Born in San Fransisco 1888, CHESLEY BONESTELL survived its great 1907 earthquake, helped design the Golden Gate Bridge, made historic matte paintings for the likes of CITIZEN KANE (1941), and is considered the greatest ‘space-artist’ who ever lived.
Bonestell wound up in Hollywood on the West Coast, becoming a matte painter for THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939) and the Howard Hawks classic ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS… (1939)
CITIZEN KANE (1941) is inarguably Bonestell’s most famous work – including the opening shot of Xanadu and Kane’s long distant hallway inside.
Ironically Bonestell also painted for the infamous upset that took CITIZEN KANE’s Oscar, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941), transforming a studio backlot into John Ford’s sentimental and luscious Welsh countryside.
With WAR OF THE WORLDS (1951), Bonestell demonstrated his life-long fascination with ‘space art’, his astronomical paintings in magazines (like “Saturn as Seen from Titan”) hugely influential for the Space Race and making Bonestell a central figure of American culture.
Bonestell is immensely respected for his murals and paintings of space, alongside his place in Hollywood matte history. Columnist Bob Stephens once said of DESTINATION MOON (1950) that “Bonestell’s Moon is better than God’s”
Credit to Craig Barron and Mark Cotta Vaz's The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting and Chesley Bonestell's website for the thorough research!
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