Two Gentlemen in a Library

 

Two exciting pieces of original artwork by Edward Gorey recently appeared at auction. The first piece was created in the early 1950's and is part of a series of drawings created by Mr. Gorey the scope of which has remained largely unknown until recently. An archive of 26 related drawings from this series was discussed in my blog post here: https://goreyana.blogspot.com/2019/07/early-gorey-artwork-found.html. (The second piece from the auction will be discussed in an upcoming post.)

In this piece, two gentlemen are shown in discussion within a library where one of the men is in a colorful robe and slippers is settled on a chaise lounge reading a book with refreshments near at hand as if he is spending the day relaxing at a spa. The second gentleman is dressed in a fur trimmed greatcoat and is holding a small idol. He has stopped by the library to briefly discuss something with the reclining man. Even more unusual than the setting are the curling blue tattoos covering the second man's head and exposed hands. The tattoos mimic the pattern on the velvet pillow and the design of the carpet. This piece has a beautifully balanced composition and a masterful use of color.

I first saw this piece at the "new" Gotham Book Mart sometime between 2004 and 2006 when it was offered to me by Andreas Brown. Unfortunately, at the time I was unable to add this piece to my collection. Mr. Brown was unsure where to place this piece in Edward Gorey's artistic timeline and he told me it was an early drawing that Mr. Gorey watercolored "for fun" in the 1960's. With the recent discovery of numerous related pieces in private collections and within the Gorey Archive, research by various people (including Mr. Brown before his passing) is revealing the correct history of this piece and Mr. Gorey's early works.

Beginning in the late 1940's, Edward Gorey created a series of wildly extravagant pen & ink and watercolor pieces. Each of these works featured gentlemen who have collectively become know as "Earbrass" in reference to the main character in Mr. Gorey's first published work, The Unstrung Harp (Duell, Sloane and Pierce/Little, Brown and Company, 1953). Viewed as a suite of drawings, it is obvious that Mr. Gorey was stretching his artist muscles, honing his technique and refining how he would create images. His figure changes in subtle ways, as does his technique, growing more confident until the publication of The Unstrung Harp. With its solid composition, fully formed figures and confident use of color, Two Gentlemen in a Library would have been completed between 1950 and 1953.

While there are many black and white drawings from this time period, Edward Gorey boldly experimented with color and subject matter in these pieces.  The Russian Tea (this piece was sold at Swann in 2019) has muted tones of brown, blue, green and purple, while Orange Sky (a piece in the Gorey Archives that was featured on Instagram and Facebook) is almost blinding in it choice of saturated color. It should be noted that these works were not titled by Mr. Gorey as they were created as stand alone pieces and were not part of a narrative storyline. Each piece stands alone amongst its siblings and each piece suggests an intriguing self contained narrative.

Plunger Artwork

 

The recent Illustration Art auction at Swann Auction Galleries offered six lots of original artwork by Edward Gorey. The lots represented three distinct drawing styles practiced by Mr. Gorey - the classic finely detailed pen & ink drawing, a loose watercolor painting style, and Mr. Gorey's "cartoon" style.

Edward Gorey often worked in the cartoon style for pieces that would appear in magazines, poster designs, and newspapers. The look is bold and less detailed than his traditional drawing style for a reason - these images would be printed smaller or considerably larger than the artwork itself and for the image to "read" properly the details are simplified. The cartoon style often includes shots of bright watercolor details that would make the image "pop" on the page.

Two pieces included in the sale were (most likely) created for The Harvard Review. Each drawing shows formally attired people with brightly colored plungers presumably covering holes in the floor and walls. The first drawing shows a man and a woman working to plug up holes in a confined space, while in the second two couples are being menaced by giant snakes as they work. The attire and look of the people in both drawings calls to mind 1960's British "mod" fashions which Edward Gorey often used to costume people in his magazine illustrations. The first, smaller vertical drawing is now in my personal collection.

Habitions Mental Illness

One of the more "original" pieces of original artwork by Edward Gorey included in the July 16, 2020 Illustration Art Auction at Swann Galleries was Habitions Mental Illness. This piece is something of a humorous enigma. The title, written in pencil across the bottom of the drawing by someone other than Mr. Gorey is presumably correct, but no publication has yet been discovered. In the upper right hand corner, Andreas Brown's distinctive handwriting says, "UNPUBLISHED?", but this was probably a guess on the part of Mr. Brown.

