Adolf Schaller was born in 1956 and lived during a golden age of creating space art. In the mid-1970s, Schaller’s early work could be seen in Astronomy Magazine. Terence Dickinson, the editor of Astronomy at the time, later published several editions of The Universe and Beyond (Camden House, 1992), which contained many illustrations by Schaller.
He later became part of the team of artists for Carl Sagan’s PBS show Cosmos, and created many pieces of animation artwork. He also painted landscape model backdrops for the series and also worked with IAAA members Rick Sternbach and Don Davis, who also created globes for the series. He later worked on the PBS shows Planet Earth and Infinite Voyage. Schaller also produced many works of art for Douglas Trumbull’s film Brainstorm. One time, while working on the movie 2010, based on a book by Arthur C. Clark, Schaller’s astronomical knowledge of Europa became a rift between he and the director, who had more fantastical ideas and subsequently let him go from working any further.
Schaller’s work appeared in many press releases by observatories, too. He also redesigned exhibits for Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. Later, he and Terence Dickinson would work together again creating the book Extraterrestrials: A Field Guide for Earthlings (Camden House, 1994).
His clients have included NASA, European Space Agency, Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute, Astronomy Magazine, Adler Planetarium and their Astronomy Museum, Griffith Observatory and Carl Sagan. His honors and awards include an Emmy award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for his visual effects work on Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series. His work also figures prominently within and on the cover of Sagan’s bestselling book, Cosmos, based on the series.
Describing in his own words how Adolf Schaller became an astronomical artist;
“I had already developed a serious interest in astronomy and physics with the goal of obtaining a degree, but reading Cosmos (not long after studying Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and Sagan's The Cosmic Connection later on in 1973) had a powerful influence on my thinking. It gathered my varied astrophysical interests and welded them together within the context of life: the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements, biogenic conditions in the interstellar medium, planetary formation and environments conducive to prebiotic chemistry, the establishment of microbial organisms and subsequent evolution and potential elaboration of complex multicellular organisms, ecosystems, societies, intelligence, technological civilizations, and so on. I studied everything I could get my hands on dealing with the subject. I began producing paintings and was immediately published. As it transpired, with all of the commissions I soon acquired, I suddenly found myself embarked on an early professional career as an astronomical artist.”
