illustrators
1819-1821 Turner, Illustrator of the English Countryside
2012 SOLD 217 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Turner loved the scenery and atmosphere of the English countryside. His watercolors on this topic are often part ofprojects of publications by local editors.
After illustrating the history of Leeds by Whitaker, the artist studied for the same historian the landscapes of Richmondshire, a district in Yorkshire. The watercolor, 29 x 42 cm, for sale by Bonhams in London on January 25, belongs to the latter series.
The artist is mastering his immense skill. This poetic view of Kirkby Lonsdale was admired and commented by Ruskin.The river and the hills in the morning light illustrate the pre-Impressionist style that made forever the glory of Turner, but the foreground with a group of playing boys has a beautiful clarity.
Whitaker started working on the Richmondshire project in 1819 and the original edition of the Kirkby Lonsdale print is dated 1821. The watercolor is estimated £ 200K, and is illustrated in the release shared by AuctionPublicity.
The art of Turner as an illustrator of England has already been discussed in this group. On July 13, 2011, a watercolor of Kent realised in 1824 was sold £ 252K including premium by the same auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
The price is not surprising: £ 180K before fees, 217K including premium.
Turner loved the scenery and atmosphere of the English countryside. His watercolors on this topic are often part ofprojects of publications by local editors.
After illustrating the history of Leeds by Whitaker, the artist studied for the same historian the landscapes of Richmondshire, a district in Yorkshire. The watercolor, 29 x 42 cm, for sale by Bonhams in London on January 25, belongs to the latter series.
The artist is mastering his immense skill. This poetic view of Kirkby Lonsdale was admired and commented by Ruskin.The river and the hills in the morning light illustrate the pre-Impressionist style that made forever the glory of Turner, but the foreground with a group of playing boys has a beautiful clarity.
Whitaker started working on the Richmondshire project in 1819 and the original edition of the Kirkby Lonsdale print is dated 1821. The watercolor is estimated £ 200K, and is illustrated in the release shared by AuctionPublicity.
The art of Turner as an illustrator of England has already been discussed in this group. On July 13, 2011, a watercolor of Kent realised in 1824 was sold £ 252K including premium by the same auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
The price is not surprising: £ 180K before fees, 217K including premium.
1824 Bad Weather over Kent
2011 SOLD 252 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Turner lived in Margate for a long time. He was inspired by bad weather on the landscapes of Kent. So it was naturally to him that WB Cooke ordered the pictures for the project of a portfolio of engravings.
The edition of 1826, entitled Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England, brought together 40 works by Turner. The original art of the plate number 1 is for sale on July 13 in London by Bonhams.
Entitled Whitstable Oyster Beds in a cartouche, this watercolor executed in 1824 shows oyster farmers with their horses under a stormy sky. It is a typical work of the master, with expressive colors, perfect perspective, and hardly outlined details that give realism to the whole scene.
It is shown in the press release shared by Artdaily. This small masterpiece, 16 x 24 cm, might deserve better than its estimate, £ 120K.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold £ 210K before fees, 252K including premium. As expected, the estimate was exceeded by far.
Turner lived in Margate for a long time. He was inspired by bad weather on the landscapes of Kent. So it was naturally to him that WB Cooke ordered the pictures for the project of a portfolio of engravings.
The edition of 1826, entitled Picturesque Views on the Southern Coast of England, brought together 40 works by Turner. The original art of the plate number 1 is for sale on July 13 in London by Bonhams.
Entitled Whitstable Oyster Beds in a cartouche, this watercolor executed in 1824 shows oyster farmers with their horses under a stormy sky. It is a typical work of the master, with expressive colors, perfect perspective, and hardly outlined details that give realism to the whole scene.
It is shown in the press release shared by Artdaily. This small masterpiece, 16 x 24 cm, might deserve better than its estimate, £ 120K.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sold £ 210K before fees, 252K including premium. As expected, the estimate was exceeded by far.
1892 ENGLISH RABBITS CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS
2008 SOLD 290 K£ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Under the title The Rabbits' Christmas Party, the illustrator Beatrix Potter has drawn in ink and watercolors circa 1892, each with several variant copies, six scenes from the life of rabbits. Sotheby's could not wait for winter to sell three of them, on July 17 in London. The formats are 15 x 15 cm.
For £ 40 K, at number 288, we see five rabbits, refrigerated despite their heavy coats. They approach the house, one of them knocking at the door. This drawing comes directly from the artist's family.
For £ 20 K, at number 289, a rabbit standing on a stool is playing bagpipes, and around him six other dance with frenzy. The explanation for this lower estimate is not obvious from reading the catalogue. It is possible that the colors are weaker.
For £ 40 K, at number 290, they put on their coat, kiss and leave.
For £ 40 K, at number 291, three rabbits are conscientiously busy devouring buns, or more exactly the label they just pulled from the cylindrical box containing them. A second box is still intact, and you can read despite the attack of rodents the following: "A Merry Christmas and Plenty of Buns - H.B.P." This drawing is the most interesting of the four, first of all because it is not part of the series of six Christmas Partys, then because it is considered as previously unknown, finally because it is the most funny and original.
This reminds, of course, Alice in Wonderland and well-known drawings by John Tenniel. Tenniel and Potter are not often seen in auctions, even in London, and this group could generate more than just a success of curiosity.
POST SALE COMMENT
The departure, lot 290, is the only of the four to have been regarded as a masterpiece: 290 K£ costs included. I have reviewed the catalogue, nothing predisposed to such a gap over others.
Lot 290 steals the spotlight to the 288, the arrival, which however sold well at 120 K£ costs included. It is interesting to note that this is the only of the four that came from the artist's family. It did not made it distinguished in the results.
The dance of rabbits, lot 289, being sold at 22.5 K£ costs included, has remained below the low estimate. It had without doubt some fault, as I had assumed in my article.
Lot 291, which was my favorite, was sold 42 K£ costs included. I infer that the amateurs have preferred images already known to this one which was unpublished.
Under the title The Rabbits' Christmas Party, the illustrator Beatrix Potter has drawn in ink and watercolors circa 1892, each with several variant copies, six scenes from the life of rabbits. Sotheby's could not wait for winter to sell three of them, on July 17 in London. The formats are 15 x 15 cm.
For £ 40 K, at number 288, we see five rabbits, refrigerated despite their heavy coats. They approach the house, one of them knocking at the door. This drawing comes directly from the artist's family.
For £ 20 K, at number 289, a rabbit standing on a stool is playing bagpipes, and around him six other dance with frenzy. The explanation for this lower estimate is not obvious from reading the catalogue. It is possible that the colors are weaker.
For £ 40 K, at number 290, they put on their coat, kiss and leave.
For £ 40 K, at number 291, three rabbits are conscientiously busy devouring buns, or more exactly the label they just pulled from the cylindrical box containing them. A second box is still intact, and you can read despite the attack of rodents the following: "A Merry Christmas and Plenty of Buns - H.B.P." This drawing is the most interesting of the four, first of all because it is not part of the series of six Christmas Partys, then because it is considered as previously unknown, finally because it is the most funny and original.
This reminds, of course, Alice in Wonderland and well-known drawings by John Tenniel. Tenniel and Potter are not often seen in auctions, even in London, and this group could generate more than just a success of curiosity.
POST SALE COMMENT
The departure, lot 290, is the only of the four to have been regarded as a masterpiece: 290 K£ costs included. I have reviewed the catalogue, nothing predisposed to such a gap over others.
Lot 290 steals the spotlight to the 288, the arrival, which however sold well at 120 K£ costs included. It is interesting to note that this is the only of the four that came from the artist's family. It did not made it distinguished in the results.
The dance of rabbits, lot 289, being sold at 22.5 K£ costs included, has remained below the low estimate. It had without doubt some fault, as I had assumed in my article.
Lot 291, which was my favorite, was sold 42 K£ costs included. I infer that the amateurs have preferred images already known to this one which was unpublished.
1907-(1919) Somov Drawings for Le Livre de la Marquise
2008 SOLD 1.2 M£ including premium
MacDougall's Russian Art Auctions is an auction house working exclusively with Russian art, operating in London. I do not miss quoting at least one painting before each of their sales in my preview.
Today a Google alert has brought to my attention a lot out of the ordinary, mentioned in The Wall Street Journal of Nov. 21.
In intellectual matters, the eighteenth-century in Europe was philosophical and courtly. Erotic writings and poems joined at that time into the higher literature. Later anthologies have been made, and of course they were illustrated.
"Le Livre de la Marquise" is one of such anthologies, published in 1907 in Munich by Hans von Weber from an idea by Franz Blei. It contains excerpts from works of fifty authors, including Voltaire, Parny, Laclos, Casanova.
The illustration was left to Konstantin Somov. The artist, who considered that there was no art without eroticism, is perfectly at ease in his subject. His detailed and realistic drawings represent parks and interiors where to meet and love.
