It may seem hard to believe, but the epic story created by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick has already turned half a century old. Spectacular in both its visuals and its scientific precision, 2001: A Space Odyssey became one of the most important works of science fiction, and over the years we have celebrated its existence in many ways. One of those ways takes us back to 1965, three years before the official premiere. Kubrick hired British illustrator Brian Sanders to document the development of the film directly on set, and the result is a series of unseen drawings that remained unknown for decades.
Why? If there is one thing we can say about Stanley Kubrick, it is that he was very reserved about his projects. Sanders not only received ample freedom and privileged access to the set, but he was the only person explicitly authorized by Kubrick to create illustrations, since photography was forbidden. Sanders kept only about two dozen of his drawings (there may be more in the Stanley Kubrick Archive), and apart from a couple of isolated images, the rest was never officially published. Sanders never received direct feedback from Kubrick, which raises the suspicion that the director did not approve of the drawings, or on the contrary, wished to keep them as personal items. If you want to know more, Artist Partners has additional statements from Sanders about his illustrations.
The Unseen Illustrations
Here are some of Sanders' drawings from the set, giving us a unique look at the making of this cinematic masterpiece.
