Edward Ignatius Valigursky (October 16, 1926 in

Arnold, Pennsylvania Arnold is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 4,772 at the 2020 census. History Present-day Westmoreland County was part of the hunting reser ...

ED VALIGURSKY
by David Saunders; at PulpArtists.com; published 2009; retrieved February 4, 2023 – September 7, 2009 in

Cape Coral, Florida Cape Coral is a city in Lee County, Florida, United States, on the Gulf of Mexico. Founded in 1957, the city's population had grown to 194,016 as of the 2020 census, a 26% increase from 154,309 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-most p ...

)Obituary: Edward Valigursky / Artistic talent graced numerous magazine covers
by Kaitlynn Riely, in the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

''; published September 20, 2009; retrieved February 4, 2023 was an American illustrator known for his portrayals of technology, and for his work in

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

Biography

Valigursky joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1943EDWARD VALIGURSKY OBITUARY
originally published in the ''

Valley News Dispatch The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib", is the second-largest daily newspaper serving the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania. It transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, but remain ...

'', September 16, 2009; archived at Legacy.com; retrieved February 4, 2023 or 1945, where he remained until 1946 or 1948. After he left the service, he used his

GI Bill The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, but the te ...

benefits to attend the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, and then transferred to the

Art Institute of Pittsburgh The Art Institute of Pittsburgh was a Private university, private Art school, art college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school emphasized design education and career preparation for the Creative industries, creative job market. It was founded ...

. In 1952, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he worked for

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related servi ...

as an

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

. There, he began illustrating that company's

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their cheap nature. ...

, including ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' and ''

Fantastic Adventures ''Fantastic Adventures'' was an American pulp fantasy and science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1953 by Ziff-Davis. It was initially edited by Raymond A. Palmer, who was also the editor of ''Amazing Stories'', Ziff-Davis's other sci ...

''. In 1953, he began working for James L. Quinn's Quinn Publications, where he provided illustrations for '' If''.Edward Valigursky (1926-2009)
by

Mike Glyer Mike Glyer (born February 16, 1953) is both the editor and publisher of the long-running science fiction fan newszine ''File 770''. He has won the Hugo Award 12 times in two categories: ''File 770'' won the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1984, 1985, 1989 ...

, at ''

File 770 ''File 770'' is a long-running science fiction fanzine, newszine, and blog site published and administered by Mike Glyer. It has been published every year since 1978, and has won a record eight Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine, with the first w ...

''; published October 15, 2009; retrieved February 4, 2023 He also provided over 100 cover images for

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...

; however, this number is uncertain, because he did not always sign his work, and because in that era, Ace did not credit its cover artists. Subsequently, he left science fiction for general fiction and non-fiction magazines; ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

'' notes that this was because those publications paid more.

Recognition

Valigursky was a nominee for the 1956

Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist The Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist is given each year for artists of works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. The award has been given annually under several names since 1955, with the except ...

.1956 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved February 4, 2023 ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' found Valigursky's work to be "perfectly suited for the

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

s and futuristic melodramas f Ace Books and praised his depictions of

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s and "his characteristic needle-nosed spaceships", but faulted those of his images that "focus on human figures" as "less interesting", concluding that although "Valigursky cannot be regarded as a great sf artist, (...) his distinctive style will always be fondly associated with the simple pleasure of reading unambitious, unpretentious space adventures."Valigursky, Ed
by Jon Gustafson, Peter Nicholls,

David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and Literary criticism, critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'' and holds the all-time ...

and

Gary Westfahl Gary Wesley Westfahl (born May 7, 1951) is an American writer and scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the ''Los Angeles Times'', '' The Internet Review of Science Fiction'' and Locus Online. He worked at the University of Cal ...

; in ''

'', edited by

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

and

; published by SFE Ltd/Ansible Editions; version published September 22, 2022; retrieved February 4, 2023 In 1989, ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'' stated that he was "one of merica'sbest-known illustrators of aircraft, ships, spacecraft, and other machines", and that his works were "on permanent display t

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

ndnumerous naval and air force installations."Editor's Notes
by Joe Oldham, in ''

''; April 1989 issue, p. 4

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valigursky, Ed American science fiction artists 1926 births 2009 deaths Artists from Pennsylvania