldn't feel it. It's pretty remarkable to look at Lange's work from 50 years ago and see that so much of what he predicted is now part of our everyday life."

The first edition of the book, "The 2001 File: Harry Lange and the Design of the Landmark Science Fiction Film", sold out in less than three months to stellar reviews.

San Francisco Art Exchange is the sole gallery authorized to sell The 2001 File. Founded in 1983 by Theron Kabrich and Jim Hartley, San Francisco Art Exchange LLC (AE) has represented historic pop culture artworks created by over 200 of the world's most accomplished and significant artists and photographers. Recognized as market pioneers and premier purveyors of original pop iconography, SFAE has held over 100 major curated exhibitions highlighting music, film, cultural movements, historic figures and social issues.

SFAE has sold original artwork of iconic album covers by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, among many others. The gallery has also concluded landmark sales of rare photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, Jr., Johnny Cash and Muhammad Ali, just to name a few. In addition, SFAE has represented treasured music and movie-related artifacts from private and celebrity archives such as the Playboy Collection and the Brown Derby Collection, among others. 

At its downtown San Francisco gallery, SFAE has hosted live events by everyone from music superstars Brian Wilson and Graham Nash to civil rights legend Clarence Jones and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm. The gallery's most recent project was the sale of a rare portfolio of photographs of President John F. Kennedy celebrating the centennial of his birth in cooperation with the Kennedy Foundation, with a percentage of the proceeds benefiting the foundation.

For sales and inquiries, please contact San Francisco Art Exchange [email protected] or call 415-441-8840.

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SOURCE San Francisco Art Exchange

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