Limited Edition Print

Continuing the year long celebration of 100th anniversary of Edward Gorey's birth, the  Edward Gorey Charitable Trust is creating a special limited edition fine art commemorative print. Reproducing artwork from the Edward Gorey Archive, Skeleton Dance is a triptych executed in an expressive drawing style by Mr. Gorey. 

Skeleton Dance features a pencil thin femme fatale engaging in a Danse Macabre with an even thinner dance partner. The images crackle with movement and tension. Is she being lured to her ultimate destruction or is she seducing him to do her bidding?

Printed in exacting detail on fine art paper and presented in a custom archival matte, this exciting print is available for pre-order until Friday July 4. The final edition size will be determined by the number of prints pre-ordered. To reserve your copy go HERE. 

 

Auction News

Considering that 2025 is the centennial of Edward Gorey's birth, the auction market featuring original art by the artist has been a bit quiet. 

Notable exceptions include the Femme Fatale with a Cigarette drawing from Leaves From A Mislaid Album (Gotrham Book Mart, 1972) that sold at Bohnam's Auctions in April (see my post from April 13, 2025), and the collage of Vampire Bat Drawings and Sketches that sold at Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art auction on June 18, 2025.

Edward Gorey designed the sets and costumes for the 1973 Broadway production of Dracula, visually referencing the 1931 movie that starred Bela Lugosi in the title role. Through his signature crosshatch drawing style Mr. Gorey created an environment that evoked the suspenseful look and feel of the black and white movie. 

In a burst of inspirational genius, Edward Gorey did not just recreate the movie sets, he filled the stage with a seemingly endless variety of bats. Virtually every architectural detail, piece of furniture and costume was decorated with a bat motif. To this end, Mr. Gorey filled sketchbooks with drawings of bats.

On June 5, 2018 several sketchbook pages with Dracula bat designs were sold at Swann.  

The artwork auctioned at Swann this week is a collage of more than half a dozen clippings of bat drawings. Some of the drawings are expressive sketches, while others are fully realized finished pieces of art. Collectively, they take the viewer on a visual journey of Edward Gorey's creative process to embellish the set for this singular production. This remarkable artwork sold for $13,750 (including buyer's premium).

Images courtesy Russell Lehrer, Swann Auction Galleries, Brady Schwind, and The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust. 

Actress Valerie Mahaffey

Actress Valerie Mahaffey has died at the age of 71. Amongst her extensive acting credits on screen, television and stage was her 1979 Broadway performance as Lucy Steward in the Edward Gorey Production of Dracula opposite Raul Julia in the title role. Ms Mahaffey replaced Ann Sachs, the original Lucy.

 

(Photograph by Kenn Duncan. For more images of Mahaffey and Julia in the play, visit the New York Public Library Digital Collections https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?q=valerie+mahaffey+dracula)