Lot 6 of November 25 sale is a collection of 122 drawings in ink, sometimes enhanced with white, made by Somov for Le Livre de la Marquise. This lot is estimated £ 1.5 million. Some drawings are subsequent to the original issue because the artist continued to work to it until the final edition of 1919.
POST SALE COMMENT
The sale of the lot at £ 1.2 million charge included is a success. Forget the estimate because it was too optimistic. It is particularly difficult to predict in advance what price such a set may reach.
Today a Google alert has brought to my attention a lot out of the ordinary, mentioned in The Wall Street Journal of Nov. 21.
In intellectual matters, the eighteenth-century in Europe was philosophical and courtly. Erotic writings and poems joined at that time into the higher literature. Later anthologies have been made, and of course they were illustrated.
"Le Livre de la Marquise" is one of such anthologies, published in 1907 in Munich by Hans von Weber from an idea by Franz Blei. It contains excerpts from works of fifty authors, including Voltaire, Parny, Laclos, Casanova.
The illustration was left to Konstantin Somov. The artist, who considered that there was no art without eroticism, is perfectly at ease in his subject. His detailed and realistic drawings represent parks and interiors where to meet and love.
Lot 6 of November 25 sale is a collection of 122 drawings in ink, sometimes enhanced with white, made by Somov for Le Livre de la Marquise. This lot is estimated £ 1.5 million. Some drawings are subsequent to the original issue because the artist continued to work to it until the final edition of 1919.
POST SALE COMMENT
The sale of the lot at £ 1.2 million charge included is a success. Forget the estimate because it was too optimistic. It is particularly difficult to predict in advance what price such a set may reach.
1920 THE ADVENTURES OF NC WYETH
2009 SOLD 720 K$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
NC Wyeth believed that painting and illustration were two different arts, which must not be confused. Working in oil on canvas, he was one of the best illustrators of the early twentieth century, specializing in popular and U.S. Western literatures.
To be included in a book, an image must be legible and directly related to the subject. Fourteen illustrations made by Wyeth in 1920 for Robinson Crusoe are typical of his simple and colorful art. The book was published by Cosmopolitan Book Corporation.
Christie's expects more than $ 3.35 million on the fourteen original oils on canvas, on December 2 in New York. This figure is the sum of the lower estimates. They were kept since 1922 by the library of Wilmington, DE, where they assured the decoration.
Curiously, each of them will be auctioned separately. For $ 400K, we see the hero of the story looking from the top of a dune to a deep blue sea. He holds his rifle in his left hand and an umbrella in the other hand. The canvas, 76 x 116 cm, is laid down on board.
POST SALE COMMENT
Christie's has confused art and illustration. Presented individually, nine of the fourteen paintings have not been sold, and the set is now separated. Worse: the total of the five sold lots, $ 2.2 million including premium, is well below the low estimates for the total, 3.35 million excl.
The oil on canvas estimated $ 400K as discussed above has been sold $ 480K including premium. A more expressive scene, where the hero is seen hands up in an attitude of supplication, was sold 720 K $ including premium.
NC Wyeth believed that painting and illustration were two different arts, which must not be confused. Working in oil on canvas, he was one of the best illustrators of the early twentieth century, specializing in popular and U.S. Western literatures.
To be included in a book, an image must be legible and directly related to the subject. Fourteen illustrations made by Wyeth in 1920 for Robinson Crusoe are typical of his simple and colorful art. The book was published by Cosmopolitan Book Corporation.
Christie's expects more than $ 3.35 million on the fourteen original oils on canvas, on December 2 in New York. This figure is the sum of the lower estimates. They were kept since 1922 by the library of Wilmington, DE, where they assured the decoration.
Curiously, each of them will be auctioned separately. For $ 400K, we see the hero of the story looking from the top of a dune to a deep blue sea. He holds his rifle in his left hand and an umbrella in the other hand. The canvas, 76 x 116 cm, is laid down on board.
POST SALE COMMENT
Christie's has confused art and illustration. Presented individually, nine of the fourteen paintings have not been sold, and the set is now separated. Worse: the total of the five sold lots, $ 2.2 million including premium, is well below the low estimates for the total, 3.35 million excl.
The oil on canvas estimated $ 400K as discussed above has been sold $ 480K including premium. A more expressive scene, where the hero is seen hands up in an attitude of supplication, was sold 720 K $ including premium.
1926 The Sesquicentennial Celebration of Freedom
2018 SOLD for $ 760K including premium
An original oil on canvas 92 x 69 cm prepared by Norman Rockwell as a cover art for the Saturday Evening Post passed at Bonhams on January 27, 2010, lot 1131.
Coming now from the deceased estate of Debbie Reynolds, it passed at Profiles in History in October 2017 with an excessive estimate. It is now estimated $ 800K for sale by Heritage in Dallas on May 4, lot 68002.
I introduced it as follows before the previous auctions :
On May 29, 1926, the Saturday Evening Post celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Norman Rockwell symbolizes this event by showing Benjamin Franklin, quill pen in hand for signing the document, his face turned towards the viewer. This figure on a light background is a nice example of the usual care of the artist for readability.
This image meets a dual logics. First : Franklin, subtle polemicist, renowned scientist, ambassador of freedom, alter ego of the "Poor Richard", has remained a popular figure. On the other hand, the Saturday Evening Post claimed to be the successor of the Pennsylvania Gazette founded by him.
The low resolution image below is shared by WikiArt for fair use :
Coming now from the deceased estate of Debbie Reynolds, it passed at Profiles in History in October 2017 with an excessive estimate. It is now estimated $ 800K for sale by Heritage in Dallas on May 4, lot 68002.
I introduced it as follows before the previous auctions :
On May 29, 1926, the Saturday Evening Post celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. Norman Rockwell symbolizes this event by showing Benjamin Franklin, quill pen in hand for signing the document, his face turned towards the viewer. This figure on a light background is a nice example of the usual care of the artist for readability.
This image meets a dual logics. First : Franklin, subtle polemicist, renowned scientist, ambassador of freedom, alter ego of the "Poor Richard", has remained a popular figure. On the other hand, the Saturday Evening Post claimed to be the successor of the Pennsylvania Gazette founded by him.
The low resolution image below is shared by WikiArt for fair use :
1935 MICKEY'S BAND
2011 SOLD 45 K$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In 1935 Mickey Mouse, star of Walt Disney's cartoons, appropriates the color with a 9 minute short movie titled The Band Concert. This innovation is made possible by the technique of animation cels, which avoids repeating one by one all the drawings necessary for the film.
These are sheets of hand-drawn transparent celluloid, which can be stacked together before being photographed in Technicolor. Watch out the film, shared on YouTube: the characters frantically stir in fixed settings.
The Band Concert had a huge impact on the popularity of the mouse. Mickey leads the band, subjected to three successive insults: Donald Duck as an itinerant ice cream merchant who interferes with his flutes, a bee which terrifies the musicians, a storm that strucks the orchestra.
A cel from the beginning of the film has survived. It shows the musicians as they introduce themselves to the public.This piece of 30 x 24 cm presented in a frame is for sale on February 25 at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. It is estimated $ 100K, and illustrated in the press release shared by the auction house.
I discovered that I have something in common with Toscanini. They say that the maestro was delighted when he saw the film. Same for me! The image of the cel takes place in the first twenty seconds.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here is a reference price for a type of collectible that I had not yet discussed: $ 45K including premium for this rare cel.
In 1935 Mickey Mouse, star of Walt Disney's cartoons, appropriates the color with a 9 minute short movie titled The Band Concert. This innovation is made possible by the technique of animation cels, which avoids repeating one by one all the drawings necessary for the film.
These are sheets of hand-drawn transparent celluloid, which can be stacked together before being photographed in Technicolor. Watch out the film, shared on YouTube: the characters frantically stir in fixed settings.
The Band Concert had a huge impact on the popularity of the mouse. Mickey leads the band, subjected to three successive insults: Donald Duck as an itinerant ice cream merchant who interferes with his flutes, a bee which terrifies the musicians, a storm that strucks the orchestra.
A cel from the beginning of the film has survived. It shows the musicians as they introduce themselves to the public.This piece of 30 x 24 cm presented in a frame is for sale on February 25 at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas. It is estimated $ 100K, and illustrated in the press release shared by the auction house.
I discovered that I have something in common with Toscanini. They say that the maestro was delighted when he saw the film. Same for me! The image of the cel takes place in the first twenty seconds.
POST SALE COMMENT
Here is a reference price for a type of collectible that I had not yet discussed: $ 45K including premium for this rare cel.
1938 Tintin is always Right
2015 SOLD for € 380K including premium
The album Le Sceptre d'Ottokar (King Ottokar's Sceptre), just after L'Oreille Cassée (The Broken Ear), is the second masterpiece of the new graphic style named the ligne claire of Hergé. The covers of the magazine Le Petit Vingtième successively show recomposed images in a larger format than in the story.
