May - June 2001 | See Past News

Dear Friends,

Drawing of the Frazetta Museum

As the sun rose above the surrounding hills of the Frazetta estate, the tone was set for a beautiful day in the Poconos. With the temperature in the seventies and low humidity the gates opened early for our guests. As they were welcomed at the main entrance by security guards and members of Cinimachine, everyone received a small poster of the upcoming film biography to be released this fall.

Members of the Frazetta family at Gallery greeted friends and fans from all parts of the United States and Europe. Many guests walked about the estate and around the lake as they absorbed the serene setting. Beverage and Hors-d-ourvers ere made available for our patrons at the large tent erected for the dining area. Mrs. Frazetta graciously opened the museum prior to the scheduled time for fans to savor the original artwork. Many first time visitors to the Frazetta museum were overwhelmed by the original art. “ I was amazed at the little details in Mr. Frazetta’s originals that is lost in print. In some paintings you an actually see the underlying pencil lines. In other the subtle pinks, greens and hi-lights of the painted skin tones made my mouth drop, literally. The very thin brush strokes in both the oil paintings and in the pen and inks are incredible.” “I was truly blown away by the originals” expressed one of our guests. Another patron also wrote “ Once you take that left turn and see the gargoyle on the stone pillar that says “museum,” you have left the real world and entered something you may have imagined in a fantastical daydream. The Frazetta estate is a surreal, sprawling wonderland with a lake a wrought iron benches to compliment the totally green surrounds. 

The beautiful 77 acre Frazetta estate

The sense of family is strong when you see the homes of all the Frazetta’s just a stones throw away from each other. Then you see Frank Frazetta and wish you had a brush stroke of genius and think how the stuff he paints seems to express your innermost sense of art. Once you have entered the museum you are not prepared to see every single original of every single famous painting ever created and you are struck numb by the sheer awesome overwhelming thought that this is everything baby!!! The Frazetta’s know how to treat their friends and admirers with first class treatment all the way. I must have said it a dozen times that day, I never realized the 3 dimensional qualities his oils possessed. The Cat Girl was so green and the paint seemed to be growing right out of the trees behind her. Frank gave little personal tours in the evening, but what do you say to someone famous you are meeting for the first time without sounding …well…dumb? So I said, “Mr. Frazetta, Do you ever touch up any of the faded or cracking paintings?” He took me by the arm and said “Oh, yeah if it needs it – Like the Dark King – on his knee-right?” and I said “Yes, exactly”, come on, he said and he led me over to the Dark Kingdom to take a closer look. “Yeah, I’’ just push some paint in there, “ he said. Then asked me to touch the painting. “What? No, I couldn’t touch it” I said, “No, I want you to touch it” Frank said, “ I want to see if the alarm goes off!” “Ok” I said – I mean here I had permission to touch a million dollar painting – so I did – but the alarm did not go off. We looked at each other and shared a laugh. “Thanks” I said to him and then he was off showing some else the magic only he can command. I was so full of the perfect day and so glad I attended. I will never forget what a wonderful experience I had.”

As the guests enjoyed sharing thoughts of their personal experience with Frank’s artwork with each other, soft music filled the background as a 3 piece wood ensemble was hired for their listing pleasure. Around 2:30 Frank was led out of his home by his elder son Frank. An immediate round of applause ensued. Frank Jr. and friend Dave Winiewicz escorted him to the large steel gate guarding the museum entrance. Frank was handed a pair of scissors to cut the ribbon wrapping the entrance doors.

As Frank opened the huge wooden doors, his son Frank escorted him in. We had plans after my father cut the ribbon, but the large crowd soon dictated us as they followed us in and formed a line wrapping around the interior of the museum. My original plans immediately soon changed from photo shoot with Frank at 3:45 to NOW! It was wonderful to see all the joy on our guest faces as my father greeted them. Everyone was very gracious and thankful for all the pleasure and inspiration he gave them personally. As we shook hands the guests took photos with my father, he also answered all the questions that was asked over the course of an hour and a half. It was an enjoyable site for all whom attended.

Frank opens gifts

Following a toast, everyone enjoyed the wonderful food that was catered by a local establishment. Stuffed shrimp, pasta and roast beef were among the wide variety of delicious foods available. Then following the main course an array of Italian pastries were brought to put the finishing touched on a perfect dinner. The open bar continued to serve drinks through the remainder of the evening. I was so busy talking with many of the fans I never had a chance to taste any of the food during the course of the day. I did manage to sneak in a few cream puffs and éclairs to get me through the night. I had the pleasure of speaking with my Dad’s school friends Nick Meglin and Angelo Torres again, I saw them last when we went to Coney Island in August of 2000. They are always a delight to listen to, especially Nick. I met with Ralph Bakahi for a moment and listened in on some of the stories pertaining to the movie auditioning for Fire and Ice. Oh how they took their sweet time to choose the right girl to play the main roll of Tegra. I spoke with Mike Kaluta for an hour and enjoyed some wonderful stress form my Dad’s past that I had never heard before. Hickman, Jusko and Blair were amount other fellow artists whom attended. During the dinner ceremony, Mrs. Frazetta closed the museum and brought out 25 more rare original oils just so the crowd could be re-energized once again. A wonderful touch to the festivities. Once again everyone scrambled back in to see the magnificent oils that had just been framed prior to the grand opening. Most guests were still in awe from the first showing and now had an additional viewing of the more rare Frazetta oils.

All guest received a collectable Champagne glass inscribed in gold ink “Frazetta Grand Opening 2001” Only 150 of these were produced just for this event. At a later date, all paid attendees will receive a 20-page memory book with all the guests’ names inside the cover. There will be many photos that were taken throughout the day and some lucky fans will see themselves in the photos. Each book will be sealed, numbered and initialed by Frank Frazetta. I hope to have this ready by late October.

The official activates came to an end around 8pm. Everyone slowly walked to their cars and off into the sunset, emotionally drained and aesthetically saturated. The entire Frazetta family brought off a completely first class event that thrilled everyone. The Frazetta’s also want to thank each and every individual in attendance for his or her personal touch in making Mr. Frazetta’s day a memorable one. He enjoyed the day as much as everyone.

Premier members can hear live audio of the ribbon cutting and toast in the embers section along with viewing many of the oil painting brought out after dinner by Mrs. Frazetta.