Bruce Wolfe

Bruce Wolfe's Painting: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-movie-poster-1020272474.jpg


Here is a bit from the pre-interview for an upcoming Indy Cast...

RS: A documentary I enjoy and recommend is ?Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?? which deals primarily with provenance. I?ve seen your business card, which I assume is your signature, but I?ll be damned if I can find any such mark on your Temple of Doom poster?how do you ?make your mark??

BW:Lucas Film decreed that no poster was to be signed. Yes, my signature for work is on my card.

WolfeLogo.jpg

RS: This leads into the subject of ownership. With the release of the latest Indiana Jones film an all-art Indy retrospective was commissioned featuring Indiana Jones production paintings, poster art, comic covers and exclusive paintings?as Topps trading cards. Your painting has been erroneously credited to Drew Struzan. Is this a symptom of a greater problem?

BW:They all belong to Lucas film.

RS: Besides your work for Lucasfilm proper, I?ve read you?ve created for the personal collections of George Lucas and Frank Marshall, can you tell us what they commissioned?

BW:No sales to George Lucas but when Frank Marshall came to my studio he saw a painting he liked and bought it. A very nice man.
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Bruce Wolfe said:
Lucas Film decreed that no poster was to be signed.
This is interesting since Drew's signature is clearly visible on his own "Doom" poster. Hard to believe Wolfe's artwork was credited to Drew Struzan in the Topps cards. It doesn't even resemble Struzan's style! Yeeesh.:eek:

Good questions, Rocket. Looking forward to the interview!(y)
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
I'm fairly ashamed to admit that I did not realize, until today, that this poster was not a Struzan. I knew about the multiple artists on Raiders, of course, but more or less assumed they went to a single-artist format on the remaining films, much as occurred with Back to the Future.

The discrepancy Stoo mentions is a striking one. This poster is far from my favorite (I much prefer the montage style of poster, perhaps because they're a nearly dead art), and one can see why Struzan would get "most favored artist" status, but it's, if nothing else, hard to defend.
 

Darth Vile

New member
BW's TOD teaser poster is the only Indy poster I have on the wall of my cinema room. Absolutely love it simply because it's so evocative (and it makes me feel nostalgic). We assume Indy stands at the doorway/threshold to the 'Temple of Doom', but who/what awaits within (or at least that's how I felt as a kid). Brilliant! :)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Attila the Professor said:
I'm fairly ashamed to admit that I did not realize, until today, that this poster was not a Struzan. I knew about the multiple artists on Raiders, of course, but more or less assumed they went to a single-artist format on the remaining films, much as occurred with Back to the Future.
Really? Shame on you, Attila, for not recognizing the difference in style.:p Even an untrained eye should be able to tell that it's not Stuzan's work which is why it's so bizarre that Wolfe's work was incorrectly credited in the Topps cards (which I do not own...I only know of this error from Rocket's info in this thread). Then again, that comes as no surprise given the amount of errors in other, recent Indy products...

Because there is no signature on this poster, it was always a mystery to me as to who the artist was. Thanks to the collective folk here at The Raven, that mystery was solved *7* years ago (Feb. 2004) by VP (and reiterated by Shipwreck.):hat: Temple of Doom... Struzan

...and again by Adam McDaniel in Dec. 2007: Who did the original Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Poster?
Attila the Professor said:
The discrepancy Stoo mentions is a striking one. This poster is far from my favorite (I much prefer the montage style of poster, perhaps because they're a nearly dead art), and one can see why Struzan would get "most favored artist" status, but it's, if nothing else, hard to defend.
I don't have a high-res version of the Australian "Doom" poster but there seems to be a signature on that one as well. Very curious...

Bruce Wolfe really got that shaft in the "Complete Making of Indiana Jones" book, page #183. An extended, almost full, clean version (unblemished by text & the logo) is simply credited as: "Promotional artwork for the film".:rolleyes:

Thank G_d, Rocket's upcoming interview will finally unleash some truths upon (a portion of) the Indy community.
 
Bruce Wolfe maybe the Dave Prowse of IndyLand. His Poster is NOT just the teaser, it was in theaters for the opening week before it was replaced. You KNOW Struzan has a story about THAT!

Stoo said:
I don't have a high-res version of the Australian "Doom" poster but there seems to be a signature on that one as well. Very curious...

Another AMAZING poster...

I'm pretty sure the artist's name is Mike Vaughn.:hat:

Indianajonesandthetempleofdoom18.jpg
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Rocket Surgeon said:
Another AMAZING poster...

I'm pretty sure the artist's name is Mike Vaughn.:hat:

That's really effective. Got a great vintage movie feel. Those spikes remind me of Jaws again - like that concept artwork of the cave.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
Somebody must be able to solve the mystery of this artwork.
Taking an educated guess, I'd say that Mr. Wolfe did NOT do that cover. Any credit inside on the copyright page?:confused:

My June 1984 edition of the "Doom" novel says, 'Cover art and insert supplied by Lucasfilm Ltd.' Wolfe gets the shaft again! No wonder it was so difficult back then to find out who the artist was.
Rocket Surgeon said:
Bruce Wolfe maybe the Dave Prowse of IndyLand. His Poster is NOT just the teaser, it was in theaters for the opening week before it was replaced. You KNOW Struzan has a story about THAT!
In my neck of the woods, I seem to remember Wolfe's poster being around even longer than that. Possibly up to about a month (or more) after opening day.
Rocket Surgeon said:
Another AMAZING poster...

I'm pretty sure the artist's name is Mike Vaughn.:hat:
Mike Vaughn is the name I have, too. The version you posted crops the bottom portion of the painting where the signature is. So both Struzan & Vaughn were allowed to sign their "Doom" work but not Wolfe. Very strange. Anyway, that's the highest-res image of the Australian poster that I've ever seen. Thanks for posting it, Rocket!:hat:

Signature_MikeVaughn.jpg
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Taking an educated guess, I'd say that Mr. Wolfe did NOT do that cover. Any credit inside on the copyright page?:confused:

I agree that it doesn't look like the work of tha same artist. This is an ongoing mystery, which I raise every now and then to see if anyone has any new leads!

There's nothing at all in the book to help attribute the artist. Anothe victim of the Lucasfilm umbrella!
 
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