The original drawings for these covers are made by Hergé in black ink with high quality nibs bought in London. Some areas are filled with a light texture in blue pencil and the image is often embellished with white gouache.
The drawing for the cover of July 20, 1939, 22 x 25 cm, was sold for € 540K including premium by Millon on December 14, 2014. The theme is royal and emotional: the devoted Milou (Snowy) brings back to the king the scepter stolen by the bandits.
On June 28 in Brussels, Banque Dessinée sells the cover art of December 1, 1938, 22 x 22 cm, lot 484 estimated € 400K, titled in pencil Un Faux Pas (a false move). Here is the link to the website of the auction house.
We are still at the beginning of King Ottokar's Sceptre whose publication had begun on 4 August 1938. Tintin stumbles voluntarily from the removable bridge of an aircraft in order to grab the beard of his traveling companion. Unlike his hypothesis, it is not a fake beard and the old scientist bent under the shock is expressing an intense pain. Within the door of the plane, Milou does not know whether he has to intervene.
Tintin is always right in Hergé's stories. The following of that story indeed confirmed that the old character is a conspirator, despite his real beard.
The original drawings for these covers are made by Hergé in black ink with high quality nibs bought in London. Some areas are filled with a light texture in blue pencil and the image is often embellished with white gouache.
The drawing for the cover of July 20, 1939, 22 x 25 cm, was sold for € 540K including premium by Millon on December 14, 2014. The theme is royal and emotional: the devoted Milou (Snowy) brings back to the king the scepter stolen by the bandits.
On June 28 in Brussels, Banque Dessinée sells the cover art of December 1, 1938, 22 x 22 cm, lot 484 estimated € 400K, titled in pencil Un Faux Pas (a false move). Here is the link to the website of the auction house.
We are still at the beginning of King Ottokar's Sceptre whose publication had begun on 4 August 1938. Tintin stumbles voluntarily from the removable bridge of an aircraft in order to grab the beard of his traveling companion. Unlike his hypothesis, it is not a fake beard and the old scientist bent under the shock is expressing an intense pain. Within the door of the plane, Milou does not know whether he has to intervene.
Tintin is always right in Hergé's stories. The following of that story indeed confirmed that the old character is a conspirator, despite his real beard.
1939 Glory for Milou in the Petit Vingtième
2014 SOLD for € 540K including premium
In 1928, the Belgian daily newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle creates Le Petit Vingtième, a supplement for young readers published every Thursday. They entrust as the editor Georges Remi, 21 years old, already known by his pen name Hergé.
Tintin appears in 1929. Until the demise of the Vingtième Siècle in 1940 during the German occupation, the Petit Vingtième supports the continuous development of the art of Hergé, who devotes to this job all his energy and skill.
The image becomes simple and highly readable, with a black line of regular thickness which will receive post war the color as a cloisonné and is now named Hergé's ligne claire. The first story that will not need to be reworked is L'Oreille Cassée, in 1937-1938.
Le Vingtième Siècle was a monarchist newspaper and the barely concealed analysis of the political events around the adventures of Tintin was much appropriate to them. In 1938-1939, le Sceptre d'Ottokar is a direct reaction to the Anschluss. The threat of dictatorship against the king of Syldavia is an incentive for the Belgians to love and protect their king.
On December 14 in duplex in Brussels and Paris, Millon sells the original art 22 x 25 cm in black ink and some blue pencil for a cover of Le Petit Vingtième, published on July 20, 1939, lot 30 estimated € 350K, illustrated in the article shared by Le Soir. Like many other drawings by Hergé, it was dedicated much later when the artist presented it to a friend.
This large drawing is important for two reasons. It is a fine example of the clear line of Hergé, perfectly mastered just before the Second World War. It shows a highly emotional scene of Le Sceptre d'Ottokar when Milou (Snowy the dog) saves the monarchy by bringing back to the king the stolen scepter.
Tintin appears in 1929. Until the demise of the Vingtième Siècle in 1940 during the German occupation, the Petit Vingtième supports the continuous development of the art of Hergé, who devotes to this job all his energy and skill.
The image becomes simple and highly readable, with a black line of regular thickness which will receive post war the color as a cloisonné and is now named Hergé's ligne claire. The first story that will not need to be reworked is L'Oreille Cassée, in 1937-1938.
Le Vingtième Siècle was a monarchist newspaper and the barely concealed analysis of the political events around the adventures of Tintin was much appropriate to them. In 1938-1939, le Sceptre d'Ottokar is a direct reaction to the Anschluss. The threat of dictatorship against the king of Syldavia is an incentive for the Belgians to love and protect their king.
On December 14 in duplex in Brussels and Paris, Millon sells the original art 22 x 25 cm in black ink and some blue pencil for a cover of Le Petit Vingtième, published on July 20, 1939, lot 30 estimated € 350K, illustrated in the article shared by Le Soir. Like many other drawings by Hergé, it was dedicated much later when the artist presented it to a friend.
This large drawing is important for two reasons. It is a fine example of the clear line of Hergé, perfectly mastered just before the Second World War. It shows a highly emotional scene of Le Sceptre d'Ottokar when Milou (Snowy the dog) saves the monarchy by bringing back to the king the stolen scepter.
1939 The Adventures of Tintin and Moulinsart
2010 SOLD 243 K€ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Last year the Moulinsart company, holder of the rights derived from the work of Hergé, was entering the auction world with an original approach which was successful. Hergé drew much for his albums and for his friends and his art is dispersed. Moulinsart has prompted owners of lots related to Tintin to sell at auction at Rops in Namur on May 10, 2009.
After this first success, a new sale is organized in Paris by Piasa on May 29. It includes as the star lot the original drawing of the double page numbers 75 and 76 of le Sceptre d'Ottokar (King Ottokar's Sceptre), 60 x 40 cm, published on April 27, 1939 in le Petit Vingtième magazine.
In 1939, the publication is still in black and white. The original drawings are executed in black ink with areas in blue watercolor. Line corrections are made by the artist in white gouache.
Scarcity on the market for the original plates of regular albums justifies an estimate of 250 K €. The Tintinomaniacs will appreciate that Tintin takes in le Sceptre d'Ottokar the look that will remain unchanged (with some minor exceptions) until the last album. In order not to confuse young readers, the previous albums had to be modernized afterwards.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was well targeted. The original double page has been sold 243 K € including premium.
Last year the Moulinsart company, holder of the rights derived from the work of Hergé, was entering the auction world with an original approach which was successful. Hergé drew much for his albums and for his friends and his art is dispersed. Moulinsart has prompted owners of lots related to Tintin to sell at auction at Rops in Namur on May 10, 2009.
After this first success, a new sale is organized in Paris by Piasa on May 29. It includes as the star lot the original drawing of the double page numbers 75 and 76 of le Sceptre d'Ottokar (King Ottokar's Sceptre), 60 x 40 cm, published on April 27, 1939 in le Petit Vingtième magazine.
In 1939, the publication is still in black and white. The original drawings are executed in black ink with areas in blue watercolor. Line corrections are made by the artist in white gouache.
Scarcity on the market for the original plates of regular albums justifies an estimate of 250 K €. The Tintinomaniacs will appreciate that Tintin takes in le Sceptre d'Ottokar the look that will remain unchanged (with some minor exceptions) until the last album. In order not to confuse young readers, the previous albums had to be modernized afterwards.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was well targeted. The original double page has been sold 243 K € including premium.
1941 End of the World proclaimed by the Prophet Philippulus
2012 SOLD 235 K€ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The heat is so terrible that it melts the tar in which Snowy gets stuck. Out of nowhere, a horrible old man pointing to himself as Philippulus le Prophète is walking through the streets for proclaiming the end of the world.
Tintin knows that this heat is related to the proximity of a meteorite whose consequences are unpredictable. Usually boastful and willing to stand up against any abuse in the world, he moves away wearily. Hergé provides a human dimension to his invincible hero.
We are in 1941. L'Etoile Mystérieuse (The Shooting Star), the tenth adventure of Tintin, is gradually released in black and white in the Belgian daily Le Soir. It is war time. In real life, people believe the nonsense of people similar as Philippulus.
The cartoon of Tintin albums will soon change its format due to a new standard for the future color version with 62 pages of four strips. As a precaution, Hergé drew a backup at three strips per page to be ready in case when the publisher decides to come back to the old format.
The backup drawing, 34 x 46 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on July 4 includes strips H16, H17 and H18 with the part of the history summarized above. It is estimated € 220K. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good price, € 235K including premium, in line with the estimate.
The heat is so terrible that it melts the tar in which Snowy gets stuck. Out of nowhere, a horrible old man pointing to himself as Philippulus le Prophète is walking through the streets for proclaiming the end of the world.
Tintin knows that this heat is related to the proximity of a meteorite whose consequences are unpredictable. Usually boastful and willing to stand up against any abuse in the world, he moves away wearily. Hergé provides a human dimension to his invincible hero.
