Frank Frazetta (1928–2010) was not just a horror magazine artist whose purpose was to create fantasies that scare the bejesus out of the average mortal. He was an artist first, and storyteller second. His art is reminiscent of late 19th-century European symbolism, notably that of the French Odilon Redon and the Austrian Alfred Kubin—but Frazetta’s paintings express an American essence similar to Norman Rockwell (had Rockwell decided to paint menace instead of tranquility).
Picture a Rockwell image of a typical country doctor examining a young lad … except instead of a calm, caring man in a white lab coat with a stethoscope, the same personage wears animal skin and a spiked helmet, brandishing a heavy steel sword with a sharp serrated blade, poised to carve the heart of his young, trusting patient. And rather than a benign, handsome white-clad nurse assisting the doctor, there’s a busty, muscular she-wolf bedecked with slithering serpents and a bloodied scythe. Frazetta and Rockwell share the same tools but see through different eyes. Each captured the affection of their respective loyal fans, but it’s doubtful there’s much crossover of those bases.
Still, there are other similarities. Both artists have museums devoted to them with much merch in their respective gift shops. The Frazetta Art Museum in East Stroudsburg, PA, has the largest collection of original paintings, including those from his famous Conan the Barbarian series. Currently in production is a series of exquisitely produced Frazetta Gallery Series books featuring work from the collection. Each slip-cased volume is oversized and dedicated to one of the artist’s favorite themes: The first is a limited edition of 500–1000 copies on “Terror,” followed by “Warriors,” “Sirens” and “Adventure.” All are published by American Hero Press.
Frazetta’s imagination is not pulp—his art is an amalgam of psychological melodrama and nightmarish voyeurism. The “Terror” volume includes an eerie array of classics, including a lenticular 3D print of a vampire replete with bats. For the Frazetta fan these bats hit the horror out of the park.
I spoke with James Loehr, the editor of the forthcoming series:
What is the genesis of this project?
I had seen a number of books recently devoted to Frazetta art and they pretty much all struck me as trips down memory lane. Yes, Frank mostly worked for books and magazine producing paintings that served as highly attractive covers. And, we don’t want to forget how and where and why those magnificent covers caught our attention. But, I really wanted people to recognize and appreciate his art, standing on its own, away from any fond memories of a printed work. Most of the time his paintings were not directly representative of the book or magazine anyway, so I wanted to present the work without reproducing book/magazine covers or marring the enjoyment of the paintings with type, borders, etc. There’s a Fine Art aspect to appreciating and evaluating his work standing as unique pieces of a great imagination and great talent.
Who is the audience for Frezetta?
Admittedly, there’s a large and strong audience of Baby Boomers who grew up with seeing Frazetta art almost everywhere. However, there’s still a great opportunity to speak to new generations with the power and emotion of his work that is never diminished.
Why are you issuing these deluxe portfolios with such expensive manufacturing?
We do have three edition versions of each of the books we are producing. Something, more-or-less for every level of interest and every budget. The expensive slipcase edition is part of the obligatory nature of comics and fantasy art these days (driven in no small part by Kickstarter bonuses and exclusives) where you just have to have the super fancy deluxe limited edition version. And unlike some of the traditional extras of regular book publishing such as slipcases, clamshell boxes, leather bindings, edge decoration, etc., the comics and fantasy world seems to thrive on more elaborate decorations. Some of it is even technology driven. With us, the lenticular limitation page and the medallion [on the cover] are items that can be produced now in small quantities at semi-reasonable prices and they are unique.
The post The Daily Heller: Frank Frazetta, the Norman Rockwell of Horror appeared first on PRINT Magazine.