Most likely, this piece was done for a magazine article. The denotation "Right" suggests that it is possibly one half of a pair of drawings or that there was a title to the left on a facing page. The artwork has the notation, "For Aaron Fine" and is signed in ink. The figures and signature are stylistically consistent with pieces drawn in the late 1960's and 70's. There is a gentle matte line above and below the image which indicates that the piece was framed and displayed for a time in a home or office and exposed to sunlight in the frame.

Mr. Gorey often gifted or sold drawings to professional colleagues (agents, editors, publishers, art directors, etc.), friends, or fans who showed an appreciation for his efforts. During the 90's there was heightened interest from collectors in obtaining original artwork, and The Gotham Book Mart was the place where a knowledgeable collector began their search. Gotham bought and sold collections and individual pieces of original artwork and it can be presumed that Mr. Fine or his estate sold the drawing to Gotham in 1998 and that Andreas Brown then sold the piece to a collector. 

Each person depicted in this piece is in a state of physical and mental distress. The physical maladies are best described as quirky. The woman holding the hatchet has two right hands! Given the overall subject of this piece, this may have been intentional, but one has to admit it is odd.

A favorite, slightly racy member of the party is the woman in the upper left corner who is holding what appears to be a breast in each hand. Are her breasts detachable or is she considering enhancement surgery? 

Mr. Gorey has painted in the background using a brush and black ink instead of cross hatching the entire drawing. In the photo of the artwork the brush strokes are obvious. When the image was printed, the black would solidify. This piece is a prime example of how a piece will change when printed, and how Mr. Gorey understood exactly how the printed image would turn out.

Auction News - A New Record Price

A new record price was set at auction today for a piece of original artwork by Edward Gorey at Swann Auction Galleries. Lot 160 featured a matched pair of drawings framed together that were created as part of the theatrical environment for Amphigorey, A Musicale. The drawings, drawn at a 1/2" = 1' scale were reproduced as cutout "theatrical boxes" with life sized figures and hung on either side of the stage at the Perry Street Theater. The effect when entering the theater was that there were already well heeled audience members awaiting the start of the production.

This exciting pair of drawings was given to actor/producer Kevin McDermott by Mr. Gorey when he was fundraising for the production of Off Broadway production of The Gorey Details. The drawings have been in a private collection since 1999/2000. Estimated at $4000.00 to $6000.00, the final auction sale price (including buyer's premium) was $22,500.00. The previous auction record of $18,750.00 for a work by Edward Gorey was also achieved at Swann in 2017 (see my post https://goreyana.blogspot.com/2017/03/auction-news_23.html).

Puzzled?

Jigsaw puzzles continue to be a favorite pandemic pastime as everyone is encouraged to spend more time sheltered in place. For the Goreyphile, a picture puzzle with an intricate image by Edward Gorey is a great way to spend some time sharpening the eye and relaxing.

My collection of Gorey puzzles includes all but one of the puzzles that have been commercially available - the 100 piece Bibliophile With Cats puzzle. The other puzzles include a vintage Dracula Poster puzzle and the 8 puzzles published by Pomegranate that range from 300 to 1000 pieces. The vintage Dracula is only available on the secondary market, but the other puzzles can be ordered from The Edward Gorey House Store https://goreystore.com  or from other online sources.

The difficulty level of these puzzles also varies greatly both with the piece count and image. Here is how I rate the level of challenge:

Easy

Bibliophile With Cats 100 pieces

Seventeen Cats 300 pieces

Dancing Cats 300 pieces

Dracula (vintage) 500 pieces

Challenging

Edward Gorey's Book Covers 1000 pieces

Gorey Theater 1000 pieces

Edward Gorey An Exhibition (God in Jammies) 1000 pieces

Difficult

Dracula in Dr. Seward's Library 500 pieces

Frawgge Mfg Co 1000 pieces

Drive You To Distraction

Cat Fancy 1000 piece - Honestly, I had to give up and put it away. Perhaps I will try it again some day.

Consuelo Joerns 1925 - 2020

Consuelo Joerns has passed at the age of 94. Ms. Joerns was Edward Gorey's close lifelong friend since they attended the Frances W. Parker School together. Her obituary is here: https://www.stronghancock.com/obituary/Consuelo-Joerns?fbclid=IwAR1vUBhNibu2bOLMdLzkxXN0GI-mMmWI0o05aU5z1VSa9roQoX60yrqJdIM

Button Storage

As we spend more time at home arranging and rearranging our collections, we occasionally run into problematic items like the pinback buttons from Edward Gorey's theatrical entertainments. After years of residing in a silver loving cup trophy, my husband chose an appropriately Goreyesque fabric and sewed me a bell pull to display the buttons. It still needs an oversized tassel on the end, but they are out of the trophy on display.