We are in 1941. L'Etoile Mystérieuse (The Shooting Star), the tenth adventure of Tintin, is gradually released in black and white in the Belgian daily Le Soir. It is war time. In real life, people believe the nonsense of people similar as Philippulus.
The cartoon of Tintin albums will soon change its format due to a new standard for the future color version with 62 pages of four strips. As a precaution, Hergé drew a backup at three strips per page to be ready in case when the publisher decides to come back to the old format.
The backup drawing, 34 x 46 cm, for sale by Sotheby's in Paris on July 4 includes strips H16, H17 and H18 with the part of the history summarized above. It is estimated € 220K. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Good price, € 235K including premium, in line with the estimate.
1942 Tintin with the Golden Claws
2009 SOLD 370 K€ including premium
Hergé was a nice father to Tintin. From 1930 to 1939, in the first eight albums, he let him live his life as a boy scout reporter busy fighting against evil and bandits. "Le Vingtième Siècle", which published the strips in his supplement, offered to Hergé an audience that could fully appreciate such a character.
Then it is war. Le Vingtième Siècle ceases publication, and Hergé is now reaching a wider audience with "le Soir" which offers him the place for a daily strip.
Tintin is transformed by this change. Hergé creates an exuberant character, Captain Haddock, which compensates for the courteous and disciplined Tintin. Thereafter the two characters shall never separate.
The first of these new adventures is "le Crabe aux Pinces d'Or" (The Crab with the Golden Claws). It will be the last Tintin album in black and white.
Its cover, designed in 1942, is an icon for Tintin lovers. Nearly 70 years later, having been in color, it still adorns the new editions of this volume. Artcurial sell the original drawing in black ink and pencil lead, 43 x 31 cm, in a frame, on 13 and 14 March in Paris.
This work is estimated 350 K €.
On 29 March 2008, the same auction house had recorded 650 K € before charge on the original gouache for the cover of the third album "Tintin en Amérique" (Tintin in America). I told this story in the French-speaking group of the network, which was not yet bilingual in that early time.
POST SALE COMMENT
This historic drawing (considered as such by Tintin fans) was sold 370 K € charges included.
This is a very good result. It is logical that it has remained below the price paid last year for Tintin en Amérique, as this gouache could be regarded as a relic (by Tintin fans).
Then it is war. Le Vingtième Siècle ceases publication, and Hergé is now reaching a wider audience with "le Soir" which offers him the place for a daily strip.
Tintin is transformed by this change. Hergé creates an exuberant character, Captain Haddock, which compensates for the courteous and disciplined Tintin. Thereafter the two characters shall never separate.
The first of these new adventures is "le Crabe aux Pinces d'Or" (The Crab with the Golden Claws). It will be the last Tintin album in black and white.
Its cover, designed in 1942, is an icon for Tintin lovers. Nearly 70 years later, having been in color, it still adorns the new editions of this volume. Artcurial sell the original drawing in black ink and pencil lead, 43 x 31 cm, in a frame, on 13 and 14 March in Paris.
This work is estimated 350 K €.
On 29 March 2008, the same auction house had recorded 650 K € before charge on the original gouache for the cover of the third album "Tintin en Amérique" (Tintin in America). I told this story in the French-speaking group of the network, which was not yet bilingual in that early time.
POST SALE COMMENT
This historic drawing (considered as such by Tintin fans) was sold 370 K € charges included.
This is a very good result. It is logical that it has remained below the price paid last year for Tintin en Amérique, as this gouache could be regarded as a relic (by Tintin fans).
1942 Jerry Robinson in Full Speed
2011 SOLD 239 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Illustrator specialist in Batman, Jerry Robinson has kept some treasures. In December 2010, then aged 88, he entrusted to ComicConnect the sale of two outstanding original drawings of the best period, one of them made by his colleague in Superman, Fred Ray, and one by him.
The two works remained unsold. One could question the opposite trends of American collectors favoring comic books and of Belgian and French collectors of bandes dessinées who rush to the originals.
Last year the cover art for Detective Comics # 69 had not reached the expected $ 400K.
This year at Heritage, it starts better. Three days before the sale, Robinson's cover art of Detective Comics # 67, also from his collection, has already reached its reserve price, but not yet its estimate of $ 300K.
We see Batman and Robin in run behind the Penguin riding an ostrich. Executed in 1942, this image 32 x 43 cm was the first appearance of the supervillain Penguin, justifying the extreme importance of this lot (at least according to experts ...).
This drawing will be sold on November 16 in Beverly Hills. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 239K including premium, remains far below the expectations. The U.S. market is not yet attracted by original art.
Illustrator specialist in Batman, Jerry Robinson has kept some treasures. In December 2010, then aged 88, he entrusted to ComicConnect the sale of two outstanding original drawings of the best period, one of them made by his colleague in Superman, Fred Ray, and one by him.
The two works remained unsold. One could question the opposite trends of American collectors favoring comic books and of Belgian and French collectors of bandes dessinées who rush to the originals.
Last year the cover art for Detective Comics # 69 had not reached the expected $ 400K.
This year at Heritage, it starts better. Three days before the sale, Robinson's cover art of Detective Comics # 67, also from his collection, has already reached its reserve price, but not yet its estimate of $ 300K.
We see Batman and Robin in run behind the Penguin riding an ostrich. Executed in 1942, this image 32 x 43 cm was the first appearance of the supervillain Penguin, justifying the extreme importance of this lot (at least according to experts ...).
This drawing will be sold on November 16 in Beverly Hills. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, $ 239K including premium, remains far below the expectations. The U.S. market is not yet attracted by original art.
1942 SUPERMAN WILL AVENGE PEARL HARBOR
2010 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The event is significant for the Americans: in December 1941, after Pearl Harbor, the United States enter the war. As always, nothing is left to chance: they employed the most popular stars and icons to heighten the patriotism.
The issue # 14 of Superman magazine is dated January-February 1942. The cover art was entrusted to the specialist, Fred Ray. It is considered as his masterpiece.
Superman, in front view, shows all his strength, as usual. An important detail attracts attention: the American eagle, wings and beak wide open, rests on his elbow raised to the horizontal.
The original drawing before applying color has been preserved. It belongs to a fellow of Fred Ray named Jerry Robinson, Batman cover artist, who sells it at auction at ComicConnect. The sale takes place only on the web, from New York, and ends on December 1.
The work, 43 x 31 cm mounted on 50 x 38 cm board, is estimated $ 500K. On the photo shared by Artdaily, Robinson himself introduces the lot. In his other hand, he holds the original drawing of his cover for Detective Comics # 69, dated November 1942, presented in the same sale and estimated $ 400K.
Previously, the originals were destroyed after use by the printer. We understand the exceptional rarity of these two lots and the excitement of the collectors.
The event is significant for the Americans: in December 1941, after Pearl Harbor, the United States enter the war. As always, nothing is left to chance: they employed the most popular stars and icons to heighten the patriotism.
The issue # 14 of Superman magazine is dated January-February 1942. The cover art was entrusted to the specialist, Fred Ray. It is considered as his masterpiece.
Superman, in front view, shows all his strength, as usual. An important detail attracts attention: the American eagle, wings and beak wide open, rests on his elbow raised to the horizontal.
The original drawing before applying color has been preserved. It belongs to a fellow of Fred Ray named Jerry Robinson, Batman cover artist, who sells it at auction at ComicConnect. The sale takes place only on the web, from New York, and ends on December 1.
The work, 43 x 31 cm mounted on 50 x 38 cm board, is estimated $ 500K. On the photo shared by Artdaily, Robinson himself introduces the lot. In his other hand, he holds the original drawing of his cover for Detective Comics # 69, dated November 1942, presented in the same sale and estimated $ 400K.
Previously, the originals were destroyed after use by the printer. We understand the exceptional rarity of these two lots and the excitement of the collectors.
1943 antoine, please draw an astronomer
2014 unsold
Antoine de Saint Exupéry, after his aviation novels, became the philosophical storyteller of modern life with a single book published simultaneously in English and in French in New York in 1943 : the Little Prince.
The idea of the author is deeply original. The child still has a sense that adults have lost. Saint Exupéry reviews his earliest memories to develop his own conception of the world, simple enough to appeal the children and yet complex enough for the adults to seek and find hermetic meanings.
The idea for the book came a few months earlier when the editor Curtice Hitchcock observed the writer busy to create drawings on the tablecloth of the restaurant. Saint Exupéry executed himself the deliberately childish illustrations for the Little Prince in ink and watercolor, indivisible from the text.
The Turkish astronomer is a politically important character of the tale. He found at the farthest end of the world the tiny asteroid on which the Little Prince is living, but the adults did not believe him because he was not dressed in Western style.
The original art 21 x 24 cm of one of the illustrations of the Little Prince is estimated € 400K, for sale on December 9 in Paris by Artcurial, lot 365. The astronomer lectures his discovery before a paper board covered with mathematical formulas. The image is shown in the post shared by BFMTV.
