Frank Frazetta's 1970 The Princess of Mars, one of Fantasy Literature's most influential paintings, comes to market

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


Frank Frazetta's 1970 The Princess of Mars, one of Fantasy Literature's most influential paintings, comes to market
Heritage Auctions offers the artist’s personal version, painted immediately after he turned in the first take to Doubleday.



DALLAS, TX.- In 1970, Frank Frazetta painted two versions of the cover for Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars.

One he sent to the publishing house Doubleday, whose hardback version of the 1912 story – featuring the debuts of Confederate soldier John Carter and Martian princess Dejah Thoris – has become one of the most recognizable and influential covers in publishing history. And the other Frazetta made for himself immediately upon competition of the assignment. He was deeply proud of the piece and knew its return was unlikely. Better, he thought, to make another than lose this only child.

The paintings that Frazetta titled The Princess of Mars, each featuring John Carter brandishing a sword above his head and Dejah Thoris alongside him, were seemingly identical in almost every way. They look the same at first, second, even third glance. But there are alterations, at once small yet significant: In the version Frazetta kept for himself, “Dejah's stance is more upright, indicating her prowess and confidence and depicting a stronger woman,” notes Nadia Mannarino, Heritage Auctions’ New York City-based Senior Consignment Director for Comics & Comic Art.

“And the breast plate and jewelry in this painting are more ornate,” says Mannarino, who, alongside her husband Joe, began representing Frazetta in the 1980s. “And the moons are much more defined.”

Put plainly, says Heritage Auctions’ Vice President Barry Sandoval. “This is the rare case when the second version is even better than the published one.”

Decades ago, the Mannarinos helped auction off the Doubleday version through Christie’s. But the one he made and kept for himself – truly such a rare and extraordinary thing to do! – has remained with Frazetta’s family for five decades. It has never before been to market. Not until now.




Frazetta’s personal version of his The Princess of Mars is a centerpiece of Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art event taking place Sept. 10-13, at Heritage’s world headquarters in Dallas and online at HA.com.

In recent years, Frazetta’s pieces have realized extraordinary sums. Only last year, Heritage Auctions sold his Egyptian Queen, from 1969, for $5.4 million. Others, too, have sold for seven figures, prices befitting the best known, most revered – and most-often imitated -- fantasy and science fiction artist of the 20th century.

The high expectations for Frazetta’s The Princess of Mars are warranted for another reason, too:

This is the piece upon which Tom Jung modeled the first Star Wars poster – the one with Luke Skywalker wielding a lightsaber, Princess Leia at his knee, Darth Vader’s helmet looming behind them like a sunset. The Princess of Mars is the piece upon which countless science fiction and fantasy artists built their careers. Its echo resounds five decades later like a shot just fired.

Frazetta rarely revisited his own work, and on those rare occasions when he did, he would dramatically and drastically revise the piece as not to repeat himself. But just as The Princess of Mars struck a chord with other artists, so, too, did it resonate with its maker.

“Frazetta recounted to us numerous times that he so loved the image and hated the fact that it would remain with the publisher that he executed ‘one for me’ at the same time,” Nadia says. “He also confided to us that he loved this second painting even more.”

“Frazetta has always been the man,” Sandoval says. “A colleague once joked that the evolution of the collector is: You start by collecting low-grade comic books. Then you only want high-grade books. Then you only want original art. Then, you only want Frazetta.”










Today's News

August 21, 2020

Nazi-looted French painting on display in search for rightful owner

The Meadows acquires an Alonso Cano drawing and more

For Gregory Crewdson, truth lurks in the landscape

Getty and Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage announce major enhancements to Ghent Altarpiece website

Two museums announce September reopenings

Swann sets new auction record for Tom of Finland

Works by Yeats and Dillon to make auction Debuts in Sotheby's Irish Art Sale

New book features self-expression through fashion, style and art in the streets of Kinshasa and Brazzaville/Congo

Frank Frazetta's 1970 The Princess of Mars, one of Fantasy Literature's most influential paintings, comes to market

She was more than just the 'most beautiful suffragist'

Renowned Casula artist honored as Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre launches art collection online

ICA Miami announces over 75 recent acquisitions

CHART now represents Will Ryman

Cooke Latham Gallery opens an online exhibition of works by Anousha Payne

Mary Hartline, a TV star when TV was new, is dead at 92

Ahlers & Ogletree will sell items from the Atlanta estate home known as White Oaks

In Lagos, a homegrown ballet academy leaps into the spotlight

Dallas' David Bates' Crab Legs could crack $50K in Heritage Texas Art Auction

Bonhams returns to Bonmont with pair of rare Bugattis

At theaters, push for racial equity leads to resignations and restructuring

Bonhams offers the Collection of The Late Tony White, Australia's most innovative jeweller

Exhibition relates Leiko Ikemura's works to ones from the permanent collection at Kunsthalle Rostock

Designing doesn't stop, even when stage shows do

Jazz saxophonist Hal Singer dies at 100

Mobile Casinos Are Trending

The Best Movers to Europe: International Relocation Services

Photo Editing Tips in Lightroom

Why Paint by Numbers Kits are Trending

Jackson Pollock's abstract expressionist painting Number 1, 1949 to undergo thorough conservation

Online Slot Myths Debunked

Best Slot Game Extra Games and Rounds




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

sa gaming free credit
Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful