Renato Fratini

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original work, acrylic on board, c1967

Dennis Wheatley’s apocalyptic novel sets a personal story against a worldwide, cataclysmic event. Distilling a meteor-strike to blood red scenes of panic behind the protagonists, Fratini’s illustration is a masterclass in minimalist energy. Even the brush-strokes work for the composition, leading the eye from the sky down. 

The original painting art board is approximately 35 cm wide x 55 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original work, acrylic on board, c.1965

This cover for Josephine Bell’s 1965 novel A Flat Tyre in Fulham shows layering unusual in Fratini’s work and its combined use of paint and pencil work is also a departure from his usual techniques. Englishness is captured in a staid, almost rectilinear composition and subdued colour, unlike the dramatic poses and bold colour usual in his other work. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 54 cm tall. 

c.1967, gouache on board, 54cm x 46cm

Fratini produced a number of options for Mickey Spillane’s second novel in the Tiger Mann, secret agent, series; this is the option that was selected for publication by Corgi Crime Books. Another version which did not make the final cut is also exhibited here.  The character of Tiger Mann was believed to have been created by Spillane to compete with the popularity of James Bond.

The original artwork is sold with an original copy of the Bloody Sunrise paperback featuring the Renato Fratini illustration. 

Lever Gallery Print Edition

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper Size 42cm x 29.7cm

Original artwork; c.1967, gouache on board

Fratini produced a number of options for for Mickey Spillane’s Tiger Man novel; this is an option that didn’t make the final cut. Fratini used cool colours, perhaps to offset with the book’s graphics, whereas the final version was backed by red.   A different interpretation of the brief, perhaps influenced by the book’s title.

The original painting art board is approximately 35 cm wide x 47 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1967, acrylic on board,  40 cm wide x 34 cm tall

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

The artwork is sold with an original Fear is the Key paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original work; 1967, acrylic on board

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Renato Fratini, Freedom Observed, 1965, acrylic on board

Fontana Books published Gwyn Griffin’s novel, Freedom Observed, in 1965. Set in a fictional West African Republic about a United Nations observer who finds love amidst a gruelling conflict.  The gory narrative is represented in dark reds and browns, enlivened only by the pink blouse of the protagonist.

This artwork is sold with a copy of an original Freedom Observed paperback featuring the Fratini artwork. 

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

Original painting; acrylic on board, 1965

Fontana Books published Gwyn Griffin’s novel, Freedom Observed, in 1965. Set in a fictional West African Republic about a United Nations observer who finds love amidst a gruelling conflict.  The gory narrative is represented in dark reds and browns, enlivened only by the pink blouse of the protagonist. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. 

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

1967, gouache on board, 56cm X 81cm

Cover illustration commissioned by Corgi for a Mickey Spillane novel first published in 1965.  The “pulpiest” of all pulp fiction writers, Spillane clearly hit on a formula that worked.  His books have sold more than 225 million copies worldwide and seven of his books feature in the 15 bestselling books of all time in America.  Eye-catching cover illustrations were critical to the sales strategy of moving large quantities of books off shelves quickly and, as a result, illustrators had extraordinary impact.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting; acrylic on board, 1964

Kingsblood Royal, written by Sinclair Lewis in 1947, was published by Consul Books in 1964. Fratini’s cover illustration as used presents classic pulp-fiction conceits in muted colours with a couple embracing on a bed. Note the original has more black background, cropped out for the cover.

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1964, acrylic on board

Kingsblood Royal, written by Sinclair Lewis in 1947, was published by Consul Books in 1964. Fratini’s cover illustration as used presents classic pulp-fiction conceits in muted colours with a couple embracing on a bed. Note the original has more black background, cropped out for the cover.

The artwork is sold with an original Kingsblood Royal paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Prints

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Background

For the 1964 Fontana edition of Alistair MacLean’s 1959 novel Night without End, Fratini captures the conflict of two men trapped on the ice after a crash-landing. It appears to depict a fight to the death, the eventual victim painted in aggressive red and bearing a gun.

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

The original painting art board is approximately 45 cm wide x 33 cm tall. 

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

1964, acrylic on board

For the 1964 Fontana edition of Alistair MacLean’s 1959 novel Night without End, Fratini captures the conflict of two men trapped on the ice after a crash-landing. It appears to depict a fight to the death, the eventual victim painted in aggressive red and bearing a gun.

The original painting art board is approximately 45 cm wide x 33 cm tall. 

This artwork is sold with a copy of an original Night Without End paperback featuring the Fratini artwork. 

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42 cm X 29.7 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original artwork; 1967, acrylic on board

The cover for this Corgi Crime 1967 publication of Mickey Spillane’s novel, features quintessential Fratini.  A couple, a struggle, a gun; cheekily posed and skilfully painted with emphasis.  The groovy, colour-soaked fashion nods to the next decade.

The original painting art board is approximately 30 cm wide x 38 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Renato Fratini, South by Java Head - Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.comL

Original painting, acrylic on board,1969 

In Fontana Books’ 1969 version of Alistair MacLean’s novel, Fratini’s cover illustration is characteristically minimalistic.  His layered approach still explodes from the page in hot colours and jagged, dramatic poses. The original painting art board is approximately 55 cm wide x 81 cm tall.