Renowned Artist Frank Frazetta
Dies at 82
(9 February 1928 – 10 May 2010)
By
the time of his death last month due to complications after a stroke, Frank
Frazetta had earned a worldwide reputation as a unique and influential
talent. It was in the 1960s that he emerged as a significant influence
on popular culture, notably science fiction and fantasy, and on generations
of new artists through the power of his dynamic art. Yet it was book illustrations
of the work of two writers from the first half of the 20th century – Edgar
Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard – that helped Frazetta surge in the
public consciousness.
Frazetta’s first major interpretations of ERB
were his ink and brush illustrations for the Canaveral Press hardcover
editions of Tarzan at the Earth’s Core (1962) and Tarzan and
the Castaways (1965) and cover paintings for the early Ace Books paperbooks,
starting in 1962 with Tarzan at the Earth’s Core. New covers for
Ace Books paperbacks into the early 1970s and his covers and interiors
for the Science Fiction Book Club Nelson Doubleday hardcover editions,
beginning with A Princess of Mars in 1970, heralded a second wave of Burroughs-inspired
art. This work continues to be reprinted today and was a highlight of art
on display at the Frazetta art museum.
In later life, Frazetta was plagued by a variety
of health problems, beginning with a thyroid condition that went untreated
for many years. In the 2000s, a series of strokes impaired Frazetta’s manual
dexterity to such a degree that he switched to drawing and painting with
his left hand.
His mastery of multiple media in a style that
is instantly recognizable assures that Frazetta will remain in high standing
as a popular culture icon in his own right.
There have been many tributes of Frazetta since
his death, but the 26 May 2010 editorial by Paul Akers in The Free Lance-Star
(Fredericksburg, VA) best captures the views of many ERB fans. It is reprinted
here with permission. This is followed by the announcement in the Pocono
Record (Stroudsburg, PA) of a public memorial of Frank Frazetta and his
wife Ellie on the first anniversary of her passing.
And this is posted at the Frank
Frazetta Museum website : “Throughout 2010, Frank Frazetta’s original
art work will be heading on tour, giving fans the opportunity to view them
in person. Check back for updates on gallery display
locations and regional exhibition dates.”
Frazetta Had It Covered
by Paul Akers
You can’t judge a book by its cover – but, by the gods of Amtor, you can
judge a cover by its cover. And the verdict on fantasy/sci-fi illustrator
Frank Frazetta’s was always: zow-wee!
Llana of Gathol. Barsoom. Conan the Cimmerian. Pellucidar. Tarzan. Characters
this exotic and places this unearthly demanded a special artistic talent
to conjure them on the paperboard and dust jackets of the novels they animated,
and Mr. Frazetta had it. Even as John Wayne could perform in Monument Valley
without being swallowed by it, Mr. Frazetta could match the literary masters
of wild imagination with brush-and-ink marvels of his own.
Edgar Rice Burroughs could describe a Martian monster, Robert E. Howard
a barbarous warrior. But the mind craves the visual, and Mr. Frazetta could
“hydrate” dry ink on a page with wet pigments to stunning effect. His cold-eyed
monsters crouched menacingly, an eye-blink from pouncing. His warriors,
with muscles rippling and swords reddened, knew no fear. And Frazetta’s
women. . . . Beautiful, voluptuous, and usually wearing about enough clothing
to wad a shotgun shell, they looked worth fighting all the demons of Hades
for.
When Mr. Frazetta was 2, in Brooklyn, his grandmother gave him a penny
for every picture he drew. Art teachers had little to teach him. At 15
he broke into comic books, then daily strips. But it was in the ’60s that
he found his niche, drawing the covers of the paperback adventures of Conan,
John Carter of Mars, and other fantastic heroes. His “penny per” pay scale
rose marginally. [But by] 2009, Mr. Frazetta’s “Conan the Conqueror” painting
fetched $1 million.
Mr. Frazetta was a kind of supernatural creature himself – a wraith
riding a circuit covering infinity, hauling his pallet from Hell to Valhalla,
one day beneath the hurtling moons of Mars, the next in the fleshly courts
of a dead civilization. He died this month at 82. Wonder what an angel
charges to pose.
June 2010
