Frank Frazetta Masterpiece Sold for a World Record $1+ Million by Heritage Auctions

At The Earth's Core tops day two of Comics & Comic Art Auction in Dallas

DALLAS — At The Earth's Core, a 1974 masterpiece by Frank Frazetta, sold for $1,075,500 during day two of Heritage Auction's summer Comics & Comic Art Auction in Dallas — setting a world auction record for the hugely popular artist. The important illustration was used for the cover of the first Pellucidar paperback novel by the legendary writer, Edgar Rice Burroughs.

"Heritage has a strong reputation of getting top dollar for Frazetta artworks, and this painting surpassed our previous record by more than double its auction price," said Todd Hignite, Vice President of Heritage Auctions. "We expected strong interest, partly because At The Earth's Core is significantly larger than virtually every painting we've ever auctioned by the artist."

The 21-inch by 29-inch oil on canvas hung in the Frazetta Museum for many years. His powerful paintings appeared on book covers every year from 1963 through 1996, however At The Earth's Core stands out as an enduring classic image of Frazetta's work. The meticulous attention to detail in both the foreground and the background tell an entire story in one image – a talent the master of modern fantasy art did better than anyone else.

"If you are a collector of Mr. Frazetta's vision and talent, this is the painting to have," Hignite said. "It represents everything he did so well, from painting the female form to depicting realistic monsters and cliffhanger scenarios."

Just two days into Heritage Auctions' three-day Comics & Comic Art Auction has resulted in more than $6.6 million, including $956,000 for a copy of Action Comics #1 - the 1938 debut of Superman - and $191,200 for Bernie Wrightson's 1972 original cover art for Swamp Thing #1.



Hi-Res images available:
Eric Bradley, Public Relations Associate
214-409-1871; EricB@HA.com