Gerald Brom – Conan: And Their Memory Was a Bitter Tree, Cover & BROM Guest Box Original Art, 2006

Year: 2006

Published: And Their Memory Was a Bitter Tree, 2008; Conan – Brom Guest Box, 2016

Artist: Gerald Brom

Medium: Acrylic on board

Size: To be confirmed

An exceptional original Conan painting by Gerald Brom, created in 2006 and subsequently selected for two significant published uses connected with Robert E. Howard's legendary character.

The painting was first published as the cover artwork for Robert E. Howard's …And Their Memory Was a Bitter Tree…: Queen of the Black Coast and Others, published by Black Bart/Underwood Books in 2008. The substantial collection brought BROM's Conan imagery together with the legendary work of Frank Frazetta, presenting some of Howard's most important Conan stories with artwork by two generations of major fantasy artists.

BROM depicts Conan at his most savage and triumphant, emerging from battle and holding the severed head of a great feline beast aloft. The bloodied battlefield, monumental figure and restrained, atmospheric palette combine Robert E. Howard's brutal sword-and-sorcery world with the darker gothic sensibility for which BROM is renowned.

The image received another important official use in 2016, when Monolith selected it for Conan – BROM Guest Box, an expansion for its successful Conan miniature board game. The Guest Box offered alternative versions of Conan and Bêlit, Queen of the Black Coast, with this artwork providing the visual identity for the release.

Artist: Gerald Brom

Gerald Brom (b. 1965), known professionally as BROM, is one of the most distinctive fantasy artists of his generation. He established his reputation at TSR, where his artwork was instrumental in defining the visual world of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun, before producing work for Magic: The Gathering, Doom II, Diablo and World of Warcraft.

His career has extended into movie concept art, sculpture and writing, with credits including Sleepy Hollow, Galaxy Quest and Van Helsing. BROM is also the author and illustrator of acclaimed dark-fantasy works including The Plucker, The Child Thief, Krampus, Lost Gods and Slewfoot. He received the Spectrum Grand Master Award in 2013 and was inducted into the Origins Award Hall of Fame in 2019.

Original Conan paintings by BROM are notably scarce and have never come up for auction, making this twice-published 2006 work an important piece to win.