36. (Frazetta) Lion Queen colored pencil. (1960) Accomplished in colored pencil on 5.5 x 4 in. artists’ leaf. An early unqualified masterpiece, never published or seen. It has all the elements that would launch Frank into the eyes of the world. The signature is the smallest and most delicate that I’ve ever seen on an original. A little more history is called for:

The arc of a life is composed of many deliberate decisions and many moments of sheer serendipity that profoundly influence the ultimate outcomes within an individual’s life. Frank Frazetta has had a very long career in the art field and he has had many important moments within that sixty years. The decision to assist John Giunta and enter the comic book field and the decision to leave comics and join Al Capp as a ghost artist on
L’il Abner are but two examples of defining moments in his career that had long term implications. However, as I consider the long expanse of Frank’s career, there is one moment that stands out as absolutely critical. In the fall of 1960, Frank doesn’t remember the exact month, he retired to his studio after the family had gone to bed. The night was quiet and a bit cool. He made himself a cup of coffee and was ready to watch TV. He glanced at the chaos of his drawing table and noticed some colored pencils. Suddenly, he had an urge to draw. He grabbed the pencils and found a small, cheap notebook. He decided to put on some classical music. He left the studio, grabbed the coffee, and sat down on the far left side of his faux zebra skin sofa near to the light. He took a sip of coffee and started to dream. His mind opened and a torrent of images raced through his consciousness. He was alert and inspired. He started to draw. The images just jumped onto the paper. He conjured up different scenes…cowboys, cavemen fighting, a graceful nude, a prehistoric scene, a Masai warrior ritual, and a Tarzan-like image of a warrior delicately balanced in jungle foliage. He did another scene with a large-breasted totally nude Queen on her throne with lion and servant (this image has never been published). Frank remembers that these images appeared as if by magic. They were relentless in leaping out of his imagination. The art was flawless, beautifully colored, with elegant designs. All executed with color pencils. The blended tints are a foreshadowing of what would appear in his oils. Frank doesn’t recall if these drawings were done over the course of one or several nights. It doesn’t matter. Frank needed to draw these images. Something called to him and he responded. After all those years of picking up a check, raising a family, and drawing bigfoot comic characters for Al Capp, Frank needed to look inside of himself to see what was there. There was plenty! Frazetta had begun to dream again, the seed was planted; the real Frazetta was being reborn in those quiet evening hours. Bear in mind that Frazetta did very little personal creative work during his tenure with Al Capp. On two or three occasions h e did attend a life-drawing class with Al Williamson, Roy Krenkel, and others. This happened in 1957. He drew over a hundred drawings. Interesting work, but it pales in comparison to the creative work he did during 1944-1955. Roy Krenkel knew that Frank was wasting his talent by limiting himself to ghosting chores for Capp. Roy knew that there was greatness in Frank waiting to re-emerge. This little series of colored pencil drawings was the catalyst for Frank’s emergence. $10,000 - $15,000

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by Profiles in History
December 11, 2015 11:00 AM PST
26662 Agoura Rd
Calabasas, CA, US 91302

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $249,999 $10,000
$250,000 + $25,000