The Gathering artist Greg Hildebrandt has died at the age of 85

Greg Hildebrandt, the legendary artist and illustrator best known for his work on Magic: The Gathering and The Lord of the Rings alongside his twin brother, has died at the age of 85. Hildebrandt's wife, Jean, shared the news that her husband of 15 years, and partner of more than twice that time, lost a months-long battle with breathing problems caused by a side effect of heart medication Thursday night.

Hildebrandt and Jean have worked together for more than four decades, with the former working closely with his late brother Tim on works of art that almost everyone reading this has seen at some point in their lives. Despite their work on MTG and The Lord of the Rings, the one piece of art by Greg and Tim that people are likely to recognize the most is the poster they collaborated on for the very first Star Wars movie.

The iconic poster features Luke Skywalker holding a lightsaber above his head, Leia in front of him and Darth Vader's head looming ominously in the starry sky behind. Even if you can't remember it right away, take one look at the poster below and you'll almost certainly know you've seen it before. Nearly 50 years later, it remains one of the most famous movie posters ever created and is synonymous with one of the most popular films of all time.

Greg and Tim Hildebrandt designed the poster for the first Star Wars movie.

One of the most iconic movie posters of all time

The reason Greg and Tim came to Fox's attention when the studio was looking for someone to create a Star Wars poster was because of the artwork they created for the official Lord of the Rings calendars. Artwork that was so loved, Wizards of the Coast used some of it in the 2023 Lord of the Rings Holiday Edition. 20 pieces of artwork created by Tim and Greg have been converted into cards and are among the last MTG cards to feature Greg's work before his death.

Greg continued to put Tim's name on their MTG artwork after his brother suffered a stroke to support his career until he recovered, which he never fully did. To this day, it is unknown which maps Tim worked on and which he did not work on during this period.

Festive graduation cards — via Wizards of the Coast

Around the same time last year, MTG unveiled their Wilds Of Eldraine set, which includes some of the latest new artwork created by Greg. Despite his passing, we hope this is not the last time Greg's work is featured in TCG. Work for Marvel and DC comics has also been included in his and Tim's impressive combined resume, meaning there's a chance their art will be featured in next year's Spider-Man set, or perhaps in other Marvel drops after that.

Greg's recent work with MTG came after a 13-year hiatus from creating artwork for the TCG, and while his passing is heartbreaking, at least fans got to experience a little more of his work over the past couple of years. Our thoughts are with Greg's wife, Jean, as well as his other family members and friends at this time.