Frank Frazetta's preliminary pencil study for the cover of
Land of Terror by Edgar Rice Burroughs uses the curvature of the crocodile's body to give the composition a forceful left-to-right sweep. Ultimately though, this is not the approach used in the published version, which instead opts for the dramatic frontal view of the writhing crocodile.
Buying preliminary Frazetta pencil art can be tricky because there are fakes out there. Presumably, the provenance from an Illustration House sale in 2003 minimizes that particular risk. Nevertheless, the winning bid of $365 does not seem to be especially strong for a coveted Frazetta original.
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| Frank Frazetta, Study for Land of Terror cover |
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| Frank Frazetta, Land of Terror |
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| Frank Frazetta, Study for Land of Terror, eBay Listing |
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Hmm, looks suspect to my eye
ReplyDeleteThat concern may have impacted the sale price. The rendering of the forearms seems especially weak.
DeleteThis sketch is absolutely authentic. It was cut out of one of Frank's sketch books by either Alex of Alexander Galleries or Heritage Auctions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, ILikeArt. You seem very sure of this. Did you see it when it was still in the sketchbook?
DeleteI can't honestly say that I recall this exact sketch, as there are literally 100s of thumbnails of this quality that Frank did in his sketchbooks. However, I certainly handled the sketchbook this was in at the 1998(iirc)San Diego con at Alex Acevedo's booth which was set up across from mine. I have collected and dealt in Frazetta originals since 1988 and have owned over 100 and currently own over 30. That all being said, if you look at the image, this is clearly the bottom 1/2 of a full sheet from a sketchbook. The sketchbooks that Frank did nearly every prelim in particularly at this time in the 70s were in Marble notebooks, like the ones children used for school in the 70s that all had a distinct radius on the corner of the paper. The signature is absolutely Frank's, which Alex Acevedo had Frank sign every sketch in the sketchbooks he bought specifically so he could cut them up to sell. Add in the seller on eBay claimed they had an auction receipt from Illustration House and IH is one the oldest and most well known dealers of American Illustration art in the world, if true, this only further establishes the sketch's provenance. If you have any further questions about the authenticity of a Frazetta original, feel free to leave to ask. There are a lot of fakes out there, which I have identified for many collectors over the years and while I'd admit, my 'eye' can not discern authentic from 'maybe not' on the left handed drawings as there is too much missing from his mannerisms to tell, I believe most would consider myself an expert on Frazetta pre-left hand drawing. At least as close to an expert as one could be, I guess. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the reason I found your blog was while searching for a 'published' image of a Frazetta color comp for the 1st iteration of the PB cover of Land of Terror. As I don't believe the comp has ever been published in any 'official' book. I sold it to a friend about 6 years ago and was hoping I could find it published somewhere for him, just for this very reason, so that in the future when people like myself aren't around, there is not question about authenticity.
Thank you. As you seem to be an authority on Frazetta, feel free to identify yourself by name, if you feel comfortable doing so.
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