Masterpieces of Fantasy Art - 45th Edition

Featuring Julie Bell, Philippe Druillet, Frank Frazetta, H.R. Giger, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Rowena Morrill, and Boris Vallejo, among many others.

This book combines original paintings with preparatory sketches, sculptures, calendars, magazines, and paperback books for an immersive dive into this dynamic, fanciful genre.

MYTH, MUSCLE, AND SEXY MAIDENS

Fantasy art blends mythology, muscular figures, and sensual imagery. The genre took off in 1923 with the launch of Weird Tales magazine and was reinvigorated in the 1960s by The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers, and the emergence of fantasy psychedelia in the late 1960s.

Its audience expanded in the 1970s through the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, the French magazine Métal Hurlant, and the first Star Wars film. The number of active artists peaked during that decade, while fantasy trading card games introduced a new generation of fans to the genre in the 1990s.

Frank Frazetta’s oil paintings appear on the market infrequently and have sold for more than $5 million. Fans attend Comic-Cons to meet artists including Boris Vallejo, Rodney Matthews, Greg Hildebrandt, Michael Whelan, and Philippe Druillet, while commemorating figures including H.R. Giger, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, and Frazetta.

Masterpieces of Fantasy Art presents original paintings alongside preparatory sketches, sculptures, calendars, magazines, and paperback books. Artist biographies provide context for the work and examine the lives behind it.

BOOK DETAILS

FORMAT: hardcover
EDITION: 45th edition; multilingual (English, French, German)
DIMENSIONS: 6.1 × 8.5 in.
WEIGHT: 2.54 lb
PAGES: 512
ISBN: 978-3-8365-9362-5

ABOUT THE EDITOR AND AUTHOR

Dian Hanson is a senior editor and writer for TASCHEN, with more than 50 books to her credit. Her work includes Hal Foster’s Tarzan, ARNOLD, The Art of Pin-up, Masterpieces of Fantasy Art, and The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta.