Edward Gorey was a imaginative illustrator who was master at creating intricately detailed artworks. While his drawings are highly prized and collected as works of art in their own right, Mr. Gorey's original intention in creating the pieces was to illustrate books, stories, articles, cards and posters. Because his focus was on how and image would be reproduced rather than on the artwork itself, it is not unusual to find corrections on the original art.
Trained "on the job" while working at Anchor Publishing in the 1950's, Edward Gorey intimately understood the printing process of the time and knew how to best create images for reproduction. As an illustrator for hire, he also understood printing deadlines and would take the most expedient path to finishing a piece. This meant that when a drawing required a change, he would have to decide how to fix the problem swiftly. His three options were to either rework, repair, or redraw the piece of artwork.
Rework - The simplest way to correct an errant line in a pen and ink illustration is to use opaque white paint. This method is universally adapted by illustrators but not by fine artists. A small dab of opaque white paint is applied to hide the offending line which then becomes invisible when photographed for printing.
This correction is usually noticeable to the naked eye when viewing the art in person but since the intent of the drawing is reproduction, the fix is invisible in the final printed piece. These quick fixes can sometimes become quite noticeable if the paper tones over time whereas the paint remains bright white.
The paper for both the Fonthill dust jacket/spine and the Un Cadeau Ennuyeux pieces have toned over time to show the painted corrections. The Fonthill drawing, which shows rather extensive correction appears to have been completely finished when something was either spilled nearby or there was an ink spatter while creating the work. The Un Cadeau Ennuyeux correction is a minor typography fix which would hardly call attention to itself but for the discoloration of the paper.
Repair - For more extensive changes, the illustrator can repair an image by "pasting up" a new piece of paper over the problem area and then correcting the image. This choice is most often employed because the drawing has been completed or is nearing completion, so the artist uses this method to make major adjustments to the image rather than starting over. Paste-ups are be found fairly frequently on Edward Gorey's illustrations, especially when typography within the image needs to be changed.
The cover art for The Worsted Monster, an unpublished book created in the 1950's by Edward Gorey, clearly shows the title paste-up precariously held in place by dried out glue. Nudging the paste-up, the title fell off quite easily to expose the original title lettering.
After neutralizing the dried glue, the original title was reattached to the artwork using archival materials.
Redraw - The most extreme method of fixing a drawing is to start over completely. This is undertaken either because the image needs so many changes that it cannot be modified, or because the artist realizes very quickly that they should stop and begin again.
A prime example of replacing an image is Les Insectes Cyclistes from The Broken Spoke (1976). Initially assumed to be a sketch for the final art, it becomes obvious that Edward Gorey was working on the final artwork when he changed his mind as to how he was rendering the long legged insect's antenna. In the abandoned attempt, the antenna is lush and feathery while in the final artwork, the antenna is drawn as a thin line.The precision in which the first attempt is executed clearly shows that Edward Gorey was creating a final piece of art. Mr. Gorey always started finished drawings by laying down the razor thin border line that would determine the perimeter of the drawing. When sketching out an idea, he might indicate a border but would not take care to render a finely defined line. The figures would also be more loosely rendered in a sketch. So why start over rather than fix with a dab of paint or a paste-up?
The answer lies in the fact that the drawing was in the very early stages and the background was going to be delicately painted in yellow watercolor. Watercolor paint will not cover white correction paint and the edges of the paper used for a paste-up prevent an even surface to the watercolor, so Mr Gorey decided it was best to begin the drawing over.
When considering a purchase of a piece of illustration art, some collectors shy away from works with noticeable corrections, while others celebrate the changes because they show the thought process and involvement of the artist while creating the piece.
Images from my collection, and courtesy Russell Lehrer, Swann Auction Galleries and Freeman's/Hindman Auction House
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