THE BIRDMAN OF RIGEL ( L'UOMO UCCELLO DI RIGEL)

29" X 20" by Cesare Colombi. Original acrylic painting on illustration board, circa 1981. Published in the iconic Italian science fiction book series, "Grande Enciclopedia della Fantascienza, S.F. Profiles II, Volume X" (Editoriale Del Drago, 1981).

Despite Cesare Colombi's 124 published works in 233 publications, in 3 languages and 463 library holdings, I can find virtually nothing on this artist. His style is unique, beautiful and immediately recognizable - a true achievement of any artist.

This piece features not just one bird-man, but a whole flock of them in the background sky. Not sure if Rigel is referencing the star 'Rigel', an often featured star in science fiction. Rigel is a blue supergiant star that is the brightest star in the constellation Orion, the Hunter. I strongly believe the subject matter is correct since blue dominates the world featured in this masterpiece. At a quick glance, the brush strokes look very crude with little detail until you gaze longer at this painting. It develops and materializes slowly, before your eyes. Look at the fire illuminating the bronze spearhead of the bird-man. You can see minute detail to the design of the spearhead, its central rib running down the blade, and a decorated neck of the spearhead shaft. What I thought were originally birds in the sky up above, are actually wonderfully detailed other bird-men, their anatomy in various stages of clarity based on the fire illuminating them from below.

In any case, this artist is a true genius that has developed a style that captures imagery in a unique light and color that is his own.