Frank Kelly Freas (August 27, 1922 – January 2, 2005) was an American science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and he was the second artist inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.

Early life, education, and personal life

Born in

Hornell, New York Hornell is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early set ...

, Freas (pronounced like "freeze") was the son of two photographers, and was raised in Canada. He was educated at Lafayette High School in Buffalo, where he received training from long-time art teacher Elizabeth Weiffenbach. He entered the United States Army Air Forces right out of high school ( Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada). He flew as camera man for reconnaissance in the South Pacific and painted bomber noses during World War II. He then worked for Curtiss-Wright for a brief period, then went to study at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and began to work in advertising. His first marriage was in 1948 to Nina Vaccaro, though they later divorced. He later married Pauline (Polly) Bussard in 1952; they had two children, Jacqui and Jerry. Polly died of cancer in January 1987. In 1988 he married (and is survived by) Dr. Laura Brodian.

Career

Freas began his work as a commercial artist in the late 1940s, mostly for television. His goal was to become a science fiction artist. Weird Tales November 1950

The fantasy magazine '' Weird Tales'' published the first cover art by Freas on its November 1950 issue: "The Piper" illustrating "The Third Shadow" by H. Russell Wakefield. His second was a year later in the same magazine, followed by several '' Planet Stories'' or ''Weird Tales'' covers and interior illustrations for three Gnome Press books in 1952. With his illustrating career underway, he continued to devise unique and imaginative concepts for other fantasy and science fiction magazines of that period. In a field where airbrushing is common practice, paintings by Freas are notable for his use of bold brush strokes, and a study of his work reveals his experimentation with a wide variety of tools and techniques. Over the next five decades, he created covers for hundreds of books and magazines (and much more interior artwork), notably ''

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'', both before and after its title change to ''Analog'', from 1953 to 2003. He started at ''Mad'' magazine in February 1957 and by July 1958 was the magazine's new cover artist; he painted most of its covers until October 1962 (featuring the iconic character, Alfred E. Neuman). He also created cover illustrations for DAW, Signet,

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

, Avon, all 58 Laser Books (which are now collectors' items), and over 90 covers for Ace books alone. He was editor and artist for the first ten ''Starblaze'' books. He illustrated the cover of Jean Shepherd, Ian Ballantine, and Theodore Sturgeon's literary hoax, '' I, Libertine'' (Ballantine Books, 1956). That same year he drew cartoon illustrations for Bernard Shir-Cliff's ''The Wild Reader''. Freas also painted insignia and posters for

Skylab I Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...

; pinup girls on bombers while in the United States Army Air Forces; comic book covers; the covers of the '' GURPS'' worldbooks ''Lensman'' and ''Planet Krishna''; and more than 500 saints' portraits for the Franciscans executed simultaneously with his portraits of Alfred E. Neuman for ''Mad''. He was very active in gaming and medical illustration. His cover of Queen's album ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

'' (1977) was a pastiche of his October 1953 cover illustration for Tom Godwin's "The Gulf Between" for ''Astounding Science Fiction'' magazine. Freas published several collections of his color and black-and-white artwork in the volumes ''Frank Kelly Freas: The Art of Science Fiction'' and ''Frank Kelly Freas: As Others See it'', as well as in a spiral-bound collection of his black-and-white illustrations from ''Astounding Science Fiction''. He also frequently gave art presentations, and his work appeared in numerous exhibitions. He was among several of the inaugural recipients of the Hugo Award for Best Artist in 1955 and was recipient under different names of the next three conferred in 1956, 1958, and 1959. With six more Hugo awards to his name (1970 and 1972–76), he became the first person to receive ten Hugo awards (he was nominated 20 times). No other artist in science fiction has consistently matched his record and output. Freas was twice a Guest of Honor at Worldcon, at

Chicon IV Chicon may refer to: * Chicon (plant), another name for chicory * Chicon (Worldcon), a name given to World Science Fiction Conventions (Worldcons) that take place in Chicago, Illinois * Chicón Chicón or Chicon (possibly from Quechua ''ch'iqu' ...

in 1982 and at Torcon 3 in 2003, although a fall suffered shortly before the latter convention precluded him from attending. He died in West Hills, California and is buried in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth.

Awards

Freas's achievements include the Doctor of Arts, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, December 2003. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted him in 2006, the second artist after Chesley Bonestell. * Hugo Awards (11): Hugo Award for Best Artist 1955–56, 1958–59, 1970, 1972–76; fifty-year Retrospective Hugo, 2001 (for 1950 work) * Locus Awards (4), 1972–75, best artist * Frank R. Paul Award, 1977 * Inkpot Award, 1979Inkpot Award
/ref> * Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction (the Skylark), 1981 * Rova Award, 1981 * Lensman Award, 1982 * Phoenix Award, 1982 * Los Angeles Science Fiction Society Service Award, 1983 * Neographics Award, 1985 * Daedalus Life Achievement Award, 1987 * Art Teacher Emeritus Award, 1988 * Best Professional, Media, International Fantasy Expo, 1989 *

Chesley Awards The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists to recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later r ...

(3): 1990 with Laura Freas, best 1989 cover illustration; 1994, artistic achievement; 2001, artistic achievement * Numerous Science Fiction Art Show Awards * National Association of Trade and Technical Schools National Hall of Fame, 1991 * AnLab ( Analog magazine) Reader Polls, Best Cover, 1992 and 2001

Bibliography

* '' New Worlds of Fantasy'' (1967) * '' New Worlds of Fantasy#2'' (1970)

Notes

References

External links

* (KellyFreas.com)
Kelly Freas tribute site
* * "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VSC4-Z6Y : accessed July 31, 2015), Frank Kelly Freas, January 2, 2005; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing). Biography and criticism

obituary in ''The Guardian'' * Bibliography and works * * *

by H. Beam Piper, illustrated by Freas, from Project Gutenberg * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freas, Frank Kelly 1922 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American painters Album-cover and concert-poster artists American comics artists American illustrators American male painters American speculative fiction artists Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Art Institute of Pittsburgh alumni Artists from Buffalo, New York Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery Fantasy artists Game artists Hugo Award-winning artists Inkpot Award winners Lafayette High School (Buffalo, New York) alumni Medical illustrators Painters from New York (state) People from Hornell, New York Pulp fiction artists Role-playing game artists Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees Science fiction artists United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces soldiers