Ok. So what are we to make of this? Homage or just filthy plagiarism? :P

Torb: I can't judge him for this because I've done the same, especially when I was just starting out. It does point out that in the age of the internet, nothing goes unnoticed.

I did a blog post reflecting on borrowing/ swiping / homages: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2007/09/borrowing-part-2.html

I deleted my earlier comment on this, because it sounded a bit too snipey.

I generally like and admire Frazetta. I am surprised, though, that his appropriation was so direct. It is, in my mind, a bit of a different situation (i.e. less of an issue), than if this figure had been the primary figure, or a more prominant part of the composition.

According to this article, "is actually still kept at the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs."

http://www.latribunedelart.com/le-musee-cache-de-la-republique-article002100.html

Torb,
"Quoting" a single figure was a perfectly acceptable practice of the classical tradition that Lecomte was a part of, provided it was part of an original "invention" and "disposition", as clearly it was in this case (i.e the overall compositions are very different). I think it's safe to assume Lecomte would be flattered.

I think "etc, etc" found it. Here is link to the article in english, towards the bottom of the page:

http://www.thearttribune.com/France-s-hidden-museum.html

It says:

"This painting, long thought to have disappeared (and noted as such in Roger Diederen’s study on Lecomte de Nouÿ – see article in French) is in fact still held at the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs."

I'm not sure why people are surprised by Frazetta's "inspired" approach. He reproduced and in many cases improved interpretations of Burroughs passages illustrated by J.Allen St. John and Roy Krenkel himself.

I think it speaks more to our desire to believe genius comes from within. That it can be pure but that's really impossible. We are the sum of our experiences.

He's as fallible as anyone else, but he did wonderful stuff to make us believe different.

=s=

As you probably remember too, Shane, Frank was pretty touchy about this sort of thing. I would never have brought it up with him, having discovered it, but I never thought any less of him for it. Now that he is gone, I figure he can't get mad at me for showing people... :)

jim --
as others have suggested above, why not contact the Ministry of Cultural Affairs directly, and ask them?
--
online contact form is here:
http://www.diplomatie.gov.tn/index.php?id=353&L=2

The painting used to hang in the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, when the Luxembourg existed as a separate museum with a permanent collection. Author Julien Green writes about it in volume 1 of his autobiography ("Green Paradise"; first published in French as "Partir avant le jour" in 1963). The painting made a huge impression on him.

Etc, Bill, Lyon, and J.R. -- Thanks for tracking it down the Lecomte. My interest in its whereabouts is only idle curiosity (and also I'd love to see a better reproduction of it). Maybe a scholar or someone preparing an art book will pick up the thread you've given here.

The article says the painting is "linked to the history of decolonization", so I'd bet there is some political machinations and stonewalling involved, and that explains the dearth of recent images. Looks like the Tunisians may have learned a thing or two from the French about art acquisition...sacre bleu!

Thanks for another remarkable post. Lecomte's painting has haunted me ever since I encountered it in Henry Rankin Poore's book on pictorial composition, where the name of the painting's creator is not mentioned. Frazetta's painting was hanging recently at the Society of Illustrators, side-by-side with a photo of the painting in its original state. As was his habit, he re-worked and improved it, years after it had served its original function as a piece of cover art.

Frazetta has always been one of my favorites and no less now. This is one of his best paintings.
I don't see it any different than a singer or band doing the occasional cover song. Their work still stands as their own.
Inspiration can come from many sources.

Dear James, always appreciating your skillful art and posts. La peinture de Lecomte est au Musée d'Orsay à Paris :)
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/notice.html?no_cache=1&nnumid=078173&cHash=3537b635ed
bonjour de Paris
Andrea

Huh, Andrea, it isn't: "Lieu de conservation:
ministère des Affaires culturelles, Tunis, Tunisie"
The Lecomte is still in Tunis! It never came back ...
Read this: http://www.latribunedelart.com/le-musee-cache-de-la-republique-article002100.html

here is a *better* pic: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/index-of-works/resultat-collection.html?no_cache=1&zoom=1&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bzoom%5D=0&tx_damzoom_pi1%5BxmlId%5D=078173&tx_damzoom_pi1%5Bback%5D=en%2Fcollections%2Findex-of-works%2Fresultat-collection.html%3Fno_cache%3D1%26zsz%3D9

Do best, no regret. It is said that wholesale oakley sunglasses is a good business, so I concern on oakley sunglasses 2012 and oakley sunglasses clearance.

A similar figure based on the second fallen male on the Lecomte can be found at the bottom left of Frazetta's kneeling Kublai Khan plate. http://tinyurl.com/czudoxl

In the Frazetta's documentary he didn't say with all letters that he never, ever used photography as reference? That he loved photography but it had nothing to do with his painting job?