Auction News - A New Record for Gorey Art at Auction

Swann Auction Galleries in New York City held their semiannual Illustration Art Auction on Thursday December 16th. The sale was memorable for the variety and quality of the artwork offered. It also set two new artist auction sale price records. 

The first record came early in the sale for a 1911 masterpiece painting by Edmund Dulac for The Snow Queen which sold for $125,000.00 (hammer price plus buyer's premium). This was followed shortly thereafter by a new record auction price for original artwork by Edward Gorey - $27,500.00 (hammer price plus buyer's premium) for a 1964  pen & ink book cover design for The Dark Beasts, a paperback collection of stories by Frank Belknap Long (this piece has not been added to my collection).

The 7 3/8" x 9 1/4" black and white image (on a 9 1/4" x 11 1/4" sheet) depicting all manner of demons from Hell has an imaginative nightmare quality not often found in Edward Gorey's works. The writhing beasties bare their teeth and claws at one another while fixing their burning eyes on the viewer. The lyrical elegance of the original black and white artwork was somewhat diminished in the final book jacket design due to the addition of a fiery background and masses of blocky white type crowding amongst the creatures.

The nasty Dark Beasts creatures are siblings to the other worldly monsters Mr. Gorey used three years earlier for his 1961 book The Hapless Child. Members of this Hellish family adorn the covers and one hidden monster is hidden in every drawing within the book. In this volume the monsters are more metaphorical than menacing, being silent commentators rather than active participants in unfolding drama.

The Beast's $27,500.00 sale price (hammer price plus buyer's premium) beat the previous record of $22,500.00 (hammer price plus buyer's premium) for a pair of theater drawings sold at Swann in July 2020. 

Along with three other works by Edward Gorey offered at the December 16, 2020 Swann auction, The Dark Beasts was consigned by The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and proceeds from the sale will benefit the Trust's charitable mission statement.

 

Sondheim Collects Gorey

 

While Edward Gorey sent signed postcards to fans who wrote to him, Stephen Sondheim answered his fan mail with concise personal letters. I am a Stephen Sondheim enthusiast, but it never occurred to me to write him a letter - nor for that matter did I ever write to Mr. Gorey asking for an autograph. The passing of Mr. Sondheim on November 26th has unleashed an avalanche of memorabilia being shown on social media and also being offered for sale. 

For my birthday this past week, I received what can only be described as a Holy Grail piece of Sondheim/Gorey memorabilia - a personal letter from 2005 wherein Sondheim is thanking a friend for the gift of a Gorey booklet, also mentioning that he has a significant collection of Edward Gorey's early books. 

A newly formed Instagram page focusing on Mr. Sondheim's correspondence recently showed a letter from 1984 to the same recipient as the 2005 letter now in my collection. In this earlier, more formal missive, Mr. Sondheim credits Burt Shevelove with introducing him to Gorey's works (this earlier letter is not in my collection). 

I do not know whether Gorey and Sondheim ever met; certainly both were involved with theater successes during the same time period and shared a love of language. A collaboration between the two would have been a fascinating project!

Mr. Earbrass Delivers Gifts

 

To celebrate our 42nd anniversary, my husband Bill Campbell once again has surprised me with another Mr. Earbrass toy that he created (to see the toy figure Bill made me last year, Mr. Earbrass Plays Croquet see my post from January 15, 2021 HERE).

Taking inspiration from an Edward Gorey Christmas card image, we find the intrepid Mr. Earbrass in his finest holiday apparel, braving the elements to deliver gifts to his friends. Completely made by hand, this new Earbrass figure is also an old fashioned toy "rocker" that pivots on an interior spring. Bill has been experimenting with this style of toy and Mr. Earbrass bobbles front to back and side to side when touched. Each of the gifts he holds is a small wooden box that Bill created and filled with noise making baubles that rattle when the figure is set in motion. You can also turn the head to face in different directions.

 

The rocking motion brings the figure to life, giving the impression that Mr. Earbrass is barely keeping his balance on the icy terrain.

The gift giving Mr. Earbrass joins the previous Mr. Earbrass Plays Croquet incense smoker. When Bill sculpted the head for the first figure, he made a mold so he could create multiple heads as needed. 

While photographing the new toy, the camera caught  Mr. Earbrass' theatrical entrance to the proceedings, looking rather like a candy striped ghost from a production of A Christmas Carol in his native Mortshire.  

 

Gorey Secrets

 

Gorey Secrets by Malcolm Whyte is a veritable treasure trove of behind the scenes information about the many inspirations and influences Edward Gorey drew upon to create his unique books. Concentrating on more than two dozen volumes written and illustrated by Mr. Gorey, Mr. Whyte goes in depth to explore the origins of ideas, and traces visual imagery.

Perhaps the most astounding bit of detection is the backstory behind The Lost Lions, Or Having Opened The Wrong Envelope, a book Edward Gorey self published in 1973 through his Fantod Press imprint. While I am not going to repeat the backstory here, Mr. Whyte's investigative determination to get to the root of this tale is what makes Gorey Secrets such a pleasure to read.

 

Gorey Style

 Vogue recognizes Edward Gorey's unique sense of style and his sartorial influences in this entertaining article.

https://www.vogue.com/article/celebrating-edward-gorey-style-icon?fbclid=IwAR3NisiPAY9-fHJr_Uae3ndBsktKot1OHxZrZGjeXgEtOQRguMsLB3ItoNg

Voyage with a Vampire

 

The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust has been working on expanding their website and a new feature introduced this past week is a Gorey blog. Entries for the blog will be written by different authors on a variety of Gorey related subjects. To kick off this exciting new feature to their website, the Trust invited me to write an entry that would be appropriate for this time of year. The resulting essay, Voyage with a Vampire can be seen here:

 https://edwardgorey.org/2021/10/20/voyage-with-a-vampire?fbclid=IwAR3tX9Vi24B75_1CkmTWLrlhD4jYhiDgKY3R6PYkQ2ro1Y54PvDq1-rs61Y

The Simpsons Go Gorey...Again

 

Every October, The Simpsons produces a Halloween themed program titled Treehouse of Terror that consists of several short horror story segments. This year the have channeled Edward Gorey for The Telltale Bart.

In this segment, a faux Vincent Price is reading Maggie a bedtime story in rhyming couplets ala Edward Gorey extolling Bart's misdeeds during each month of the year. This is not the first time The Simpsons have honored Mr. Gorey with an animated segment - see my post from October 13, 2018 for the Too Short Story. 

 To view The Telltale Bart on YouTube, go HERE.