The Art of Bob Peak, Including ‘Apocalypse Now,’ Headlines Heritage’s Sweeping July Entertainment Auction

Original movie poster masterworks from the Father of Modern Film Illustration take center stage July 16 DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (July 7, 2025) — Heritage Auctions is proud to present a landmark collection of original movie poster artwork by Bob Peak, the visionary illustrator who redefined the genre and inspired generations of designers and filmmakers. From the operatic chaos of Apocalypse Now to the mythic beauty of Excalibur and the electric joy of Hair, this curated offering includes 12 stunning, large-format original paintings that represent the full range and brilliance of Peak’s career. Heritage is honored that the family of Bob Peak has entrusted it with the privilege of presenting the selection, which kicks off Heritage’s sweeping July 16-18 Hollywood/Entertainment Signature® Auction. Often credited as the “Father of the Modern Movie Poster,” Bob Peak transformed the way films were marketed. His expressive, cinematic style combined dynamic and layered composition to evoke the emotional core of a story in a single unforgettable image. His draftsmanship is undeniable, and his gift for capturing faces, along with his color and compositional prowess, are unmatched. In person, his original works for illustration are gorgeous — their surfaces and textures are luxurious — and the lushness of his work invites the eye to travel. From the 1960s through the 1980s, 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. The Colorado-born Robert Peak, after serving in the military during the Korean War, studied art at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and graduated in 1951. He moved to New York City and his work appeared in major advertising and national magazines. His work on film campaigns started in the early 1960s, when United Artists studios came calling. “He really could get to the essence of a movie with his work,” says Tom Peak, Bob Peak’s son and the torch-carrier of his father’s prolific career. A curator, Tom Peak authored the book The Drawings of Bob Peak. “He really is the ‘Father of the Modern Movie Poster,’” he says. “He worked as a successful illustrator across the board — Time, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated … he was an incredible sports illustrator. But Hollywood came to him, especially after his innovative work on West Side Story.” Bob Peak’s Apocalypse Now and His Original Movie Poster Masterworks Bob Peak’s 1979 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 Luong 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. Bob Peak’s 1981 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 a single, unforgettable image. Commissioned 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. Bob Peak’s final published movie poster, created in 1990 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. In this 1990 concept painting for The Hunt for Red October, Bob 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. Created as part of a limited-edition portfolio, Bob Peak’s final key plate artwork for 1975’s 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. And, created the same year as Apocalypse Now, Bob 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. “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. These paintings are cinematic history, and we’re thrilled to share them with the world.” The collection is consigned directly from the Peak family and marks the most significant offering of Bob Peak originals ever presented at auction. The artworks will be on public display at Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, from June 25 through July 15. For more on the Bob Peak Collection and all the lots in the July 16-18 Hollywood/Entertainment auction, please go here. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 2 million registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 7,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Christina Rees, Director of Communications 214-409-1341; CRees@HA.com