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Family of Discworld illustrator seek wealthy patron to conserve legacy of ‘one of the great artists of our time’

Relatives of Josh Kirby, who also produced artwork for Star Wars and many well-known authors, hope to keep the sci-fi and horror artist’s collection together for future generations

His body of work is far more wide-ranging, though – Kirby’s paintings have graced the covers of volumes by Ray Bradbury, Ian Fleming, HG Wells, Jack Kerouac, Herman Melville and Neil Gaiman, and he’s done posters for movies including the Star Wars franchise. It was 1950, and Kirby by then was known as Josh, a nickname given to him during his six years at the Liverpool College of Art by fellow students who compared his work to Sir Joshua Reynolds, the 18th-century portraitist. But Kirby, born in Waterloo, Liverpool, in 1928, would leave both his home city and portrait painting behind as he moved to London to forge a career in book cover art – especially science fiction and fantasy.

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