At the beginning of April 2022, two sets of five Tiamat painted artist proofs, one by Chris Rahn and one by Tyler Jacobson, sold on the MTG Artist Proof group on Facebook. These two artists each illustrated the legendary dragon Tiamat for last summer’s smash-hit set Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. Upon receiving their proofs and discussing with their mutual agent Mark Aronowitz, they decided to offer something special: one set of five paintings by each artist, one for each head of the dragon.
Tiamat by Chris Rahn. Traditional. Sold for $65,000 in May 2021.
Tiamat by Tyler Jacobson. Traditional. Private Collection.
While Jacobson will sometimes offer sketches he has never made paintings on his proofs available through his agent. Rahn does not offer sketches or paintings at all, making this a doubly rare opportunity for both artists.
The artist proofs for each artist ended two days apart. For Rahn’s set, each work sold to a private bidder, but we can see that with each auction, the price rose; generally a good indicator of someone’s attempt to keep the set together. Jacobson’s set sold to a mix of public and private interest, and the set of five heads did not stay together. You can see each head and it’s final bid below:
The Heads of Tiamat by Chris Rahn (Price Realized: $10,650, Combined)
The Heads of Tiamat by Chris Rahn. Traditional Work on Artist Proof.
Prices Realized: $1,400, $1,500, $2,400, $2,550, $2,800, respectively.
The Heads of Tiamat by Tyler Jacobson (Price Realized: $9,700, Combined)
The Heads of Tiamat by Tyler Jacobson. Acrylic on Artist Proof.
Prices Realized: $3,600, $1,900, $2,300, $1,100, $800, respectively.
These two special events carry on the success of last year’s blockbuster crossover, which set new records across the board for original Magic: The Gathering artwork sales. These two sets of auctions should act as a further catalyst for the newly available AFR artist proofs, and I would expect to see more artist’s offering exclusive paintings of these ever popular characters in the near future. Stay tuned to Hipsters of the Coast for more Art Market Minutes, now covering Magic: The Gathering Artist Proofs.