The Art of Kurt Röschl

Kurt Röschl (1923-1986) was an Austrian graphic artist and painter who illustrated various science-fiction stories in the 1950s. There’s not much information about him online, but it seems he illustrated quite a lot of books for Erich Dolezal (1902-1990), another Austrian.

All images courtesy of Retro-Futurismus.

Raumflotte I startet

These illustrations were done for Erich Dolezal’s short story “Raumflotte I startet – ein Tatsachenbericht von morgen,” which translates into, “Space Fleet I starts – a factual report from tomorrow”. It was published in the Verlag für Jugend und Volk, which appeared in Vienna in 1952.

The rocket was apparently inspired by Werner von Braun’s early designs from the 1950s.

Unternehmen Mars

Dinosaurs on Mars! These illustrations were done by Röschl for Erich Dolezal’s 1955 book, Unternehmen Mars (“The Mars Enterprise”).

Alarm aus Atomville

Illustrations for Erich Dolezal’s 1956 novel, Alarm aus Atomville (“Alarm from the Atomic Village”).

Die Astronauten

Illustrations for Erich Dolezal’s 1959 story Die Astronauten (“The Astronauts”). It was the first in a two-parter. The second book, Festung Sonnensystem (“Fortress Solar System”) was published in 1962.