The idea of the author is deeply original. The child still has a sense that adults have lost. Saint Exupéry reviews his earliest memories to develop his own conception of the world, simple enough to appeal the children and yet complex enough for the adults to seek and find hermetic meanings.
The idea for the book came a few months earlier when the editor Curtice Hitchcock observed the writer busy to create drawings on the tablecloth of the restaurant. Saint Exupéry executed himself the deliberately childish illustrations for the Little Prince in ink and watercolor, indivisible from the text.
The Turkish astronomer is a politically important character of the tale. He found at the farthest end of the world the tiny asteroid on which the Little Prince is living, but the adults did not believe him because he was not dressed in Western style.
The original art 21 x 24 cm of one of the illustrations of the Little Prince is estimated € 400K, for sale on December 9 in Paris by Artcurial, lot 365. The astronomer lectures his discovery before a paper board covered with mathematical formulas. The image is shown in the post shared by BFMTV.
1945 tintin and the booksellers
2015 unsold
Since 1928, the preparation of Le Petit Vingtième engages all the energy of Hergé. His main hero, Tintin, becomes immensely popular.
In 1934, well before the closing of Le Petit Vingtième which will be a consequence of the outbreak of the Second World War, Hergé is working with the editor Casterman commissioned to publish the books.
This collaboration is smart. Casterman helps Hergé to standardize his work, with stories exactly matching 62 pages and with the reissue of the first albums for better readability of the drawings and for a progressive introduction of color.
Despite the war, Casterman is now ready for an increased and international offering of Tintin albums. Around 1943, the publisher invites the artist to prepare a drawing for a promotional folding teaser.
Hergé does not have much available time for this project. He responds to the solicitation of Casterman in 1945 by a drawing 35 x 50 cm to be printed as a poster for the attention of the booksellers with the text 'Les Albums Tintin et Milou sont en vente ici'. This original art is estimated € 650K for sale by Christie's in Paris on March 14, lot 1.
This drawing in black ink is important in the art of Hergé for several reasons.
Tintin occupies almost the entire height of the image. It is probably the biggest drawing executed by Hergé for starring his hero. Tintin's look and clothes have been modernized and are already in the classic ligne claire style to be used in all his post war images.
Not least, the picture is both dynamic and highly commercial. Tintin stumbles while bringing to some bookseller an impressive stack of his own albums. The books that are falling to Snowy's terror exhibit the recognizable drawing of the covers of all the eleven Tintin albums then available at Casterman.
In 1934, well before the closing of Le Petit Vingtième which will be a consequence of the outbreak of the Second World War, Hergé is working with the editor Casterman commissioned to publish the books.
This collaboration is smart. Casterman helps Hergé to standardize his work, with stories exactly matching 62 pages and with the reissue of the first albums for better readability of the drawings and for a progressive introduction of color.
Despite the war, Casterman is now ready for an increased and international offering of Tintin albums. Around 1943, the publisher invites the artist to prepare a drawing for a promotional folding teaser.
Hergé does not have much available time for this project. He responds to the solicitation of Casterman in 1945 by a drawing 35 x 50 cm to be printed as a poster for the attention of the booksellers with the text 'Les Albums Tintin et Milou sont en vente ici'. This original art is estimated € 650K for sale by Christie's in Paris on March 14, lot 1.
This drawing in black ink is important in the art of Hergé for several reasons.
Tintin occupies almost the entire height of the image. It is probably the biggest drawing executed by Hergé for starring his hero. Tintin's look and clothes have been modernized and are already in the classic ligne claire style to be used in all his post war images.
Not least, the picture is both dynamic and highly commercial. Tintin stumbles while bringing to some bookseller an impressive stack of his own albums. The books that are falling to Snowy's terror exhibit the recognizable drawing of the covers of all the eleven Tintin albums then available at Casterman.
1950 Music after the Working Day
2017 withdrawn
One of the reasons for the continued popularity of Norman Rockwell's illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post's cover pages is the variety of his inspiration. After the war, patriotism gives way to burlesque scenes activating many characters.
Rockwell is especially at his best when he is painting scenes of village life. The quiet atmosphere is revealed by a multitude of small details created from individual photos. After the Dutch masters of the 17th century Rockwell carefully checks the realistic geometry of lights and shadows.
By the intimacy of the theme and the complexity of the composition, Shuffleton's Barbershop published by the Saturday Evening Post on April 29, 1950 is one of his most successful covers. The 117 x 109 cm oil on canvas deaccessioned from the Berkshire Museum is estimated $ 20M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 13, lot 10.
The viewer looks through the large shop's window whose inscriptions are truncated at the edges. After the working day the light is off in the room. The stove, the sink, the magazine rack and the cat are waiting for the next day. Three men play their musical instruments in the light of the back shop without a risk of being disturbed.
In his compositions Rockwell re-assembles but does not invent. Rob Shuffleton is in real life the barber of the Vermont village where the artist settled in 1939 and he is also the seated man who holds the cello, half hidden behind the inner door.
In 1951 Rockwell painted another peaceful scene in the interior of a shop. Considered by a survey of readers as his best ever cover page, Saying Grace was sold for $ 46M including premium by Sotheby's on December 4, 2013.
The low resolution image of Shuffleton's Barbershop is shared for fair use by WikiArt :
Rockwell is especially at his best when he is painting scenes of village life. The quiet atmosphere is revealed by a multitude of small details created from individual photos. After the Dutch masters of the 17th century Rockwell carefully checks the realistic geometry of lights and shadows.
By the intimacy of the theme and the complexity of the composition, Shuffleton's Barbershop published by the Saturday Evening Post on April 29, 1950 is one of his most successful covers. The 117 x 109 cm oil on canvas deaccessioned from the Berkshire Museum is estimated $ 20M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on November 13, lot 10.
The viewer looks through the large shop's window whose inscriptions are truncated at the edges. After the working day the light is off in the room. The stove, the sink, the magazine rack and the cat are waiting for the next day. Three men play their musical instruments in the light of the back shop without a risk of being disturbed.
In his compositions Rockwell re-assembles but does not invent. Rob Shuffleton is in real life the barber of the Vermont village where the artist settled in 1939 and he is also the seated man who holds the cello, half hidden behind the inner door.
In 1951 Rockwell painted another peaceful scene in the interior of a shop. Considered by a survey of readers as his best ever cover page, Saying Grace was sold for $ 46M including premium by Sotheby's on December 4, 2013.
The low resolution image of Shuffleton's Barbershop is shared for fair use by WikiArt :
1953 The Clear Line of Edgar P. Jacobs
2015 SOLD for € 205K including premium
The artist Edgar P. Jacobs from Brussels had been a close collaborator to Hergé. When he begins in 1946 his series Blake et Mortimer, he adopts the clear line style (ligne claire) and his stories are obviously welcomed in the new weekly magazine Tintin.
Jacobs seeks to introduce a familiar aspect in the scenery of science fiction, giving a very pleasant illusion of realism in his fantastic scenarios. La Marque Jaune (The Yellow M), located in the atmosphere and fog of London, is his masterpiece.
Jacobs's stories have the same basic elements as the pre-war horror movies: a monster with unlimited powers, innocent victims, the mad scientist, the threat to humanity. The malefic μ mark left by the criminal in La Marque Jaune is inspired by Fritz Lang's M (or more directly by Hergé's Cigars of the Pharaoh). It is hard not to see an influence from Agatha Christie in the successive disappearances from a small group at the beginning of the same story.
On March 14 in Paris, Christie's sells the original art of plate 8 of La Marque Jaune, lot 69 estimated € 100K. This drawing 34 x 45 cm in black ink and graphite heightened with gouache includes the code numbers for the subsequent filling of the phylacteries. It was published in November 1953 in Le Journal de Tintin and in 1956 in the album.
The action is intense throughout the story and this plate is no exception. It includes the atmosphere of a London street, the two good heroes, some police officers, and even the scanning eye of a lesser character for that point in the story who will be later identified as the scientist executing the remote manipulating of the brain of the creature.
Jacobs seeks to introduce a familiar aspect in the scenery of science fiction, giving a very pleasant illusion of realism in his fantastic scenarios. La Marque Jaune (The Yellow M), located in the atmosphere and fog of London, is his masterpiece.
Jacobs's stories have the same basic elements as the pre-war horror movies: a monster with unlimited powers, innocent victims, the mad scientist, the threat to humanity. The malefic μ mark left by the criminal in La Marque Jaune is inspired by Fritz Lang's M (or more directly by Hergé's Cigars of the Pharaoh). It is hard not to see an influence from Agatha Christie in the successive disappearances from a small group at the beginning of the same story.
