Text graphic with the title 'The Art of Renato Fratini' and the author's name 'Timothy R. Smith' on a black background.

The Definitive Monograph

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432 pages

900 images

deluxe hardcover

printed in italy

Book cover titled "The Art of Renato Fratini" featuring an illustrated portrait of a woman with voluminous hair, wearing a low-cut top, gold earrings, and a gold necklace, against a colorful abstract background.

A World First

fifty years in waiting
Ten Years in the Making

Who was the man behind the most famous Bond poster ever made? Renato Fratini's art defined British cinema and the pop glamour of the Swinging Sixties—yet after his sudden death in 1973, aged just forty, his name all but vanished.

Authorised by the Fratini Estate, The Art of Renato Fratini restores his lost legacy. Based on a decade of research, rare interviews, and passionate collecting, this visual biography unveils hundreds of rarely seen works—a celebration of an artist almost lost to time.

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Painting of a woman with red hair sitting on a white surface, wearing a long black dress, with one leg stretched out and her chin resting on her hand, looking at the viewer.

About the book

In London's swinging sixties, Renato Fratini became the most sought-after illustrator in British cinema and publishing. Movie studios, publishers, and ad agencies competed for his brush.

He painted the definitive From Russia with Love poster that shaped Bond's visual identity. He defined the Carry On franchise across nine films. He produced over 600 book covers for Fontana, Penguin, Corgi, and Heinemann—transforming how romance, crime, and adventure looked on paperback racks across Britain.

His work sold tens of millions of books and drew queues around cinema blocks. Yet until now, his name remained largely unknown.

The Art of Renato Fratini is the first book to tell his extraordinary story and showcase his astonishing body of work—over 900 images spanning film posters, paperback covers, and magazine illustrations.

Edited by Professor Steve Chibnall, the world's only Professor of British Cinema and one of the UK's leading film historians.

Open magazine with pages featuring a colorful illustration and article about the 1968 sci-fi film 'Barbarella.' The right page shows a painted portrait of a blonde woman holding a large gun, with a yellow background and graphic elements.
Open magazine featuring a movie poster for 'From Russia With Love' with images of Sean Connery as James Bond, a woman in a swimsuit, and a woman in a yellow costume, with text and production details.

Author Timothy Smith has dedicated ten years to researching, collecting, interviewing, and unearthing hundreds of unseen paintings, posters, and illustrations, many never credited, never catalogued, never shown until now.

The Art of Renato Fratini is a beautifully written and designed 432-page volume featuring hundreds of illustrations, many never seen before. Printed to the highest standards in Italy and available with exclusive collector editions, it stands as the ultimate tribute to a forgotten master of commercial art.

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Selected works

Vintage comic book cover titled 'The Big Smear' featuring a woman with red hair in a black dress sitting on a surface, with a large illustration of a man holding a gun in the background. The man has an intense expression, and the woman has a confiden
Vintage movie poster for 'The Green Helmet' featuring illustrated faces of a man and woman, a yellow racing car with the number 25, and a motorcycle, all set against a red background with bold text.
A vintage movie poster for "The Fall of the Roman Empire" featuring illustrated portraits of actors Sophia Loren, Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinness, James Mason, and Christopher Plummer, with a background of Roman warriors and architecture, and a message i
A painting of a woman in a dark dress sitting in front of a large, ornate building with a staircase, with greenery and a cloudy sky in the background.
Colorful vintage illustrated poster for the movie 'The Sea Wall' starring Silvana Mangano, Anthony Perkins, Richard Conte, Jo Van Fleet. The poster features a woman in a yellow dress, a man in a blue shirt, and scenes of people near water with a sea
Colorful illustrated poster for the play 'Sapphire' featuring a woman lying on the ground with red hair, surrounded by scenes of people and vibrant colors, with bold text highlighting the cast and tagline.
A colorful illustrated poster of the musical 'Carry On' with caricatures of characters hanging onto a wooden fence, parodying a traditional British postcard. The title reads 'Don't Lose Your Head' in bold yellow letters, with the tagline 'Laughing un
A colorful, artistic poster for the film "Senso" featuring a romantic scene with a man and woman embracing. The background depicts a canal with boats and a city scene with people. The title "Senso" is prominently displayed in bold red and black lette
Book cover for 'The Real Gone Goose' by George Bagby, featuring an illustration of a woman in black lingerie with a record player and bottles of alcohol.
Movie poster for 'La Donna Più Bella del Mondo' showing a woman in a dark blue gown with feathered headpiece and matching fan, with a purple background, featuring text in Italian and names of cast and crew.
Vintage movie poster titled "La Bella di Roma" featuring a close-up portrait of a woman with red hair and blue eyes, wearing a yellow top. In the background, there is a white statue of a horse and three men dressed in suits and hats, standing in fron
Book cover with illustrations of a woman in a green shirt and text about Perry Mason, Bert Stanley Gardner, and the Sulky Girl.
Vintage book cover titled "The Powder Barrel" by Haggard, featuring an illustration of a woman with dark hair, wearing a pink dress, sitting with a confident expression, against a blue background.
Illustration of the movie poster for "Carry On Again Doctor" featuring cartoon characters, a woman in a nurse costume, a doctor with a stethoscope, and a woman on a surgical table, with humorous expressions and a tagline about their latest laughter o
Movie poster for 'Blindfold' featuring Rock Hudson and Claudia Cardinale. The poster has images of the two stars, with Hudson in suit holding a gun, and Cardinale in revealing outfit with yellow gloves. Additional images include scenes of action, mil
Colorful movie poster for 'Barbarella' featuring a woman with blonde hair holding a gun, with space-themed artwork and characters in vibrant, psychedelic colors.
Book cover titled 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' by Truman Capote, featuring an illustration of a girl with blonde hair in a red shirt and a boy lying shirtless in the grass, with a house in the background and the text describing themes of youth, doubt,
Vintage album cover for Billie Holiday's 'Lady Sings the Blues' with William Dufty. The cover features a painted portrait of Billie Holiday singing passionately, with a colorful background depicting police officers and a woman, indicating a jazz or b
Book cover of "The Last Enemy" by Berton Rouché, featuring an illustrated woman with red hair in a green dress standing in a room with a purple door, blue chest of drawers, and a man sitting on a bed.