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 past 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. Together they take the viewer on a visual journey of Edward Gorey's creative process to create the sets for this singular production. This remarkable artwork sold for $13, 750.00 (including buyer's premium).

 Images courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries and The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.