Legendary science fiction and fantasy artist Frank Frazetta (1928–2010) just smashed his own record for the most expensive work of comic book or fantasy art with a $13.5 million sale of a painting of Conan the Barbarian at Heritage Auctions in Dallas last week.

The 1966 oil-on-canvas painting, informally known as “Man Ape,” was used the following year for the cover of a new paperback edition of seven Conan short stories, simply titled Conan. The fictional hero was created by Robert E. Howard in 1931, in a series of tales originally published in pulp magazines.

Frazetta’s illustrations for the covers of eight of the 12 Conan books in the Lancer/Ace paperback series helped define the image of Conan, and ignite a resurgence in popularity for the character. He would go on to star in his own Marvel Comics series, and be played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.

“Frazetta didn’t just illustrate Conan—he transformed him into an icon. This result is a testament to the power and permanence of his vision and to the unmatched reverence collectors have for his work,” Todd Hignite, Heritage’s executive vice president, said in a statement, calling the work “one of the most important paintings in the history of fantasy art ever to come to auction.”

Frank Frazetta, Egyptian Queen (1969). This painting set the auction record for the most expensive original work of comic art with a $5.4 million sale in 2019. Courtesy of Frank Frazetta from TASCHEN’s Masterpieces of Fantasy Art.

What Is the Appeal of Fantasy Art?

Historically, fantasy art has struggled to find its footing in the fine art market, held back by perceptions of it as kitschy or, worse, overly sexualized, thanks to its scantily clad maidens and muscled warriors.

But Frazetta’s paintings have transcended those barriers in recent years, with a string of ever-escalating prices proving his work’s desirability. He set the comic book and fantasy art world record in May 2019, with the $5.4 million sale of Egyptian Queen, also at Heritage.

The painting was one of the many historic fantasy illustrations that featured in Masterpieces of Fantasy Art, a monumental coffee table book from Taschen celebrating the genre released in 2020. (Another Frazetta masterpiece, A Princess of Mars, featured on the cover, and sold for $1.2 million at Heritage that same year.)

Frank Frazetta, Dark Kingdom (1976). Courtesy Heritage Auctions, HA.com.

Frazetta then shattered his own record two years ago, when Heritage sold Dark Kingdom (1976) in June 2023 for $6 million.

His appeal also isn’t limited to his canvases. In June, a 1954 comic book pen-and-ink drawing by the artist, Famous Funnies No. 214 Buck Rogers Original Cover Art, showing the title character flying through space, fetched just over $1 million, also at Heritage.

And while institutional recognition may currently lag behind the growing market buzz, Frazetta stands to be one of the stars of the eagerly awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, featuring the art and movie memorabilia collection of filmmaker George Lucas.

Frank Frazetta, Famous Funnies No. 214 Buck Rogers Original Cover Art (Eastern Color, 1954). Photo: courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas.

Who Was the Man Ape? 

To bring the Conan stories to a new audience, Lancer Books hired Frazetta, a comic book artist turned illustrator. (He would win the coveted Hugo Award for best professional artist that year.) For the very first cover in the series, Frazetta illustrated a scene from the story “Rogues in the House,” where Conan meets the man-ape Thak.

It’s a dramatic image, filled with tension, Conan baring his teeth and brandishing a small sword as he faces down the fearsome beast. It’s a dark scene, set in the shadows, with only a swirling bright red cape lending a pop of color to the composition.

Hignite called it “not just a masterwork of draftsmanship and color but the very matrix from which so much of Conan’s modern mythos was born.”

Frank Frazetta, Queen Kong for Eerie #81 (1977). The painting sold for $1.09 million on September 12. Photo: courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas.

The Man Ape painting was sold by the artist’s family in a single-lot in-person sale on September 12 as part of Heritage’s three-day Comic Art summer event. The same day, in the “Comic Art Signature Auction #7436,” Frazetta’s 1977 painting Queen Kong, done for the cover of the 81st issue of comic horror magazine Eerie, also sold, for $1.09 million.

“Our family is beyond thrilled with this incredible result—and the most gratifying aspect is knowing without a doubt how proud my dad would have been,” Frazetta’s daughter, Holly Frazetta, said in a statement, thanking Heritage for helping the family in this mission of “continuing to expose new generations of fans to Frank’s fantastic artwork.”