Frazetta break-in update
Continuing from our earlier article: Frank Frazetta’s son breaks into father’s museum using backhoe, attempts to take $20 million in paintings
See this? It’s Frank Frazetta’s “Berserker”, used as the cover to Conan The Conqueror. It hung in the Frazetta Museum for ten years until about a month ago, when it was sold to a private collector for one million dollars.
That link is interesting, because it also mentions that Frazetta contradicted himself at times… so if he told his son to get the art and then later said he didn’t, well… that could put his son’s words in a new light.
Heidi MacDonald has been doing great work on this story, and she adds a connection I didn’t make: one of the people who assisted in the break-in was Kevin Clement, who lived next door to the Frazetta museum. Clement is a familiar figure to east coast fantasy fans are the organizer of the Chiller Theatre Expo horror conventions held twice a year in New Jersey. Clement, it is important to note, has not been charged with any crimes.
She also reports:
Over the years Frank Frazetta Sr. has held on to his artwork,
refusing huge sums to sell such iconic works as his Conan covers.
However, after Ellie’s death, Frazetta’s three other children, Heidi,
Holly and Bill retained art dealers Robert Pistella and Steve Ferzoco
to start handling the artwork, licensing and other business matters.
The two formed Frazetta Management Corp. and the way Frazetta’s art was
being handled began to change — in November for the first time one of his legendary Conan covers was sold for $1 million. Not chump change and just the beginning of a likely goldmine.It’s not exactly a secret that there are a lot of legal questions regarding Frazetta’s iconic artwork — the Frazettas had a legal entanglement
with David Spurlock/Vanguard productions, for instance. With mentions
of a family lawsuit, and other infighting it’s clear that just how to
run the family business has become a matter of contention to the point
where a backhoe was brought in.
This story is just getting started, I think.
So let me ask all the creators who are reading this: have you updated your will yet? How about your power of attorney? When writer John M. Ford died, Neil Gaiman was extra saddened to discover that his good friend and favorite writer had not made out a will to deal with his literary estate. So he went and commissioned a simple boilerplate will that anyone could use so no one would have to suffer this grief and creators’ works would be handled the way the creators would want.
This whole thing is terrible. As a huge Conan fan for virtually my whole life, Frank Frazetta's art has always held alot of magic for me. That it's become the cause of these events is very sad.
It has been my ambition to visit the Frazetta Museum so I made arrangements to visit this year. Then I heard of Mrs Frazettas death and several months later the incident with Frank Jr and just now the sale of art work. Needless to say, I am disappointed. However, I am inclined to believe in Frank Jrs story and not his siblings. So much for keeping the collection together as promised. Frank Sr, if you can read this please keep your legacy intact and find a way to keep the museum open.
The hole ordeal is obsurb, and in the end the true story along with the live video and audio tapes will be shown to the fans to prove what a farse this has been for myself and more so my immediate family, wife and children. My father and I were as close as anyone, and the hole thing was a set up to mke me look bad and a cast out to take me out of power with the family business so the other thee can minipulate my dimencia father and sell off the artwork to live on their yacts and but new cars and motor homes.Just lok on face book to confirm what I am stating. I had to sell all my personal art I loved given from dad just to survive the past few years. I wont go further in this matter till I can with the lidagation. Thank you
PS, The back hoe was put there at the museum entrance earlier in the week to stop the other siblings from taking all te small water color art and pen and inls for their personal collection while dad was taken to Florida against his will. The locks were changed the day dad told me to get tge art the hell out of there and move it to a NY facility for safe guard. I accidently pressed doen on the hydryalics in the icy weather to hard and the door snapped off the hindge. All unintentional. the video will confirm my innocense.