Conan the Barbarian

An original costume design used in the production of Conan the Barbarian, the 1982 fantasy picture starring Arnold Schwarzenegger under the direction of John Milius.

This design was created during production by noted costume designer John Bloomfield as he visioned the various wardrobe for the movie. This design hails from the famous pit fighting sequence where Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) does battle, the scenes where he fights a woman, portrayed by Saralo who was not a professional actress but secretary to director John Milius, were largely cut from the final sequence however a few frames do survive in the film. In the sequence Conan beheads the fighter and holds up her head but this was likely deemed to explicit for the rating the filmmakers were hoping to receive, following the shoot a photograph was taken of Schwarzenegger and Saralo holding up the dummy head built by effects designer Carlo De Marchis, this photograph shows Saralo in a costume identical to Bloomfield's deign offered here.

Accomplished on card stock in Bloomfield's signature style the large drawing features collage elements achieved by him using magazine cuttings and all of his principal designs throughout his career were achieved in this manner, the artwork is hand inscribed 'PIT FIGHTER WOMAN' to the top left and features a pencil sketch to the verso with an copyright ink stamp '1980 DINO DE LAURENTIIS CORPORATION'.

The artwork measures an impressive 20" x 13" and remains in excellent production used condition, overall fine.

A very interesting example of original production material from this box office smash which launched the film career of Arnold Schwarzenegger.