Bidding for this lot will end on Tuesday, March 12th. The auction will begin at 9:00AM PDT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Wednesday, March 13th or Thursday, March 14th.




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A matte painting of Skeletor's (Frank Langella) throne room hand-painted by visual effects chief matte artist Matthew Yuricich for Gary Goddard's Masters of the Universe. Skeletor ruled from his throne room inside the captured Castle Grayskull until He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) and his friends defeated him there.

To create the scale of Skeletor's colossal throne room, an elaborate life-size set was built for the production, complete with massive statues built to enhance the sense of scope. Nonetheless, it still proved impossible to capture in its entirety in a single wide shot. Yuricich was therefore tasked with recreating the throne room set entirely in a painting, complete with the huge statues lining the sides and a deep, dark crypt beneath the walkway.

Using techniques familiar to legendary matte painting contemporaries like Peter Ellenshaw and Albert Whitlock, this lustrous and detailed matte painting was rendered on a metal-framed sheet of glass by Yuricich. It features "SS-1 Masters of Uni" handwritten on tape at the top left corner, three labels reading "1" around the frame, and a plaque on the bottom of the frame reading "Masters of the Universe." There are additional pieces of tape on the back and three strips of black tape down the length of the front right side. Also included is a modern-printed "working composite" photo print that illustrates the final composition of the lot, showing how the live action composited into the final artwork.

The frame exhibits some wear from age and storage, including areas of wear to the paint. Dimensions: 76" x 34" x 0.5" (193 cm x 86.5 cm x 1.5 cm)

Sold without copyright; see notice in the Buyer's Guide.

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See PDF below for a comprehensive study of this and other lots in the Matthew Yuricich matte painting collection.

Estimate: $8,000 - 16,000



View all lots from MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987)

View all lots from Matthew Yuricich Collection