THE TV GUIDE COVERS

Just as J.C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell did with their covers for The Saturday Evening Post,
Richard Amsel established a lengthy and fruitful relationship with TV Guide, creating a record number
of covers for the weekly entertainment magazine. It is still held to this day.

All images were scanned from TV Guide: The Official Collectors Guide (5), except where noted.


Dec. 16, 1972

May 19, 1973

March 16, 1974
TV Guide: July 6, 1974

Perhaps the most beloved of all his TV Guide covers, Amsel's portrait of Lucille Ball heralded an article about the comedienne's retirement from series television, and a retrospective of her 23-year career on the small screen.

"I did not want the portrait to be of Lucy Ricardo," Amsel explained, "but I didn't want a modern-day Lucy Carter either. I wanted it to have the same timeless sense of glamour that Lucy herself has. She is, after all, a former Goldwyn Girl. I hoped to capture the essence of all this."

Amsel's work so impressed Ms. Ball that the artwork was later prominently featured in the opening credits of a two-hour television tribute, CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years.
Lucille Ball (3)
1974
Colored pencils on glassine
11 x 14 1/2 in.
Here's Amsel's preliminary color study for the above TV Guide cover.

Aug. 2, 1975

Jan. 17, 1976

Nov. 6, 1976

Dec. 11, 1976

Oct. 8, 1977

Nov. 19, 1977

April 8, 1978

May 20, 1978

Nov. 4, 1978

Jan. 27, 1979

May 19, 1979

May 10, 1980

June 21, 1980
TV Guide: Sept. 6, 1980

For this opulent cover featuing the TV series Shogun, Amsel combined his illustration style with Japanese-inspired bold lines and colors. For the original painting, Dorian Hannaway said that Amsel employed actual gold leaf on the clouds in the background.

March 28, 1981

July 25, 1981

Sept. 19, 1981

April 24, 1982

July 3, 1982

Feb. 5, 1983

April 9, 1983

April 30, 1983

Sept. 3, 1983

Sept. 24, 1983

Nov. 12, 1983


April 21, 1984

Sept. 29, 1984
TV Guide: 1984 (3)
Watercolor, gouache, and colored pencils on board
27 x 21 1/2 in.
Amsel's original cover art, featuring the telefilm Heartsounds.

Feb. 2, 1985

June 22, 1985
TV Guide: July 27, 1985 (4)

This cover demonstrates something I've always loved about Amsel's style: the artist could draw his portraits with photorealistic accuracy, while at the same time give them a more personal, illustrative quality.
TV Guide: Oct. 26, 1985 (4)
The final work of art completed by Richard Amsel. He died less than three weeks later, on Nov. 17, 1985. He was 37 years old.



TRIBUTE PAGE
THE MOVIE POSTERS
THE TV GUIDE COVERS
PHOTO CREDITS/BIBLIOGRAPHY