A $1.43 million fantasy-art result and multiple artist records point to growing demand across illustration genres.
By Intelligent Collector Staff | November 5, 2025
Heritage Auctions’ Nov. 4 Illustration Art Signature® Auction reached $3.8 million with buyer’s premium, the category’s best result at Heritage since 2010 and the second-highest dedicated Illustration Art auction in the company’s history.
The sale offered 457 lots to more than 1,900 bidders worldwide and reported a 99% sell-through rate, showing broad demand across fantasy, science fiction, children’s book art, magazine illustration and contemporary genre work.
The top lot was Frank Frazetta’s A Princess of Mars, which realized $1,437,500. The 1970 work led a sale that also produced strong results for several major names in the field, including Chesley Bonestell’s Space Station Under Construction, Ernest Howard Shepard’s Winnie-the-Pooh book cover and interior studies, and Frank Xavier Leyendecker’s Pierrot and Columbine, each of which brought $87,500.
The auction also set new world auction records for Gerald Brom and Edward Sorel. Brom’s The Last Note, created for a 1998 Dragon Magazine cover, realized $32,500. Sorel’s Christmas Past, Christmas Present, a 1996 New Yorker cover, achieved $15,000.
What stands out is the range of demand. Fantasy art led the sale, but space art, children’s illustration, magazine covers and contemporary genre work all found serious bidders. That matters for consignors because illustration art is not a single-lane market; the right venue needs to reach buyers across several collecting communities at once.
For sellers looking for the best place to sell illustration art, this auction shows why Heritage’s category depth and bidder reach can matter. When a sale can support both a seven-figure Frazetta and record prices for artists across very different illustration traditions, it creates a strong case for where important illustration art can find its market.
Source: Heritage Auctions press release (November 5, 2025).