Auction News: The Happy Ending

Edward Gorey's original artwork for The Happy Ending sold at Doyle Auction House in New York City on March 22, 2022 for $20,160.00 (hammer price plus buyer's premium). This exceptional full color piece was published 49 years ago in the March 1973 issue of National Lampoon Magazine. This was the "cover" for Mr. Gorey's five page spread that also included 12 black and white single panel cartoons (see my post from July 29, 2013).

The beautifully rendered image was very poorly printed in the magazine. In the print version, Edward Gorey's careful modulation of color was ignored and a sickly yellow green tone insinuates itself throughout the image. The shift in color flattens the painting, altering the focus and destroying the dramatic power of the piece. This is a prime example of how an artist's intent can be destroyed by insensitive reproduction.

The Doyle listing notes that this piece was consigned by the estate of Kathryn Graham. Ms. Graham (1947 - 2020) was a psychotherapist with a masters in social work. In 2005, she published a lengthy essay titled The Devils Own Art: Topiary In Children's Fiction (Children's Literature, Volume 33, published by Johns Hopkins University Press). Alongside several contemporary illustrators and antecedents, Edward Gorey's use of topiary in his works is discussed. The full essay can be read here:

https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/25442/33.1graham.pdf?sequence=1