The Gathering Artist Greg Hildebrandt Has Passed Away Aged 85

November 1, 2024

Greg Hildebrandt, a legendary artist and illustrator best known for his work in Magic: The Gathering and The Lord of the Rings alongside his twin brother has passed away at the age of 85. Hildebrandt’s wife Jean shared the news that her husband of 15 years, and partner for more than twice that time, lost his months-long battle with a breathing issue suffered as a result of a heart medication side effect on Thursday night.

Hildebrandt and Jean worked together for more than four decades, the former working closely with his late brother Tim on artwork that almost everyone reading this will have seen at some point in their lives. Despite their work on MTG and Lord of the Rings, the one piece of art by Greg and Tim people will likely recognize most is the poster they collaborated on for the very first Star Wars movie.

The iconic poster features Luke Skywalker holding a lightsaber over his head, Leia in front of him and Darth Vader’s head looming ominously in the starry sky behind them. Even if you couldn’t recall it right away, one look at the poster below and you will almost certainly realize you have seen it before. Almost 50 years later, it remains one of the most famous movie posters ever created and is synonymous with one of the best-regarded films of all time.

Greg And Tim Hildebrandt Designed The Poster For The First Star Wars Movie

One Of The Most Iconic Movie Posters Of All Time

original star wars movie poster designed by tim and greg Hildebrandt. — via Fox

The reason Greg and Tim landed on Fox’s radar when the studio was looking for someone to create a Star Wars poster was due to the artwork they created for official The Lord of the Rings calendars. Artwork that was so beloved, Wizards of the Coast used some of it in its Lord of the Rings holiday release in 2023. 20 pieces of art created by Tim and Greg were transformed into cards and are some of the final MTG cards to feature Greg’s work before his passing.

Greg continued to put Tim’s name on their MTG artwork after his brother suffered a stroke to keep his career alive until he recovered, which he never did fully. To this day it’s not known which cards Tim worked on and which ones he didn’t during that period.

lord of the rings holiday release cards illustrated by greg and tim hildebrandt — via Wizards of the Coast

Around the same time last year, MTG revealed its Wilds Of Eldraine set which included some of the last new artwork Greg created. Despite his passing, hopefully it won’t be the last time Greg’s work is featured in the TCG. Work for Marvel and DC comics was also on his and Tim’s impressive combined resume which means there’s a chance art they created is featured in next year’s Spider-Man set, or perhaps other Marvel drops after that.

Greg’s more recent work with MTG came after a 13-year hiatus from creating artwork for the TCG, and while his passing is heartbreaking, at least fans had the chance to experience a little more of his work over the last couple of years. Our thoughts go out to Greg’s wife Jean as well as his other family and friends at this time.