One of Frank Frazetta's most celebrated paintings is heading to auction with an opening bid of six million dollars. Death Dealer II, the 1986 painting of the artist's iconic faceless warrior, will be offered online by Joopiter from 23 November to 10 December, in its first appearance at auction.

The painting shows the Death Dealer raising a pickaxe above his head against a darkened sky, a horde of alien beings massing at his feet, the grey scene lit by flashes of fire glimpsed through smoke and reflected on his armour. It was among Frazetta's personal favourites, a work he kept until his death in 2010, according to his family, who consigned it. The opening bid reflects both the significance of the painting and the strength of the market for Frazetta's most celebrated works, said Fenella Theis, a sales specialist at Joopiter.

Frazetta created the Death Dealer character in the early 1970s, after redefining the look of modern fantasy with his illustrations for Tarzan and Conan the Barbarian. He called the figure his death symbol on the battlefield. The first image of the character, astride a horse in the aftermath of a skirmish, was adapted for the cover of a Flashing Swords! anthology and a Molly Hatchet album, and the character later spawned novels, comic books and action figures.

Prices for Frazetta's work have climbed sharply. Death Dealer 6, from 1990, made 1.7 million dollars at Heritage Auctions in 2018, and his Man Ape, from 1967, set a record of 13.5 million dollars at Heritage in 2025. Institutional interest has grown alongside the market, most notably at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which has a dedicated Frazetta gallery. Joopiter will show Death Dealer II in Miami's Design District from 2 to 6 December, during Art Basel Miami Beach, the first time a Frazetta work has been exhibited during the fair in more than a decade.