retrofuturist drawings of the 50s

Rare & Beautiful Vintage Visions of the Future

This is the start of a new series, collection of the most inspiring & hard-to-find retro-futuristic graphics. We will try to stay away from the well-known American pulp & book cover illustrations and instead will focus on the artwork from rather unlikely sources: Soviet & East Block "popular tech & science" magazines, German, Italian, British fantastic illustrations and promotional literature - all from the Golden Age of Retro-Future (from 1930s to 1970s). Click to enlarge most images.

(source: TM-1970, Russia)

("Galactic Manoeuvre", by Nikolai Nedbailo)

(source: TM-1953, Russia)

(source: TM-1956, Russia)

(image credit: retro-futurismus.de)

Part 1. Space never looked better... and perhaps never will

Retro-futuristic art, in a way, is a double-fantasy: imaginary future wrapped into imaginary past. Which makes this style doubly interesting, if not doubly obsolete... In this part we will showcase rarely seen art, done in 1930s to 1970s, mostly from "Teknika Molodezhi" (TM), Yuny Tekhnik, DetGiz (Russia) and German retro-future sites.

Earth's Orbit:

(TM cover, Russia, 1950)

(images credit: Klaus Burgle)

"Breaking a Space Traffic Jam" by Frank Tinsley, 1959(image credit: plan59.com)

To the Moon!

(art by Noel Sickles for "Rocket to the Moon", 1949)

"To Other Worlds!", Detgiz, Russia, 1939

"Lunar Unicycle" by Frank Tinsley, 1959(image credit: plan59.com)

(image credit: Klaus Burgle)

cover, Russia 1953)

(source: TM, Russia)

"Nuclear Rocketship" by Frank Tinsley, 1959(image credit: plan59.com)

"Destination Moon" rare art, 1950(image credit: Erik Theodor Lässig, Germany)

Bigger Moon base:

(source: TM, Russia)

(image credit: retro-futurismus)

(image credit: Kurt Röschl)

(art by Ed Emshwiller)

To Mars!

(art by Andrey Sokolov)

(TM cover, Russia 1966)

"Mars Snooper" by Frank Tinsley, 1959(image credit: plan59.com)

To Venus!

Battling off the Communist astronaut invasion!

(Perry Rhodan, Jan. 1962)

Interesting Planetary Vehicle:(very strange flip-flop caterpillar style of moving)

(source: TM, Russia 1966)

To Saturn and beyond:

(TM cover, Russia 1954)

Other Worlds

Screens from the Russian science fiction movie "Planeta Bur" (The Planet of Storms) - 1959:

(image credit: woodmal)

This is a collage with promotional art from this movie, made by o-vladimir:

(image credit: o-vladimir)

(image credit: Klaus Burgle)

(art by Andrey Sokolov)

(art by Nikolai Nedbailo)

("First Contact", by Nikolai Nedbailo)

Space Lift Concept(from TM, Russia, 1971)

(source: TM, Russia 1970)

Retro-future Chart of Starships (from TM, Russia 1955)

ource: TM, Russia 1960) "Socialist Space Workers"

ennady Golobokov, 1973

Photon Starships in Deep Space:

(art by Andrey Sokolov)