The Art of Star Wars is a series of books by various editors featuring concept art from the Star Wars motion picture saga. The books mainly feature artwork accompanied by a short explanation of the scene and the artist's ideas, but also script notes, posters and other information. The first books were published by Ballantine Books, a subsidiary of Random House, with later editions appearing under the DelRey and LucasBooks imprints. Later titles were published by Harry N. Abrams. The Art of Star Wars was also the title of an exhibition of Star Wars artwork, props, and costumes mounted by Lucasfilm at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco in 1995. The exhibition was subsequently expanded to various international venues from 2000–2001, including the Barbican Art Gallery in London and the Helsinki City Art Museum. Content Carol Titelman's first volume, originally entitled The Art of Star Wars, was published in 1979 amid a popular trend for behind-the-scenes, "making-of" media products (such as The Making of Star Wars documentary). The book presents a range of pre-production concept art, storyboards, and publicity shots alongside Lucas's screenplay. It has been noted as a rich record of the previsualization behind the 1977 movie that gives the reader an insight into the "possibilities that might have been" in the final production design, and that challenges the "authorial singularity and originality" that normally surrounds the works of a Hollywood auteur. The first volume has been called the definitive work on the development of the cinematographic art of Star Wars, a body of creative works that heavily influenced later films. The first book presents some of the earliest concept sketches of a number of now-familiar characters of the Star Wars universe, including early impressions of the helmet of Darth Vader, the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, Imperial stormtroopers, and the alien clientele of the Mos Eisley Cantina on the planet Tatooine. The concept sketches and matte paintings of Ralph McQuarrie feature heavily, alongside sketches by Joe Johnston, set design drawings by John Barry, costume design sketches by John Mollo, storyboards by Alex Tavoularis and photographs by Bob Seidemann and John Jay. McQuarrie's work was considered highly influential in the production of the first three Star Wars movies; Journalist Jonathan Jones wrote of McQuarrie: "Looking at his [McQuarrie's] paintings, you can recognise that the appeal of this art is similar to that of 19th century Orientalist