molly hatchethard rock
23:54 Saturday, 1 July 2023
According to a report from Ultimate Classic Rock, "Dark Kingdom," the iconic Frank Frazetta painting that served as the cover of Molly Hatchet's 1979 album, Flirtin' With Disaster, sold at Heritage Auctions last week for a record $6 million US.
Flirtin' With Disaster was a high-water mark of Southern hard rock and a milestone for the band, ranking as their bestselling LP with US sales exceeding $2 million. Songs like the title track and "Whiskey Man" are mainstays in the band's catalogue, but part of the LP's success is attributed to Frazetta's masterful artwork, which depicts a heavily armored warrior standing on a pile of bones.
Although the piece is most commonly associated with Molly Hatchet, "Dark Kingdom" first served as the cover of Karl Edward Wagner's 1976 novel Dark Crusade. The $6 million sale price is the highest of the fantasy art genre and Frazetta's catalogue, surpassing his former record-holder, "Egyptian Queen," which fetched $5.4 million at a 2019 auction. Other Frazetta works to command seven-figure sums include "Death Dealer VI" ($1.79 million in 2018), "A Princess of Mars" ($1.2 million in 2020) and "At the Earth's Core" ($1.075 million in 2016).
Read the complete report here.
