Kelly Freas: the man, the myth, the legend.

Back in August 2022, the DMR Blog celebrated the centennial of Frank Kelly Freas' birth. Kelly was the artist of the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction. His work was emblematic of that era and still evokes it best, in my opinion. After that era had passed, Freas kept on painting great covers for the likes of DAW Books and Laser Books in the 1970s. Today marks the anniversary of his passing in 2005

However, as I noted here, Kelly--despite his iconic SF status—actually began his career at Weird Tales in 1950. He painted a legendary cover--"The Piper"--for WT editor, Dorothy McIllwraith, and then painted a new version for the editors of the revived Weird Tales in 1990. Thereon lies a tale, sword-brothers. I learned of it by way of the estimable Ralph E. Vaughan's Book Scribbles blog. Here is his account:

"I met Kelly about a half-dozen times between ComicCons and events for Bridge Publications, and it was during one of those meetings, as Kelly sipped champagne and I discovered that Long Island Iced Tea was not just really strong tea, that I asked Kelly about two covers he did for Weird Tales magazine, forty years apart.
The first appeared on the November 1950 issue of Weird Tales, which was then under the editorship of Dorothy McIlwraith. Although Miss McIlwraith has her detractors among fans of the venerable fantasy magazine for her editorial style (August Derleth called her 'constantly flippant'), she had an eye for artwork, and she knew she had something special when art student Kelly Freas brought 'The Piper' to her. The startling image had emerged from a class assignment in which only two colors could be used (no black), and Kelly was urged by a friend to submit it.
Kelly resisted because he had portrayed the musical satyr playing a 'nothing horn' when what he wanted was to give the little fellow a snazzy Benny Goodman clarinet. Miss McIlwraith accepted the painting with only one change -- surround the figure with a nimbus of moondust, which helped to highlight its form, separating it from the background. Kelly liked the result so much he used the technique in various paintings and drawings the rest of his life. The second incarnation appeared on the Fall 1990 issue of Weird Tales, and this time, black was included as a color and, more importantly, the satyr has his jazz horn. Kelly was quite grateful to then editor George Scithers (sadly, George passed away in 2010) for the opportunity to 'make it right' after four decades.

As we discussed the two covers, Kelly asked me which I preferred. I immediately replied the 1950 image, which surprised him. "But what about the horn?" he demanded. Oh, the horn was great, I told him, but the full cover was a better showcase, and with display art, size matters. (...)”

Very cool. I would love to have been there, the champagne, Long Island Iced Teas--all of it. Just sitting around engaging in badinage with one of the great artists of the twentieth century.

From this account, I have to say that McIllwraith made the right call. Her 'moondust' suggestion certainly resulted in many more great FKF paintings. It's not clear whether McIllwraith had anything to do with the 'nothing horn'. It seems not. Either way, the 'nothing horn' works better, in my opinion. It gives the painting more of a timeless feel. Now, Kelly grew up in the Jazz Age. He may have wanted to 'jazz up' the satyr, giving him a Goodman clarinet rather than pan-pipes. I can see that, but I don't think it ages quite as well.

All that said, the 1990 'Piper' is still bad-ass. It 'pops' a little better. The colors are more vibrant and it's obvious that Freas had forty more years of practice under his belt. It just doesn't quite beat a stone-cold classic straight from the brush of a young man ready to conquer the world.

Below is a fairly large scan of the 1950 WT cover—I can’t find scans of the painting itself—and a nice scan of the 1990 version sans any typeface. Feel free to make your own calls in the comments below.