Richard Amsel

In November 2021, Amsel was inducted into the Album Cover Hall of Fame, for his contributions to Bette Midler – Divine Miss M and Songs For The New Depression, and soundtracks to the films Hello Dolly and The Sting.

Adam McDaniel created a panel in Amsel's memory for inclusion within The AIDS Memorial Quilt. It was unveiled for the first time on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 2018, next to The Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument within Los Angeles' Lincoln Park. Later that month, it was also displayed at an Amsel tribute art show McDaniel curated at Warner Bros. Studios, in Burbank, California. On December 2, 2019, McDaniel handed the panel over to the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. This coincided with World AIDS Day earlier that week (December 1st), and what would have been Amsel's 72nd birthday (December 4th).

A feature film documentary about Amsel's life, titled "Amsel: Illustrator of the Lost Art," was announced in January 2016. Filmmaker Adam McDaniel traveled extensively throughout the United States, conducting interviews with over 50 of Amsel's friends, colleagues, classmates, teachers, and art collectors, as well as new generations of artists whom Amsel inspired. The film is now in post production.

Posthumously awarded the University of the Art's Silver Star award for Outstanding Alumni in 2009, Amsel's award was accepted on his behalf at The University of the Arts Commencement Ceremony by his brother, Michael Amsel.

His final completed artwork was for an issue of TV Guide, featuring news anchors Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather. Amsel died less than three weeks later, succumbing to complications from AIDS on November 13, 1985. When he fell ill, he was to have done the poster for the Romancing the Stone sequel, The Jewel of the Nile.

As film studios changed their marketing style in the 1980s, employing photographs in favor of illustrations, Amsel and other artists were frequently limited to creating work for science fiction, fantasy, and adventure films. In response, Amsel created the posters for Flash Gordon, The Dark Crystal, and Raiders of the Lost Ark which ultimately became his most famous work. Amsel completed two posters, one for Raiders' 1981 release and another, a year later, for its re-release. It has been reported that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg own the originals.

Among the most famous of Amsel's illustrations was his portrait of Lucille Ball, which was created for the magazine's July 6, 1974 issue in recognition of Ball's retirement from series television. "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." Ball then featured Amsel's work in the opening credits of a two-hour television tribute, CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years.

Commissioned by TV Guide in 1972 to design a cover featuring the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, in conjunction with a telefilm about their love affair, Amsel then went on to enjoy a 13-year association with the publication, during which time he produced more than 40 covers.

His movie posters commissions included some of the most important and popular films of the 1970s, including The Champ, Chinatown, Julia, The Last Picture Show, The Last Tycoon, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Muppet Movie, Murder on the Orient Express, Nashville, Papillon, The Shootist, The Sting, (The latter's poster design paid homage to the painting style of J. C. Leyendecker, evoking both his "Arrow Collar Man" and his covers for The Saturday Evening Post) and Woodstock.

Richard Amsel (December 4, 1947 – November 13, 1985) was an American illustrator and graphic designer. His career was brief but prolific, including movie posters, album covers, and magazine covers. His portrait of comedian Lily Tomlin for the cover of Time is now part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution. He was associated with TV Guide for thirteen years.