So Taschen put out a massive "Masterpieces of Fantasy Art" book in 2020... and as they often do, they put out a mini version of the book (6.5" x 9" as opposed to the original's size of 12.9" x 18.6") --
The smaller one is $30 ($25 on Amazon) while the big dog has a cover price of $200, so the mini version is a lot better value. The mini version also lacks the supplemental section in the back with other fantasy artists listed and described, but I'm not sure if all the art is the same, but again -- you're paying far, far less. Here are the main artists covered (table of contents from the original book) --
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All that said, I don't know that I'm 100% thrilled with the choice of artists... and this book should be titled something like, "The Bronze Age of Fantasy Art" or "Fantasy Artists of the 60s, 70s, and 80s since that seems to be the main focus. I think the ones selected are fine, but I think there are some big names missing for a time like this, including some that should have gotten in over the ones presented -- if you're including comics artists like Moebius and Druillet, I think Richard Corben, Barry Smith, John Buscema, Bernie Wrightson, and Mike Ploog have an argument to be in there. Richard Corben at the least since he's from Heavy Metal as well and did some paperback covers to boot.
Interestingly, Taschen did a book with the same in 1991 and the list of artists were a bit different (and includes Corben!) --
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Anyway, any thoughts on the book? Anyone you think should have been included? Or perhaps included in a second volume if they were to ever do one?
The smaller one is $30 ($25 on Amazon) while the big dog has a cover price of $200, so the mini version is a lot better value. The mini version also lacks the supplemental section in the back with other fantasy artists listed and described, but I'm not sure if all the art is the same, but again -- you're paying far, far less. Here are the main artists covered (table of contents from the original book) --
All that said, I don't know that I'm 100% thrilled with the choice of artists... and this book should be titled something like, "The Bronze Age of Fantasy Art" or "Fantasy Artists of the 60s, 70s, and 80s since that seems to be the main focus. I think the ones selected are fine, but I think there are some big names missing for a time like this, including some that should have gotten in over the ones presented -- if you're including comics artists like Moebius and Druillet, I think Richard Corben, Barry Smith, John Buscema, Bernie Wrightson, and Mike Ploog have an argument to be in there. Richard Corben at the least since he's from Heavy Metal as well and did some paperback covers to boot.
Interestingly, Taschen did a book with the same in 1991 and the list of artists were a bit different (and includes Corben!) --
Anyway, any thoughts on the book? Anyone you think should have been included? Or perhaps included in a second volume if they were to ever do one?
statistics: Posted by Hanzo the Razor — 3:53 PM - Today — Replies 5 — Views 122