Frank Frazetta "Warrior with Ball and Chain" attributed 1973
16'x19" oil painting on canvas board
Sold for $150,000 USD in the 2010 May Illustration Art Auction from Heritage Auctions.
This image was originally used as the cover for the anthology paperback "Flashing Swords #1" from 1974 (erroneously attributed as 'Flashing Swords #2' in the Frazetta Legacy book put out by Underwood in 1999). (The hardcover versions of Flashing Swords #1 and #2, printed in 1973, featured other Frazetta paintings not used in the paperback editions, which bolsters the claim by Ellie Frazetta that the collectibility of the Frazetta cover art alone created sales for publishers, and was an intended effect when commissioning Frazetta cover art.)
Frazetta's color usage in this image for Flashing Swords #1 (Paperback) is a throwback to Frazetta's efforts from the 1960s, versus the more controlled color of, for example, "Death Dealer" which appeared as the cover for Flashing Swords #2, also in 1974.
Interesting note about Frazetta's muscle distortion: the warrior in the artwork has a five row abdominal mass (which is accurate, though that number of rolls should not all appear above the belt line), but Frazetta's placement is at odds to actual male anatomy, for example, the belly button should be situated into the third roll down. In the painting, it is placed into the fifth.
More Frank Frazetta
Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta Hardcover – July 21, 2020
by J David Spurlock (Author), Frank Frazetta Jr. (Afterword)
Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta - AMAZON
Telling Stories: The Comic Art Of Frank Frazetta-Hardback - AMAZON
Frazetta: The Definitive Reference - Amazon
Frazetta Sketchbook (vol II) (Vanguard Frazetta Classics) - Amazon
Conan the Phenomenon - Dark Horse Conan historian Paul Sammon looks at all the stages of the character's development, with commentary and archival material from the most integral players in that history, in this must-have book for anyone who's followed the barbarian through any of his incarnations.
Frazetta - Painting with Fire by Eleanor Frazetta - documentary - AMAZON
Frank Frazetta - Fire and Ice (Two-Disc Limited Edition) - AMAZON
Harcover Collection: Legacy by Frank Frazetta - AMAZON
Orginal page June 6, 2010