A COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL WORKS BY THE CELEBRATED ILLUSTRATOR INCLUDES UNFORGETTABLE IMAGES FOR ‘APOCALYPSE NOW,’ ‘HAIR,’ ‘ROLLERBALL’ AND MORE
By Christina Rees | July 1, 2025
From the 1960s through the 1980s, Bob Peak created some of the most iconic key art in film history, including posters for West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Camelot, Superman, Star Trek and Apocalypse Now. Often credited as the “Father of the Modern Movie Poster,” the visionary illustrator redefined the genre and inspired generations of designers and filmmakers. His expressive, cinematic style combined dynamic and layered composition to evoke the emotional core of a story in a single unforgettable image, and his gift for capturing faces, along with his color and compositional prowess, is unmatched.
Also unmatched: the landmark collection of original movie poster artwork by Peak that kicks off Heritage’s sweeping July 16-18 Hollywood/Entertainment Signature® Auction. From the operatic chaos of Apocalypse Now to the mythic beauty of Excalibur and the electric joy of Hair, the curated offering includes 12 large-format original paintings that represent the full range and brilliance of Peak’s career and mark the most significant offering of Peak originals ever presented at auction. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire original artwork from the most influential movie poster artist of the 20th century,” says Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s Executive Vice President. “Bob Peak’s work didn’t just sell movies – it defined them.”
Below, we take a closer look at six of Peak’s original movie poster masterworks, all of which were consigned directly from the Peak family.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Peak’s original final key painting for Apocalypse Now is not only the artist’s personal favorite among his legendary film works, but it’s widely considered the most important piece of movie poster art ever to come to auction. Commissioned by Francis Ford Coppola for one of the most audacious and mythologized films in American cinema, this haunting mixed-media masterpiece synthesizes the surreal, scorched intensity of the Vietnam War epic. Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen, the film’s stars, appear as spectral figures beneath a burning red sun and a napalm-lit Do Lung bridge, with Coppola’s requested elements – riverboat, helicopters and disorienting light – woven into a fevered, dreamlike whole. Painted at epic scale and rendered in Peak’s signature blend of watercolor, pastel and airbrush, the piece stands as a definitive visual record of one of the most artistically daring films ever made, and a tour de force from the Father of the Modern Movie Poster.
Hair (1979)
Created the same year as Apocalypse Now, Peak’s original poster art for Hair showcases the artist’s range, capturing not the horrors of war, but the joy and rebellion of the era’s counterculture. Bursting with color and movement, the work celebrates the spirit of Miloš Forman’s adaptation and the musical’s antiwar message, making it one of Peak’s most uplifting and expressive compositions.
Excalibur (1981)
Peak’s original final key art for Excalibur is a masterwork of operatic visual storytelling – a lush, emotionally charged composition that distills the film’s epic themes of love, betrayal, fate and the fall of magic into one remarkable image. For John Boorman’s bold retelling of the Arthurian legend, Peak places the gleaming sword Excalibur at the center, casting light over a tableau of clashing knights and tragic lovers. Executed in mixed media on board, the painting showcases Peak’s signature use of dramatic light flares and rich, enveloping color. Long considered one of his finest poster campaigns of the era, this artwork is a haunting and heroic tribute to the grandeur of myth and to Peak’s own mythic status in film illustration.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
In this concept painting for The Hunt for Red October, Peak channels the eerie isolation of the deep sea with abstract forms and a ghostlike portrait of Sean Connery suspended above the action. The Cold War submarine spy thriller was adapted from Tom Clancy’s 1984 novel and is the first on-screen appearance of the now ubiquitous Jack Ryan. The artwork evokes the same otherworldly mystery seen in Peak’s Star Trek campaigns – a bold, atmospheric vision lost to the era’s shift toward photo-based posters.
Rollerball (1975)
Created as part of a limited-edition portfolio, Peak’s final key plate artwork for Rollerball captures the film’s brutal futurism through the kinetic energy of his famed sports illustration style. Rendered in vivid watercolor, this piece distills the chaos and spectacle of the dystopian arena, a striking companion to his iconic spiked-glove poster and a rare example of Peak blending the imagery of cinematic violence with Olympic-style athleticism.
The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
Peak’s final published movie poster, created for Paul Schrader’s The Comfort of Strangers, is a haunting homage to the great Gustav Klimt and a fitting capstone to his legendary career. Stylized, overlapping nude figures evoke both intimacy and isolation, mirroring the film’s psychological tension. The artwork, which concluded the program when Peak received The Hollywood Reporter’s Key Art Lifetime Achievement Award, reflects his evolution, blending early influences with fine art elegance to deliver one of his most quietly powerful compositions.
