Oliver Frey art and ephemera up for auction this week

By John Freeman on May 29, 2024

Lurking in an auction taking place tomorrow from Staffordshire-based auction house Cuttlestones is a large lot of work that includes art by Oliver Frey for various computer magazines of the past, and more, plus separate specific artworks, listed separately.

*Art and ephemera up for auction associated with or created by artist Oliver Frey*

The artworks and other ephemera on offer, as one lot, are part of a sale taking place tomorrow, Thursday 30th May, titled Antiques & Home Auction To Include The Summer Antiques & Collectables Auction, and the major Frey lot included is described as “a large collection of ephemera and works of art, prints etc., to include male erotic magazines, novels, stories, computer magazine prints etc.”

From the photographs, some of the items appear to be original art, but interested potential buyers might want to contact the auction house for further information.

There are a number of artworks by Frey being offered separately, too, alongside a wide range of original art by a variety of illustrators.

*“A Fire”, art by Oliver Frey, signed lower right and dated ’67, oil on board, unframed, 52 x 75 cm*

*Knights in a battle, art by Oliver Frey, signed lower right and dated ’68, oil on canvas, 60 x 82 cm*

Perhaps best known to many downthetubes readers for his “Dan Dare” work, Oliver Frey (1948 – 2022) was a Swiss artist who was based in the UK. He was acclaimed for his book and magazine illustrations, especially for British computer magazines of the 1980s under the pen name ‘ZACK’.

Later, he became known for his erotic illustrations and erotic comics in the British gay male magazines of the 1970S and 1980s.

He married Roger M. Kean, who has a number of abstract paintings in this sale, the titles often vague, but some appear inspired by music icons such as The Beatles, and other subjects.

Based in Penkridge, Staffordshire, Cuttlestones is a progressive firm of Auctioneers and Valuers that serves the whole of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, the West Midlands, Stoke-on-Trent and beyond. Its quarterly Fine Art and Antiques auctions and regular Specialist Collectors’ sales reach an International audience of bidders, whilst Country House Sales and one-off specialist auctions on location are a speciality.

• Check out Cuttlestones “Antiques & Home Auction To Include The Summer Antiques & Collectables Auction” here | Bidding starts at 10.00am Thursday 30th May 2024, Cuttlestones Auctioneers, Penkridge Auction Rooms, Pinfold Lane, Penkridge, Staffordshire ST19 5AP

• View the specific Oliver Frey lots here

• Read our tribute to Oliver Frey here

With thanks to Richard Sheaf for the heads up

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.