Great vintage science fiction art up for auction - Frazetta, Wally Wood, Virgil Finlay

Heritage Auctions is auctioning off the Jerry Weist Collection of Science Fiction and Fantasy Art and Books on September 11 in Beverly Hills. Some amazing pieces of art and artifacts are being offered.

This 1966 Frank Frazetta painting from a Ray Bradbury paperback book cover is estimated at $40,000-$60,000. I have a feeling it will go for much more than that, even though it doesn't feature one of Frazetta's trademark curvaceous woman brandishing a spear or zap gun.

Only 200 copies of Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 were printed with an asbestos cover. What lucky future mesothelioma victim is going to get this copy, signed by the author? Opening bid is $3000.

A terrific 1929 painting for the cover of Science Wonder Stories by Frank R Paul (“the undisputed king of the pulp artists” – Arthur C Clarke) featuring a crew of proto-Katamari Damaci miners is estimated to go for between $15,000 and $20,000.

When I came across a beat up copy of Dune featuring John Schoenherr's evocative 1965 paperback cover at Nevin Platt junior high school in Boulder, Colorado, I checked it out immediately. I hated the book (so shoot me) but this cover still feels magical decades after seeing it the first time. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000.

What kind of savage wouldn't want a complete 8-page story by the inimitable Wally Wood? According to the catalog it's "a "reworked 8-page version of the Weird Science #6 classic, 'The Spawn of Venus,'slated for a never-published third issue. The art is rendered on Craftint art paper as well as multiple pieces of acetate, each piece representing a 'level' of art. The pieces were then stacked together, with eye-popping results -- the 3-D effect is striking. Unlike the previous issues, this story was actually rendered in six levels of depth, rather than the previous standard of four levels. This science fiction masterwork finally saw print in Wally Wood's own prozine, Witzend #6 in 1969."

2011 September Beverly Hills Signature Jerry Weist Collection of Science Fiction & Fantasy Art and Books Auction - Beverly Hills, CA.

• [Lobster]

  The guy in that Frazetta painting has a nice space-stick.  Did it come from a space-tree?

  • [Antinous / Moderator]

    The guy in that Frazetta painting has a nice space-stick.

    Nothing wrong with a big stick, but that popped collar is a deal killer.

• [David Pescovitz]

  He has a bum foot so I’m glad he found a space-stick to use as a cane. I really dig the creatures and also the nonchalant look on the guy’s face. Frazetta was really so damn good. 

  • [ahmacrom]

    I love the story about the Disney trained artists working on Fire and Ice freaking out that FRANK was coming by to check out the animation department. He has no equal.

    • [William Joseph Dunn]

      …and one of the background painters on “Fire and Ice” was the “Painter of Light” himself Thomas Kinkade. YIKES! So that movie has both one of my favorite painters as well as my least favorite painter involved with it.

• [irksome]

  They may not be curvaceous but where they come from, baring your spotted shoulders is considered very provocative.

• [Teirhan]

  I’ve been telling my girlfriend for months that i didn’t want cheesy sci fi / fantasy pop art on the walls of any shared abode we may occupy.

  if letting her put a mass effect made-for-collectors cel on the wall is what it took to let me hang that frazetta poster, though, man, I’d be there in a heartbeat.

• [Trent Hawkins]

  is that Katamari Damacy?

• [Hal Work]

  I was at the Worldcon where the Schoenherr painting sold for about $200.  I bought a Kelly Freas Analog illustration done in oil for $17.

• [pKp]

  Oh. My. God. I’d sell a kidney in a heartbeat for that abestos-bound Farenheit 451. Seriously, I’m even considering bidding, and I can barely afford to eat this month. Why would you do this to me, BB ?

• [townandgownie]

  Perfectly safe assuming the fibers are bound up in the material. I probably would vacuum seal the book to keep the cover from damage but unless significant fiber release happens and you inhale it, asbestos still doesn’t hurt you from just touching it.

  • [Teirhan]

    in 2006 when I started college, all the pipes in my freshman dorm were still asbestos insulated.  I guess the great state of Oregon decided the warning stickers were enough.  They were probably right, too.

  • [AngerMonkey]

    Yes, unless you are planning to grind the book up and snort it, the owner is probably safe. Or they might try to eat it and end up choking. That’s actually probably MORE likely…

  • [Joseph Francis]

    And if you ever need to sand your asbestos book wet it down first, and wear a mask.

• [Dicrel Seijin]

  Hmm, they don’t make covers like this anymore. I see far too many that are just abstract multicolor shapes and designs.

• [lecti]

  3rd panel is missing a katamari.