On March 14 in Paris, Christie's sells the original art of plate 8 of La Marque Jaune, lot 69 estimated € 100K. This drawing 34 x 45 cm in black ink and graphite heightened with gouache includes the code numbers for the subsequent filling of the phylacteries. It was published in November 1953 in Le Journal de Tintin and in 1956 in the album.
The action is intense throughout the story and this plate is no exception. It includes the atmosphere of a London street, the two good heroes, some police officers, and even the scanning eye of a lesser character for that point in the story who will be later identified as the scientist executing the remote manipulating of the brain of the creature.
1964 Superproduction with Cleopatra
2013 SOLD 190 K€ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Asterix has ensured the success of Pilote, the weekly magazine with which it was launched from the first issue in1959. His world of uninterrupted gags pleases the French readers. From 1967, the original editions of new albumsexceed one million copies each.
On the screens, 1963 is the year of the success of Cleopatra, starring Liz Taylor. Goscinny and Uderzo are inspired to design their sixth album, Astérix et Cléopâtre. To state that their work also is pharaonic, the publishers announce that it required, among other goods, 14 liters of black ink, 38 Kg of paper and 67 liters of beer.
The Plate 7, published in Pilote in early 1964, shows through nine images the first introduction of the Gauls to Cleopatra cartooned as a refined and tempered Eastern princess. The original art of this page is estimated € 100K, for sale by Kapandji Morhange in Paris on September 25.
Famous people were favorite targets for the jokes of Asterix. On April 10, 2011, Kahn Dumousset sold € 285K including premium the original art of plate 36 of Astérix Gladiateur, the fourth album. Julius Caesar himself is trying tokeep his composure in a breathtaking chariot race rigged by Asterix.
POST SALE COMMENT
This original art for Asterix was sold for € 190K including premium.
Asterix has ensured the success of Pilote, the weekly magazine with which it was launched from the first issue in1959. His world of uninterrupted gags pleases the French readers. From 1967, the original editions of new albumsexceed one million copies each.
On the screens, 1963 is the year of the success of Cleopatra, starring Liz Taylor. Goscinny and Uderzo are inspired to design their sixth album, Astérix et Cléopâtre. To state that their work also is pharaonic, the publishers announce that it required, among other goods, 14 liters of black ink, 38 Kg of paper and 67 liters of beer.
The Plate 7, published in Pilote in early 1964, shows through nine images the first introduction of the Gauls to Cleopatra cartooned as a refined and tempered Eastern princess. The original art of this page is estimated € 100K, for sale by Kapandji Morhange in Paris on September 25.
Famous people were favorite targets for the jokes of Asterix. On April 10, 2011, Kahn Dumousset sold € 285K including premium the original art of plate 36 of Astérix Gladiateur, the fourth album. Julius Caesar himself is trying tokeep his composure in a breathtaking chariot race rigged by Asterix.
POST SALE COMMENT
This original art for Asterix was sold for € 190K including premium.
1973 A Rite of Passage for Spider-Man
2013 SOLD 287 K$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Before the #121 of Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel in 1973, everything was fine for the overpowered hero.Unfortunately for him, they must constantly renew the genre to continue to attract young audiences.
The cover page of #121, signed by John Romita Sr, is a masterpiece of comic thriller. It announces that somebody close to the Spider will die without the hero being able to prevent the tragedy.
Such an event had never happened during the Silver Age of comics. The introduction of such a serious matter plunges suddenly the universe of Marvel into the Bronze Age, thus enabling to offer more and more breathtaking adventures.
Indeed, a major character is killed in #121 by a supervillain, no less than Gwen Stacy who had been since #31, eight years earlier, the valentine girlfriend of Spider-Man! Now, everything is possible, and the fun of awaiting the next issue is now mingled with anguish.
The original drawing art before colors of the #121 cover page, 25 x 38 cm, is estimated $ 200K, for sale by Heritage on February 22 in New York. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price for this drawing that started a new phase in the history of comics: $ 287K including premium.
Before the #121 of Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel in 1973, everything was fine for the overpowered hero.Unfortunately for him, they must constantly renew the genre to continue to attract young audiences.
The cover page of #121, signed by John Romita Sr, is a masterpiece of comic thriller. It announces that somebody close to the Spider will die without the hero being able to prevent the tragedy.
Such an event had never happened during the Silver Age of comics. The introduction of such a serious matter plunges suddenly the universe of Marvel into the Bronze Age, thus enabling to offer more and more breathtaking adventures.
Indeed, a major character is killed in #121 by a supervillain, no less than Gwen Stacy who had been since #31, eight years earlier, the valentine girlfriend of Spider-Man! Now, everything is possible, and the fun of awaiting the next issue is now mingled with anguish.
The original drawing art before colors of the #121 cover page, 25 x 38 cm, is estimated $ 200K, for sale by Heritage on February 22 in New York. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good price for this drawing that started a new phase in the history of comics: $ 287K including premium.
1974 the fantasy world of frank frazetta
2016 sold for $ 1.08m including premium
Frank Frazetta began his career as an artist of comic strips. He then specialized in science fiction illustration for paperback covers. He participated in the creation of Vampirella in 1969.
Creator of Tarzan in 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs led his readers into impossible worlds where primitive humanoids fight antediluvian monsters. His great merit in the history of science fiction novels is to write for the excitement and emotion of the reader, with no intention of social interpretation. Six decades later, Frazetta is the best illustrator of the intense action of Burroughs's creatures.
Barely dressed in a loincloth aside with some jewelry for the women, Frazetta's characters are extremely muscular, confident in their strength to face the unclean beasts that mark their daily lives.
On August 5 in Dallas, Heritage sells at lot 92069 an oil on canvas 55 x 75 cm made in 1974 by Frazetta for the cover page of a reissue of At the Earth's Core by Burroughs.
Dian the Beautiful is in full light in the center of the action. In the foreground, a giant Mahar marine reptile is all claws apart for the attack. The atmosphere is enhanced by the barely visible presence of other simian or reptilian enemies in the background. The press release of July 15 announces a target price beyond $ 900K for this masterpiece of science fiction illustration.
Heritage regularly offers important works by Frazetta and the value for this artist is rising. On May 13, 2016, The Norseman, oil on canvas 45 x 60 cm painted in 1972, was sold for $ 450K including premium. A Vampirella brandishing a dagger in a brawl with wild creatures, painted in 1970, was sold for $ 287K including premium on August 2, 2013.
Creator of Tarzan in 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs led his readers into impossible worlds where primitive humanoids fight antediluvian monsters. His great merit in the history of science fiction novels is to write for the excitement and emotion of the reader, with no intention of social interpretation. Six decades later, Frazetta is the best illustrator of the intense action of Burroughs's creatures.
Barely dressed in a loincloth aside with some jewelry for the women, Frazetta's characters are extremely muscular, confident in their strength to face the unclean beasts that mark their daily lives.
On August 5 in Dallas, Heritage sells at lot 92069 an oil on canvas 55 x 75 cm made in 1974 by Frazetta for the cover page of a reissue of At the Earth's Core by Burroughs.
Dian the Beautiful is in full light in the center of the action. In the foreground, a giant Mahar marine reptile is all claws apart for the attack. The atmosphere is enhanced by the barely visible presence of other simian or reptilian enemies in the background. The press release of July 15 announces a target price beyond $ 900K for this masterpiece of science fiction illustration.
Heritage regularly offers important works by Frazetta and the value for this artist is rising. On May 13, 2016, The Norseman, oil on canvas 45 x 60 cm painted in 1972, was sold for $ 450K including premium. A Vampirella brandishing a dagger in a brawl with wild creatures, painted in 1970, was sold for $ 287K including premium on August 2, 2013.
1977 Druillet revisits the Isle of the Dead
2008 SOLD 206 K€ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The drawings made for albums of comics were some working artefacts for the pioneers as Hergé or Franquin. Then they became works of art. A new market was born recently in this area. The fans now struggle for the original drawings of Uderzo, Hugo Pratt, Tardi, Moebius, Enki Bilal and many others.
As a sign of dynamism, the results of the sales often far exceed the estimates, and fans praise works that experts had not necessarily put at the top of their hierarchy.
In 1977, Philippe Druillet designed for an album two full page drawings in ink and gouache, which will be sold separately at lots 184 and 185 in the sale of Millon et Associés salle Drouot in Paris on November 15. There is everything that appeals to fans: the subtlety and precision of drawing, the fantastic subject, the reference to a star work of art history and the reputation of Druillet, who is a steady value for this new market.
As in the Isle of the Dead of Arnold Böcklin and so attributed in the title, a mountain stands in the middle of the sea. It has an anthropomorphic face, and a huge open mouth devours the living ones. The second picture shows two characters who entered the Isle of the Dead. Viewed from Inside, this unlimited hall reminds me the Carceri of Piranesi.
For each of these large drawings (101 x 66 cm), prepare 40 K €. But read also what I wrote above : what is the meaning of the estimates?
POST SALE COMMENT
It is a real pleasure to welcome a particularly intelligent outcome. Both drawings were eventually sold together for 206 K € fees included.
