Sanjulian: Master of Fantasy Art

Sanjulian: Master of Fantasy Art
Steve Morger / Big Wow! Art
March 2019

Sanjulian: Master of Fantasy Art was Kickstarted by Steve Morger back in 2018, and the limited number of copies produced when it was published back in March evaporated seemingly overnight.

I was fortunate to pick up a copy from Stuart Ng Books in California. The book is now only available from those early purchasers who are willing to part with their copies (which seems unlikely). 

This book fills an unfortunate gap: for an artist who is one of the best-known figures in fantasy illustration, there is a real dearth of art books devoted to Sanjulian.

In 2001 publisher SQP released a 72-page trade paperback, titled Sanjulian: Master Visionary, that primarily covered the artist's black-and-white artwork.

According to the Tebeosfera website, Big Wow! previously published a book of Sanjulian art in 2008, but I could find very little information about it.

In 2014 Underwood Books published a collection of Sanjulian's 'barbarian' artwork, but at 48 pages, Sword's Edge: Paintings Inspired by the Works of Robert E. Howard could do little more than give but the briefest glimpse of the artist's catalog.

So, this 2019 edition from Big Wow! stands as the definitive collection of Sanjulian art. At 9 x 12" and 312 pages, the trade paperback edition is a well-made book, with thick paper stock and good-quality reproductions of the artwork.

Sanjulian, the pseudonym of the Spanish artist Manuel Pérez Clemente (b. 1941), is of course very well known to anyone who read fantasy, sci-fi, and horror paperbacks and magazines over the span of decades from the 60s to the present day (Sanjulian continues to do some commercial art work, but primarily produces commissioned pieces for collectors).

This book is an overview of his commercial and studio art over this five-decade span of time. It's organized by subject matter, with chapters devoted to depictions of characters from film and televsion, classic Monsters, Pop Culture icons, barbarians, chain-mail-bikini chicks, Vampirella, and femme fatales.

Many of the pieces showcased in Sanjulian: Master of Fantasy Art are commissioned works done in the past 10 years for collectors of fantasy and sci-fi art. While these pieces are impressive in the sense of fulfilling the dreams of affluent Fanboys, I was hoping for a greater inclusion of Sanjulian's works for the magazine and paperback markets of the 70s and 80s. It may be that Morger had difficulties in securing the rights to reproduce these works (it appears that Sanjulian did not retain the original art he did for many of these commercial assignments).

One thing that emerges from the book is Sanjulian's versatility. His paintings for the covers of Western novels show his skill in rendering that genre:

The (unfortunately) few studio art pieces showcased in the book demonstrate his skill at traditional portraiture:

Summing up, in the absence of any further printings, I suspect that any copies of Sanjulian: Master of Fantasy Art that ever come up for sale are going to have very dear asking prices. If you are a fan of Sanjulian's art, your best hopes probably revolve around the possibility that a major publisher like Titan Comics, or Dark Horse Books, or Schiffer will elect to release an edition of this book for wider distribution.