MASTERPIECES OF FANTASY ART

Sexy, sensual and otherworldly, Fantasy art is that colourful blend of myth, muscle and sexy maidens. It took off in 1923 with the launch of Weird Tales magazine, was reinvigorated in the 1960s with The Lord of the Rings, Conan the Barbarian paperbacks with Frank Frazetta covers, and the late ?60s emergence of fantasy psychedelia, went big in the ?70s with the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, the brilliant French magazine Métal Hurlant, and the first Star Wars film. Frank Frazetta?s oil paintings, when they infrequently come to market, have sold for more than $ 5 million in recent years. Fans line up at Comic-Cons to meet Boris Vallejo, Rodney Matthews, Greg Hildebrandt, Michael Whelan, and Philippe Druillet, and memorialize dead icons HR Giger, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, and Frazetta. Vallejo describes his fantasy life; Julie Bell The Visionary; space architect Druillet; the biomechanic Giger; the Brothers Hildebrandt, masters of light; Mcebius the psychedelic surrealist; Rowena Morrill the pioneer; Sanjulian the classicist; and Michael Whelan the realist. This heavyweight colour book features original paintings, contextualized by preparatory sketches, sculptures, calendars, magazines, and paperback books, insightful bios give an accurate and eye-opening look into the life and motivation and inspiration of each artist in this fanciful and dynamic genre. 15.6 x 21.7 cm, 512 pages. You can smell the colour!