The market for comics in France is still in perfect health.
The drawings made for albums of comics were some working artefacts for the pioneers as Hergé or Franquin. Then they became works of art. A new market was born recently in this area. The fans now struggle for the original drawings of Uderzo, Hugo Pratt, Tardi, Moebius, Enki Bilal and many others.
As a sign of dynamism, the results of the sales often far exceed the estimates, and fans praise works that experts had not necessarily put at the top of their hierarchy.
In 1977, Philippe Druillet designed for an album two full page drawings in ink and gouache, which will be sold separately at lots 184 and 185 in the sale of Millon et Associés salle Drouot in Paris on November 15. There is everything that appeals to fans: the subtlety and precision of drawing, the fantastic subject, the reference to a star work of art history and the reputation of Druillet, who is a steady value for this new market.
As in the Isle of the Dead of Arnold Böcklin and so attributed in the title, a mountain stands in the middle of the sea. It has an anthropomorphic face, and a huge open mouth devours the living ones. The second picture shows two characters who entered the Isle of the Dead. Viewed from Inside, this unlimited hall reminds me the Carceri of Piranesi.
For each of these large drawings (101 x 66 cm), prepare 40 K €. But read also what I wrote above : what is the meaning of the estimates?
POST SALE COMMENT
It is a real pleasure to welcome a particularly intelligent outcome. Both drawings were eventually sold together for 206 K € fees included.
The market for comics in France is still in perfect health.
1981 GASTON LAGAFFE RETRIEVED BY HIS BOSS
2009 SOLD 54 K€ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The bande dessinée is a Franco-Belgian specialty. The humor is often nice and subtle, as opposed to the brutality of some comics from other countries.
The characters of André Franquin are popular and appreciated. Artcurial sells in Paris on March 14 an original sheet in China ink made in 1981, 61 x 37 cm. Ten images are splitted into four strips, constituting the full story.
We see the do-nothing clerk Gaston Lagaffe (Gaston the Blunder) busy reading a magazine showing the journey of the Voyager spacecraft in the solar system. He dreams he is on a satellite of Saturn, with his always admiring colleague m'oiselle Jeanne (miss Jane). The story ends badly: the boss of Gaston and Jeanne, dressed as an astronaut, just look for them to treat the late mail. The scoop is that the mail to be treated is so abundant that it is constituting ... the rings of Saturn.
This little wonder that only French speaking people will appreciate is estimated 50 K €.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is in line with expectations: 54 K € premium included.
The bande dessinée is a Franco-Belgian specialty. The humor is often nice and subtle, as opposed to the brutality of some comics from other countries.
The characters of André Franquin are popular and appreciated. Artcurial sells in Paris on March 14 an original sheet in China ink made in 1981, 61 x 37 cm. Ten images are splitted into four strips, constituting the full story.
We see the do-nothing clerk Gaston Lagaffe (Gaston the Blunder) busy reading a magazine showing the journey of the Voyager spacecraft in the solar system. He dreams he is on a satellite of Saturn, with his always admiring colleague m'oiselle Jeanne (miss Jane). The story ends badly: the boss of Gaston and Jeanne, dressed as an astronaut, just look for them to treat the late mail. The scoop is that the mail to be treated is so abundant that it is constituting ... the rings of Saturn.
This little wonder that only French speaking people will appreciate is estimated 50 K €.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is in line with expectations: 54 K € premium included.
1981 THE ALTER EGO OF HUGO PRATT
2009 UNSOLD
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Hugo Pratt, adventurer and globe traveler, crosses the world by observing it with subtlety and irony. Politically, he is not committed, although his preferences for popular and social trends are known.
Corto Maltese behaves like Hugo Pratt, who invented him and made him the hero of his best known comic book series. The fictional character, born 40 years before his author, is involved in international events that the artist would have liked to live.
The adolescent Pratt, who is Italian, sees the attempted colonization of Abyssinia, which was one of the causes of the Second World War. For his hero at the same age, he chose the Russo-Japanese war.
The full sketch of La Giovinezza consists of 131 strips of 16 x 48 cm in black ink and marker pen. Artcurial sells this set assembled in 33 framed sheets in Paris on November 21. This lot is estimated 250 K €.
The album of this story was published in Italian in 1981 and in French in 1983.
POST SALE COMMENT
Collectors prefer drawings in ink and watercolor, especially those made for the covers of albums. The drawing made by Pratt for the cover of Corto Maltese en Sibérie (1979) has been sold 247 K € on an estimate of 90 K €.
On the other side the set of strips preparing for a full album, which I discussed in my article, remained unsold. French buyers would probably prefer that this set is in their language and not in Italian. Here is the image of one page (four strips) shared before the sale by ActuaLitté (illustration above left).
Hugo Pratt, adventurer and globe traveler, crosses the world by observing it with subtlety and irony. Politically, he is not committed, although his preferences for popular and social trends are known.
Corto Maltese behaves like Hugo Pratt, who invented him and made him the hero of his best known comic book series. The fictional character, born 40 years before his author, is involved in international events that the artist would have liked to live.
The adolescent Pratt, who is Italian, sees the attempted colonization of Abyssinia, which was one of the causes of the Second World War. For his hero at the same age, he chose the Russo-Japanese war.
The full sketch of La Giovinezza consists of 131 strips of 16 x 48 cm in black ink and marker pen. Artcurial sells this set assembled in 33 framed sheets in Paris on November 21. This lot is estimated 250 K €.
The album of this story was published in Italian in 1981 and in French in 1983.
POST SALE COMMENT
Collectors prefer drawings in ink and watercolor, especially those made for the covers of albums. The drawing made by Pratt for the cover of Corto Maltese en Sibérie (1979) has been sold 247 K € on an estimate of 90 K €.
On the other side the set of strips preparing for a full album, which I discussed in my article, remained unsold. French buyers would probably prefer that this set is in their language and not in Italian. Here is the image of one page (four strips) shared before the sale by ActuaLitté (illustration above left).
1982 Tintin, it was Hergé
2017 SOLD for € 110K before fees
Hergé suspended the creation of the Adventures of Tintin after Les Bijoux de la Castafiore, completed in 1962. When he took up the pencil again four years later he was already tired and worked slowly. Only two complete albums followed, in 1968 and 1976.
Hergé considered himself as the exclusive owner of the universe of his heroes. When his assistants rightly worrying about his health tried to organize a continuation of his work, he resisted fiercely, stating in an interview quoted by Wikipedia : "To live Tintin, to live Haddock, Tournesol, the Dupondt, all the others, I believe that I am the only one who can do it : Tintin is me, exactly as Flaubert said : Madame Bovary, it's me !" No one will know what sort of end he had planned for his story Tintin et l'Alph-Art stopped by his death.
During his last years Hergé accepted with complacency the cultural solicitations. He prepared in 1979 a fresco for the new Centre Culturel de Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris. A draft drawing 34 x 72 cm lining more than thirty characters was sold for HK $ 8.1M including premium by Artcurial on October 3, 2016.
In 1982 Hergé worked on a project of fresco for the two walls along the platforms of the future Stockel metro station in Brussels. For these two murals 135 m long each, he made sketches on the scale of about 1/100. After the death of the author in 1983 these drawings were used as models for the final art.
Retained by a member of the team and totally unknown until now, this pair of sketches 85 and 95 cm long and 3.5 cm high will be sold by Librairie Lhomme in Liège on October 21, lot 22here shared on the DrouotLive bidding platform.
Hergé had demonstrated for that last time all his verve in these dynamic drawings which gather overall about 140 of his characters in funny attitudes copied from the albums. The price of this ultimate work in a format that was unique in Hergé's art is impossible to anticipate.
Hergé considered himself as the exclusive owner of the universe of his heroes. When his assistants rightly worrying about his health tried to organize a continuation of his work, he resisted fiercely, stating in an interview quoted by Wikipedia : "To live Tintin, to live Haddock, Tournesol, the Dupondt, all the others, I believe that I am the only one who can do it : Tintin is me, exactly as Flaubert said : Madame Bovary, it's me !" No one will know what sort of end he had planned for his story Tintin et l'Alph-Art stopped by his death.
During his last years Hergé accepted with complacency the cultural solicitations. He prepared in 1979 a fresco for the new Centre Culturel de Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris. A draft drawing 34 x 72 cm lining more than thirty characters was sold for HK $ 8.1M including premium by Artcurial on October 3, 2016.
In 1982 Hergé worked on a project of fresco for the two walls along the platforms of the future Stockel metro station in Brussels. For these two murals 135 m long each, he made sketches on the scale of about 1/100. After the death of the author in 1983 these drawings were used as models for the final art.
Retained by a member of the team and totally unknown until now, this pair of sketches 85 and 95 cm long and 3.5 cm high will be sold by Librairie Lhomme in Liège on October 21, lot 22here shared on the DrouotLive bidding platform.
