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Barbara Remington

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Artist

The Resume

    (June 23, 1929-January 23, 2020)
    Born in Minnesota
    Painter and illustrator
    Best known for the cover art for Ballantine Books’ first paperback editions of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy (1965)

Why she might be annoying:

    She drew the covers without reading the books.
    Tolkien complained about ‘The Hobbit,’, ‘I think the cover is ugly.’
    He also found it bewildering, asking the publishers, ‘What has it got to do with the story? Where is this place? Why a lion and emus? And what is the thing in the foreground with pink bulbs?’
    He also noted – quite presciently, although he could hardly have known it at the time – ‘I do not understand how anybody who had read the tale could think such a picture would please the author.’
    We’re not saying her friendship with Timothy Leary was responsible for the garish, swirling colors of her ‘Lord of the Rings’ covers; we’re just saying it wouldn’t surprise us if it was.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She normally read books before illustrating them, but the Tolkien novels were a rush job by Ballantine to compete with another publisher that had exploited a loophole in copyright law to print an unauthorized edition.
    She wrote a letter of apology to Tolkien, explaining the time pressure she had been under when designing the covers.
    She said, ‘After reading his work, I was in awe of Tolkien.’
    Her covers for the three ‘Lord of the Rings’ books form a continuous picture when placed next to each other.
    A poster of the artwork from the covers was popular with ‘60s Middle Earth fans.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 39 Votes: 61.54% Annoying