Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta - by J David Spurlock (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The New York Times said, "Frazetta helped define fantasy heroes like Conan, Tarzan and John Carter of Mars with signature images of strikingly fierce, hard-bodied heroes and bosomy, callipygian damsels" Frazetta took the sex and violence of the pulp fiction of his youth and added even more action, fantasy and potency, but rendered with a panache seldom seen outside of major works of Fine Art. Despite his fantastic subject matter, the quality of Frazetta's work has not only drawn comparisons to the most brilliant of illustrators, Maxfield Parrish, Frederic Remington, Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth but, even to the most brilliant of fine artists including Rembrandt and Michelangelo and, major Frazetta works sell for millions of dollars, breaking numerous records.

This innovator's work has not only inspired generations of artists, but also movies and directors including the Conan films, John Carter of Mars, the sensationally successful Lord of the Rings trilogy, Robert Rodriguez' films including From Dusk Till Dawn, Ralph Bakshi films, the epic, award-winning Game of Thrones series, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, Disney's animated Tarzan films, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and George Lucas' Star Wars series. The Forbes magazine article Schwarzenegger's Sargent led with the line, "Which artist helped make Arnold governor? Frank Frazetta, the Rembrandt of barbarians."

J. David Spurlock started crafting this book by reviving the original million-selling 1970s mass market art book, Fantastic Art of Frank Frazetta. But, he expanded and revised to include twice as many images and, presents them at a much larger coffee-table book size of 10.5 x 14.625"! The collection is brimming with both classic and previously unpublished works of the subjects Frazetta is best remembered for including barbarians, beasts, and buxom beauties. Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin said, "Though he bears only a passing resemblance to the Cimmerian as Robert E. Howard described him, Frazetta's covers of the Conan paperback collections became the definitive picture of the character... still is." Schwarzenegger said, "I have not been intimidated that often in my life. But when I looked at Frazetta's paintings, I tell you, it was intimidating." Game of Thrones, Conan and Aquaman film star Jason Momoa said, "I am a huge Frank Frazetta fan. Both of my parents are painters, so I'd known Frazetta's paintings, that's what I wanted to bring to life."

See the revolutionary art that helped inspire Schwarzenegger, Momoa, the Lord of the Rings films and Game of Thrones: FRAZETTA!

Review Quotes

"'Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta, ' an oversized coffee table book by J. David Spurlock... is pure joy. The book's glossy pages and size -- roughly 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 -- show off the beautiful work to best advantage. Each painting is accompanied by info nuggets... we fans slaver to know. Frazetta's work is often the pure distillation of some lizard brain emotion shared by all humans, arousing fear and wonder and desire all at once. Those feelings should be served now and then, and Frazetta's work is the perfect tour guide. This book is a fan's dream come true. Even the most practical of minds should find it irresistible." -- Tribune News Service - Nov 26, 2020

"The wonderful thing about this Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta book is its commitment not just to presenting quality reproductions of the paintings, but also to telling, visually, the history of the works, from the preliminary paintings to the images as so many encountered them on the covers of fantasy paperbacks."-- HEAVY METAL magazine

"Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta is clearly the best book Vanguard has done, in every way. A crown jewel of books. This is what the late Ballantines should have done from the beginning!" -- GEORGE BEAHM, New York Times bestselling author and Stephen King historian

"If you're a Frazetta fan (and who isn't?), Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta is a book you simply must add to your library, even if you have to adjust your shelf spacing to fit it in." -- PATRICK WILSHIRE, Director, IX Arts gallery & art exhibits

"Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta: Congratulations to J. David Spurlock on another masterpiece! David, Vanguard and the Frazetta Museum have outdone themselves and should be proud."--STEVE GEPPI - Founder, Geppi's Entertainment Museum

"There's a Great New Frazetta book, Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta"
-- RALPH BAKSHI - Outrageous film director of Spicy City, Cool World, Mighty Mouse, American Pop, Lord of the Rings, Wizards, Heavy Traffic, Fritz the Cat, The Rolling Stones' Harlem Shuffle, and collaborator with Frazetta on Fire and Ice

"I couldn't resist pulling an over-size hardback [Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta]. Seeing Frazetta's preliminary designs and habit of repainting or improving the original paintings sent to various publishers makes this book unique and of interest to artists. It should be reassuring that even the best is never satisfied with his work and capable of doing the same piece over. If you want to see Frazetta's art at a large size without necessarily pulling art prints, then this is a good option. Nine years after his death, Frazetta is still the benchmark to equal and even he tried to out-do himself."
-- Science Fiction Crowsnest (UK)