Original cover illustration art for SIGNET publication of Ayn Rand's "Anthem"
Robert Heindel (attributed). New York, NY: Signet various. First Edition. Illustration board, overall size 12 x 16 inches. The image is approx 9 x 9 inches. This is the ORIGINAL COVER ILLUSTRATION ART (not a print or reproduction) for Ayn Rand's novel "Anthem", used by publisher SIGNET for many printings of their edition of Rand's work. Attributed to artist Robert Heindel who illustrated (and signed) three others in the Ayn Rand SIGNET series. Marked "ANTHEM" upper right. Condition is excellent overall, with light wear to the extremities of the illustration board. Photograph of a sample SIGNET paperback front cover is just for reference. No paperback is included with this artwork. Near Fine. [27552]
This evocative illustration for "Anthem" was created by Robert Heindel (October 1, 1938 - July 3, 2005), an important American illustrator posthumously inducted in 2011 into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. Primarily known as a dance illustrator in his later life (some say the best), he started in illustration, and was a core member of The Illustrators Workshop. In the 1980s he did illustrations for “every major print magazine such as ‘Sports Illustrated’, ‘TV Guide’, ‘Ladies Home Journal’, “‘Redbook’, the ‘Saturday Evening Post’, and ‘Time’ magazine.” “Well-known patrons of dance and the performing arts collected Heindel's works and sponsored his exhibitions, including Princess Diana, Princess Margaret, Princess Caroline, Prince and Princess Takamado, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. His works are found in the permanent collections of museums including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Norman Rockwell Museum, and the Glasgow Museums.” (Society of Illustrators biography, Wikipedia)
On the book this art illustrates: “Anthem is Ayn Rand’s “hymn to man’s ego.” It is the story of one man’s rebellion against a totalitarian, collectivist society. Equality 7-2521 is a young man who yearns to understand “the Science of Things.” But he lives in a bleak, dystopian future where independent thought is a crime and where science and technology have regressed to primitive levels. All expressions of individualism have been suppressed in the world of Anthem; personal possessions are nonexistent, individual preferences are condemned as sinful and romantic love is forbidden. Obedience to the collective is so deeply ingrained that the very word “I” has been erased from the language. In pursuit of his quest for knowledge, Equality 7-2521 struggles to answer the questions that burn within him — questions that ultimately lead him to uncover the mystery behind his society’s downfall and to find the key to a future of freedom and progress. Anthem anticipates the theme of Rand’s first best seller, The Fountainhead, which she stated as “individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man’s soul.”” (aynrand org)
A unique piece of art for the Ayn Rand or Heindel collector. From a private collection.
ITEM SOLD