Ballantine's Boris Vallejo books
   The Fantastic Art Of Boris Vallejo
   Mirage
   Enchantment   [-BELOW THE LINE-]
                                                                  (Ballantine Books)

The Fantastic Art Of Boris Vallejo (1978) This is the first collection of Vallejo's work, having come right on the tail of the first successful couple of Frazetta books and its format matches those exactly, 95 pages with 44 full-page plates accompanied by only the title on the facing page, all with but a short introduction for text. The works are mostly paintings commissioned for book covers, running the gamut of romance, mystery, science-fiction and fantasy, with the savage subjects allowing for as much tasteful male & female nudity as possible. If you are only somewhat familiar with his work, here are the barbarians, wizards, unicorns, centaurs, dinosaurs & dragons you would expect, joined with knights, aliens, spaceships & futuristic cities, along with the 'celebrities' Conan, Doc Savage & Tarzan. Before getting this book, The List recommends Boris' monograph, DREAMS, as well as all of the books he put out with the art of both he and his wife, Julie Bell. If you have already gotten all of those, you will still want this one, as it gives full-page treatment to five of the works that haven't received it in any of those books and serves up another 29 full-page paintings & drawings not seen among them at all.

Mirage (1982) This was a collaborative effort, combining the art of Boris Vallejo and the poetry of Doris Vallejo. Not pulled from the artist's inventory of past book covers, but rather on display here are some private commissions and a slew of new paintings created with this project in mind. Know that many of the images are more sensually startling than what you would see at that time on a public bookstand - the enraptured characters caught in the middle of their enjoyment of their embraces & caresses. And not just humans - reptiles, centaurs, satyrs, mermaids, medusas, werewolves and horned & winged beings. This book is 90 pages with 40 full-page images facing poetry selections. Also there is one fold-out that presents a clean double-page painting. The book starts with two introductions, a verbal exploration of Boris' studio and a great selection of fine drawings. While there is no shortage of diversity here, a slight distraction begins to develop as you start to repeatedly recognize one particular model's visage throughout - I mean there are many models featured here, but this one, Danielle Anjou, begins to really stand out through her many appearances. Before getting this book, The List recommends Boris' monographs, DREAMS and THE FANTASTIC ART OF BORIS VALLEJO, as well as all of the books he put out with the art of both he and his second wife, Julie Bell. If you have gotten all of those, you've already gotten nearly two-thirds of the art here - only 18 new works are not displayed in any of them. The later Paper Tiger / Thunder's Mouth Press edition of this collection is vastly re-worked. The foreword and poetry by the artist's former wife has been excised and new introductory comments added, along with apparently nine new paintings, one applied to the cover.

Enchantment [BELOW THE LINE] (1984) Stories by Doris Vallejo with accompanying drawings and paintings by the artist. The stories dominate without enough pages left to be devoted to the illustrations. 112 pages, with 28 of them given to the art-works, full-page or nearly so. Half of these are beautiful paintings that are presented in full-bleed. There are 19 smaller drawings isolated throughout the text. The stories are sensual mysticism & fantasy, so the art is of the particular mothmen, spiderwomen, medusas, satyrs, werewolves, vampires, sphinxes, dragons and phoenixes met among the words. Currently, 13 of the paintings here haven't been 'well-presented' yet in any other books on the list (and almost none of the drawings).