Image: Imaged by HA
The Frank Frazetta Conan novel cover Man Ape painting hammered at $13.5 million at a recent Heritage Comic Art Signature Auction on September 12, 2025.
The Man Ape image was painted by Frazetta in 1966 and used as the cover for Conan on the 1967 Lancer/Ace books reprints. The painting is among the most desirable for Frazetta fans because it depicts Conan ambushing a humanoid ape, one of the classic enemies of the Cimmerian, in a scene from the Rogues in the House story. It also is a good example of how Frazetta created movement in painted images by juxtaposing characters in the piece.
The $13.5 million sale price makes this the most expensive Frazetta painting ever sold. The second highest sale of a Frazetta work was Dark Kingdom, which sold for $6 million in 2023, and the third highest was Egyptian Queen in 2019 (see “Frank Frazetta’s ‘Egyptian Queen’ On the Block“). Other notable sales include Death Dealer in 2018 at $1.79 million (see “Original Art Records Set”) and A Princess of Mars at $1.2 million (see “Frazetta Painting“).
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Source: ICv2