Hergé had demonstrated for that last time all his verve in these dynamic drawings which gather overall about 140 of his characters in funny attitudes copied from the albums. The price of this ultimate work in a format that was unique in Hergé's art is impossible to anticipate.
1983 THE RICHEST DUCK IN THE WORLD
2010 SOLD 161 K$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Carl Barks was hired in 1935 as a creator of cartoon gags in the Donald Duck team of the Walt Disney Company. He stepped down in 1942, but remained in the world of Disney characters. He devoted six decades of his life to the adventures of the Duck family.
After leaving Disney, he specialized in comic books. He gave Donald a family, a city, a history. The invention in 1947 of Scrooge McDuck became his best source of gags. Indeed by his own excesses, this pompous and misanthropic character is the most human and therefore the funniest of the ducks.
On August 6 in Dallas, Heritage sells an oil painting from 1983 titled "An Embarrassment of Riches". Its relatively large size, 62 x 50 cm, is because this artwork served as an original for a lithography. It is the star lot of a set of ten paintings, for sale separately for a total expected around 700 K $.
Typical of the universe of Uncle Scrooge, it was the favorite painting of Barks. In the huge money bin littered with gold coins, the Duck family uses various tools of geometry and surveying to determine the wealth of Scrooge by measuring the volume of his treasure. It is illustrated in the press release shared by the auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
The accuracy of the estimates made by Heritage Auction Galleries amazes me. They expected $ 700K for the ten paintings. Sold separately as expected, they have reached a total of 686 K $ including premium.
"An Embarrassment of Riches" is without question the most important of the ten works. This painting was sold 161 K $ including premium.
Carl Barks was hired in 1935 as a creator of cartoon gags in the Donald Duck team of the Walt Disney Company. He stepped down in 1942, but remained in the world of Disney characters. He devoted six decades of his life to the adventures of the Duck family.
After leaving Disney, he specialized in comic books. He gave Donald a family, a city, a history. The invention in 1947 of Scrooge McDuck became his best source of gags. Indeed by his own excesses, this pompous and misanthropic character is the most human and therefore the funniest of the ducks.
On August 6 in Dallas, Heritage sells an oil painting from 1983 titled "An Embarrassment of Riches". Its relatively large size, 62 x 50 cm, is because this artwork served as an original for a lithography. It is the star lot of a set of ten paintings, for sale separately for a total expected around 700 K $.
Typical of the universe of Uncle Scrooge, it was the favorite painting of Barks. In the huge money bin littered with gold coins, the Duck family uses various tools of geometry and surveying to determine the wealth of Scrooge by measuring the volume of his treasure. It is illustrated in the press release shared by the auction house.
POST SALE COMMENT
The accuracy of the estimates made by Heritage Auction Galleries amazes me. They expected $ 700K for the ten paintings. Sold separately as expected, they have reached a total of 686 K $ including premium.
"An Embarrassment of Riches" is without question the most important of the ten works. This painting was sold 161 K $ including premium.
2009 ENKI BILAL AFTER APOCALYPSE
2009 SOLD 36.5 K€ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The auction house Artcurial is developing a vocation to participate actively in cultural events in Paris. Its exhibition rooms of the Hôtel Dassault, avenue des Champs-Elysées, meets particularly well such a trend.
Artcurial is also known for its prestige sales of albums, originals and artifacts of the Francophone comic strips from the origins to the most recent.
Enki Bilal is one of the masters of futurist strips. On 24 March 2007, Artcurial totaled € 1.3 million including premium on 32 of his drawings embellished with acrylic and pastel. The highest price, 177 K €, was recorded on a large drawing, 90 x 63 cm, made for the album Bleu Sang, showing a couple embracing.
The last album of Bilal, just published by Casterman, is titled Animal'z. This is a post-apocalyptic western showing the adventures of humans and animals that have survived the cataclysm. The author emphasizes the dynamism of the action by a quick drawing, this time without the use of acrylic.
Artcurial exhibits the 350 drawings constituting Animal'z until September 10. All of them will be auctioned onSeptember 19. The highest price, 35 K€, is expected on the 38x28 cm drawing which was used for the cover. A man and a big cat are running in the same direction.
The collectors of original strip drawings go to great effort to collect the drawings that come on the unit on the market. Here they have everything at their disposal, in one shot. Will they welcome this initiative?
POST SALE COMMENT
This very innovative sale realized 930 K € fees included. It had been well publicized. As expected, the cover drawing got the highest bid: 36.5 K € fees included.
The auction house Artcurial is developing a vocation to participate actively in cultural events in Paris. Its exhibition rooms of the Hôtel Dassault, avenue des Champs-Elysées, meets particularly well such a trend.
Artcurial is also known for its prestige sales of albums, originals and artifacts of the Francophone comic strips from the origins to the most recent.
Enki Bilal is one of the masters of futurist strips. On 24 March 2007, Artcurial totaled € 1.3 million including premium on 32 of his drawings embellished with acrylic and pastel. The highest price, 177 K €, was recorded on a large drawing, 90 x 63 cm, made for the album Bleu Sang, showing a couple embracing.
The last album of Bilal, just published by Casterman, is titled Animal'z. This is a post-apocalyptic western showing the adventures of humans and animals that have survived the cataclysm. The author emphasizes the dynamism of the action by a quick drawing, this time without the use of acrylic.
Artcurial exhibits the 350 drawings constituting Animal'z until September 10. All of them will be auctioned onSeptember 19. The highest price, 35 K€, is expected on the 38x28 cm drawing which was used for the cover. A man and a big cat are running in the same direction.
The collectors of original strip drawings go to great effort to collect the drawings that come on the unit on the market. Here they have everything at their disposal, in one shot. Will they welcome this initiative?
POST SALE COMMENT
This very innovative sale realized 930 K € fees included. It had been well publicized. As expected, the cover drawing got the highest bid: 36.5 K € fees included.
2013 The Second Thoughts of Harry Potter
2013 SOLD 150 K£
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
With over 400 million copies sold for only seven titles, Harry Potter is a major cultural phenomenon of our time. This huge success has led its author JK Rowling to be involved in multiple charities.
On December 13, 2007 at Sotheby's, a charity auction on the benefit of children had hit the headlines.
After publishing the final Harry Potter book, she had designed The Tales of Beedle the Bard as a private matter, andmade six fully autograph copies to present to friends of whom she had enjoyed the collaboration.
Always skilled in media effects, she executed a seventh copy of Beedle the Bard. Sotheby's had estimated it at £ 50K.Amazon bought it for £ 1.95 M. The edition of this book on the following year also benefited the charities.
On May 21 in London, with the logistical support of Sotheby's, the English PEN founding centre organizes a sale entitled FEST (First Edition Second Thought) in favor of the freedom of writing and reading. Here is the link to the website dedicated to this specific operation.
The idea of FEST is clever. Writers like to annotate a copy of the original edition, by a process of post-creativity. These autographs will excite their future scholars. No less than fifty authors are participating in FEST.
The contribution of JK Rowling is prestigious. On a copy of her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published in 1997, she added 22 original illustrations and annotated many pages with details about her inspiration, for a total of 43 modified pages.
The sale of this book is strictly for private use, but with permission to exhibit in non-profit organizations.
POST SALE COMMENT
Tweet announcing the result of this lot :
JK Rowling annotated 1st edition of Harry Potter goes for £150,000! Thank you. #PENauction
— English PEN (@englishpen) May 21, 2013
With over 400 million copies sold for only seven titles, Harry Potter is a major cultural phenomenon of our time. This huge success has led its author JK Rowling to be involved in multiple charities.
On December 13, 2007 at Sotheby's, a charity auction on the benefit of children had hit the headlines.
After publishing the final Harry Potter book, she had designed The Tales of Beedle the Bard as a private matter, andmade six fully autograph copies to present to friends of whom she had enjoyed the collaboration.
Always skilled in media effects, she executed a seventh copy of Beedle the Bard. Sotheby's had estimated it at £ 50K.Amazon bought it for £ 1.95 M. The edition of this book on the following year also benefited the charities.
On May 21 in London, with the logistical support of Sotheby's, the English PEN founding centre organizes a sale entitled FEST (First Edition Second Thought) in favor of the freedom of writing and reading. Here is the link to the website dedicated to this specific operation.
The idea of FEST is clever. Writers like to annotate a copy of the original edition, by a process of post-creativity. These autographs will excite their future scholars. No less than fifty authors are participating in FEST.
The contribution of JK Rowling is prestigious. On a copy of her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published in 1997, she added 22 original illustrations and annotated many pages with details about her inspiration, for a total of 43 modified pages.
The sale of this book is strictly for private use, but with permission to exhibit in non-profit organizations.
POST SALE COMMENT
Tweet announcing the result of this lot :
JK Rowling annotated 1st edition of Harry Potter goes for £150,000! Thank you. #PENauction
— English PEN (@englishpen) May 21, 2013
