Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2 (No. 2)

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This collection features six works of Alan Lee who, along with John Howe, was one of the principle conceptual artists for Peter Jackson's films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".

The six works featured in this collection are:

1. The Mines of Moria
2. Tol Brandir
3. The Golden Hall
4. Orthanc
5. The Siege of Gondor
6. Two Orcs in the Land of Shadow

The six works are large, stand alone posters on heavy stock contained within an attractive folder featuring "Orthanc" on the front cover. The prints--the originals were done in watercolor--have a black border with the name of the work and the artist at the bottom in small print.

These prints are an excellent addition to any Tolkien fan's collection.

In the world of Tolkien artwork, two artists sit at the top of the heap: Alan Lee and John Howe. These two artists have devoted a lot of ink to sketching scenes from J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks, and in the "Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2," we get to see some of Lee's best work.

"The Halls of Moria" is one of the most stirring pieces of artwork -- an enormous dark hall full of pillars and vaulted ceilings, with a beam of light shining over the Fellowship. "Tol Brandir" shows a tangle of leafless branches, mossy rocks and stone steps. And then there's the "Golden Hall," a beautiful landscape crowned by a hill, on top of which is Theoden's home. Lee's painted clouds look as if they are glowing.

"Orthanc" shifts the focus to grimmer subjects -- Saruman's stronghold is immense, menacing, vaguely insectile with its black shiny look. And, of course, it's surrounded by floodwater. "The Siege of Gondor" is tightly packed with grinning, creepy orcs with spears, and a few human warriors, one of whom is dead. And "Two Orcs" has a pair of suitably creepy-looking orcs, not doing much.

Of the two poster collections of Lee's work, the second is obviously superior. We get a range of subjects, from all three books, and it shows the different kinds of artwork that Lee can do. The posters themselves are lovely -- high quality paper, clear reproduction. As for the pictures themselves....

Alan Lee does "still work" the best -- even when his subjects are in motion, they look very quiet and almost dreamlike. There's a lot of detail poured into these, since even small twigs, cracks and stains make their way into his artwork. They also tend to have muted, faded colours, lots of soft greys, browns and greens. Some of them look like sepia photographs.

Looking at these beautiful posters, it's easy to see why Lee was one of the designers for the "Lord of the Rings" movies' exquisite sets. A wonderful collection of fantasy artwork.

Not much I can add besides what was already said about this fine collection of art posters. Although all six posters are superb, I purchased this set mainly for the print of Orthanc, Moria and the Golden Hall to have framed and displayed with some of my Weta Lord of the Rings environment collectibles. This set really highlights why Alan Lee is one of the premier artist for Tolkien inspired work and it's well worth the price. If you're a fan of Alan Lee's work I also recommend you check out his book The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook.