Gorey Biography

The new biography of Edward Gorey by author Mark Dery has its cover. Watch for this upcoming publication to arrive in Fall 2018.

Gorey Exhibition

Need ta break from your winter dull drums? Refresh yourself with a visit to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut and take in their exhibition, Gorey's Worlds. The exhibition, which opens on February 10 and continues through May 6, will showcase artwork that inspired Edward Gorey and informed his personal work.

After Edward Gorey passed away in 2000, the Wadsworth received a legacy from the artist of 73 art pieces that he collected and lived with in his Cape Cod home. The prints, photographs, and drawings range in date from the 19th century to the 1980's. The exhibition will give viewers an extraordinary insight into the artwork that inspired Mr. Gorey and that he viewed daily in his home. This is the first time since their donation that the pieces are being exhibited.

Also included in the exhibition will be original art by Edward Gorey that has been culled from the Gorey Archives and several collectors.

The core exhibition will travel to the Tacoma Art Museum from June 23 - September 30, 2018. A catalog of the exhibition will be forthcoming. For more information on the Wadsworth, the exhibition, and related programming at the museum go HERE.

Artwork shown above: Haunted America by Edward Gorey: watercolor, pen & ink 1990. The Woman and the Bear by Edvard Munch, lithograph 1908-9. Passageway by Eugene Atget, gelatin silver print, N.d..

I is for Influence

Author Sue Grafton, an author of a detective novels, passed away on December 28th at the age of 77. Her detective series had an alphabetical theme, beginning with A is for Alibi published in 1982, and continued through her final novel Y is for Yesterday published in 2017. Ms. Grafton had intended to end the series with Z is for Zero but had not begun writing the book at the time of her death.

According to her New York Times obituary, Ms. Grafton credited Edward Gorey's 1963 work The Gashlycrumb Tinies as her inspiration for the alphabetical structure of the series:

“I was smitten with all those little Victorian children being dispatched in various ways,” she told The New York Times in 2015. “ ‘A is for Amy who fell down the stairs; B is for Basil assaulted by bears; C is for Clara who wasted away; D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh.’ Edward Gorey was deliciously bent.”

I is for inspiration!

Dick Cavett Interview

If one pokes around the YouTube universe, you can find several filmed sequences of Edward Gorey being interviewed. All are entertaining and give insights into Mr. Gorey's personality. Of particular interest is the November 30, 1977 interview Mr. Gorey gave on the Dick Cavett show.

Edward Gorey does not appear particularly at ease during the interview, but his recent success on Broadway with Dracula has put him in the spotlight. He often fidgets in his chair and produces several loud, nervous coughs during his half hour chat with Mr. Cavett. It is an interview that is worth viewing however. When given the opportunity to expound on a subject, Mr. Gorey is informative and entertaining, and his hands are fascinating to watch for their expressiveness, especially in repose.

The typescript of the full interview has been published in the book Ascending Peculiarity, but spending the half hour with Edward Gorey in person adds a layer of depth to the interview that is not present in the transcript. While watching the interview, it is easy to see how Edward Gorey could be played successfully on film by actor Jim Parsons. The full interview can be viewed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cng3K8FGj28&index=4&list=PL5ZxYsLy1tzGBy6dFBLWE6YsBuk4Yzi3E