CelebratedStarTrekartistKeith
BirdsongdiedonJune4,2019,
succumbingtoinjuriessustainedin
a caraccident.Hewas59.
Birdsong’svividpaintings
adornedthecoversofthreedozenStar
Tr e knovels,as wellas novelizations,
collectors’plates,andboardgames.
HisfirstStarTrekbookcovercame
withJeanLorrah’s 1990 StarTrek:The
NextGenerationnovelMetamorphosis,
whilein 1992 hepaintedportraits
ofKirk,Spock,andMcCoyforthe
postalenvelopescelebratingStar
Tr e k’s 25thanniversary.
Selftaught,Birdsongstarted
makingartwhilstservingas a
paratrooperandjournalistintheUS
Army,creatingsketchestoaccompany
hisstories.Hebecamea professional
illustratorafterhelefttheservice,his
photorealisticartwinninghima firm
fanfollowing,as demonstratedbyhis
work’spopularityatStarTrekLasVegas
andotherevents.
Birdsong’spassingwasmarkedon
TwitterbyStarTreknovelistDavid
Mack,whonoted,“Hisartwas,for
many,synonymouswiththebrand
itself.Thankyouforaddingbeautyto
ouruniverse,Keith.”
A handfulofStarTrekartwentunder
thehammerlatespring,including
thecoverartandinteriorillustrations
fromthefirstoriginalnovelbasedon
theoriginalseries.
TheHeritageIllustrationArt
SignatureAuctionfeaturedin its
offeringsthreeStarTreklots.Among
those,thebiggestticketitemwasGreg
Hildebrandt’scoverartforthefirst
issueofIDW’snewcomicbookseries
StarTrek:YearFive(reviewedthisissue- seepage78),featuringKirk,Spock,
andthecrewoftheU.S.S.Enterprise.
The 38 x 28-inchacrylic-on-board
paintingwentfor$13,750.
MovieposterartistStevenChorney’s
1991 charcoalstudyforanultimately
unusedposterforStarTrekVI:The
UndiscoveredCountry(thefinalposter
waspaintedbyJohnAlvin)fetched
$1,750.Lastly,Richard“Sparky”Moore’s
coverartandinteriorillustrationsforthe
1968 tie-innovelStarTrek:Missionto
Horatius– a youngerreadersnovelthat
pre-datedthefirstoriginalTre knovelfor
anadultreadership,SpockMustDie!, by
twoyears– wentfor$5,500,fivetimes
itsestimate.
Meanwhile,in Heritage’ssummer
AnimationArtAuction,a production
celandbackgroundfromStarTrek:The
AnimatedSeriessoldfor$3,600.Taken
fromtheepisode“TheLoreleiSignal,”
thehand-paintedcelof theU.S.S.
Enterpriseona 20x 10.5-inchkeymaster
productionbackgroundandoverlaywas
describedbytheauctionhouseas“one
of thesinglemostdetailedsetupsfor
thisshowwehaveseen.”KEITHKEITH
BIRDSONGBIRDSONG
ARTART AUCTION ACTIONAUCTION ACTION
1959–
Tr e k art fetches big prices
0504 06 07
TEN FORWARD