Richard M. Powers

In the early 1950s, Richard M. Powers' surrealist paintings forever changed the look of science fiction by turning away from the dashing spacemen, bug-eyed aliens, and unrealistic female stereotypes that were typical in contemporary science fiction pulp novels.  

Over the course of his career, Powers created over 1,500 cover and interior illustrations, with more than 800 of those being in the science fiction genre. He first began designing book covers in 1948 with a hardcover of Gulliver’s Travels for World Publishing Company.  

In 1950, Powers created his first hardcover science fiction work for Doubleday, which began his 20 years as Doubleday’s main cover artist. In 1953, he painted the cover of Star Science Fiction for Ballantine Books, and soon after became the unofficial art director for Ballantine Books.  

Powers also illustrated children’s books and exhibited his fine art at  the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Corcoran Gallery.