The fascination with fantasy and science-fiction artist supreme Frank Frazetta continues. His 1976 painting “Dark Kingdom” sold recently for $6 million at Heritage Auctions, breaking the artist’s own record for original comic book or fantasy art set in 2019.
Among the late artist’s most potent and popular works, “Dark Kingdom” was first used as the cover of Karl Edward Wagner’s 1976 novel Dark Crusade. But the dramatic painting is far better known for its second appearance: as the album cover for Molly Hatchet’s 1979 “Flirtin’ With Disaster,” the band’s second record.
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Courtesy Heritage Auctions
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“It’s extraordinarily rare whenever an artwork universally considered the best in any genre becomes available on the open market,” said Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Todd Hignite. “We’re excited — and proud — that today’s record-setting result reflects that status.”
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Courtesy Getty Images
Born in Brooklyn in 1928, Frazetta is regarded as the master of modern fantasy art, influencing a generation of artists and filmmakers with images of muscled male warriors, curvaceous and powerful women, and creatures spawned in hell. Frazetta’s 1969 masterpiece “Egyptian Queen” sold for $5.4 at Heritage Auctions in 2019, then the most expensive piece of original comic art ever sold at auction.
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