The Edward Gorey Summer Cocktail Soiree

The excitement is building as the time approaches for the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust Summer Cocktail Soiree. The site is open to purchase tickets to the event and also to view and place bids on the numerous lots of rare works and personal items being offered this year's silent auction. Visit the party site HERE (registration with fee is required to place bids on auction items).

In addition to placing bids for the online auction, you can also outright buy three items being offered (an additional buy it now item has already sold out)! Two limited edition prints featuring color artwork created by Edward Gorey have been specially created by The Trust, both of which are available for immediate purchase. The first print The Galoshes of Remorse was created for the March 22,1993 issue of The New Yorker magazine. This amusing vignette is captioned with a banner reading, “Frivolity, at the edge of a Moral Swamp, hears Hymn-Singing in the Distance and dons the Galoshes of Remorse.”

The second print, Ancient Survivals reproduces images from suite of ink and watercolor drawings made for The Worsted Monster : A Medieval Tale, an unfinished story by Edward Gorey (ca. 1954). The three drawings are titled Classical Spectre, Tattooed Eccentric, and Ancient Survivals. Both of these prints are limited to 50 numbered copies and can be purchased now.

The other item(s) available for immediate purchase are ten copies from the 1980 vintage edition of F.M.R.A. Published in an edition of 426 copies - 400 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies, each housed in a clamshell box, these are the publisher's remaining ten copies of this rare work which have been waiting patiently for 44 years to enhance the collections of today's eager Gorey enthusiasts. Each of the copies in the edition has been hand signed and numbered by Edward Gorey at the time of publication. When donating these final copies for inclusion in this auction, publisher Andrew Alpern has personally hand signed each copy, making these ten boxed sets with both signatures very rare indeed! 

Bid and buy now, these rarities are only available now!

 

Auction News - A Gorey Start to 2024

With the New Year's Eve fireworks still ringing in everyone's ears, 2024 started with a bang at Nadeau's Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut. Their Annual New Year's Day auction included one piece of original art by Edward Gorey. Tennis was #25 of the 46 pieces of original art Mr. Gorey created for his 1974 Graham Gallery exhibition and sale in New York City. Tennis sold for $11,520.00 (hammer price plus buyer's premium), signaling a promising start for pieces by Edward Gorey that may come to auction in the coming year.

Last year the Gorey auction scene also began strong in January 2023 with a $7500.00 price for the cover art Edward Gorey created for the novel Fonthill in 1973. In an enexpected move, this piece of art reappeared at a different auction house in June and failed to sell. 

A complete set of the limited edition etchings Edward Gorey created with Diogenes in 1978 (each print numbered 59/120) sold for $3144.00 at Rago Arts and Auction Center on June 1st, 2023. 

The next auction of Gorey original artworks was the highly anticipated The Edward Gorey Cocktail Party; or, A Nocturne At The Strand fundraiser hosted by the Edward Gorey Charitable Trust on August 9th. Seven pieces of original art were auctioned at the charity event including Cat on a mantle. which sold for $3600.00. (see the blog postings from August 2023 to view all the art that was sold).

The fall auction schedule had a strong showing with four original works by Edward Gorey selling at Heritage Auctions of Dallas, Texas on October 6. The three lots shown above are a two page spread Three Ladies beside the Sea which sold for $7500.00, Fibroid Studge from The Unrest-Cure which sold for $6000.00 and two drawings from Merry, Rose and Christmas Tree June which were sold together for $3500.00.

A fourth drawing Scottish Fling is a lively dance image created for use as a note card for the New York City Ballet. This piece sold for $4250.00.

Freeman's Auction House dominated the Gorey auction scene with their sale on November 16th that included five original works by Edward Gorey. The star of the event, which included numerous works by Mr. Gorey from the collection of Valerie and Matthew Young was A stunning full color painting titled Contestants in the annual Trans-Novaya Zemlya Bicycle Race that sold for $15,120.00. This piece was created for The Broken Spoke in 1976.

In addition to original art by Edward Gorey, numerous books, prints, posters, stuffed creatures and ephemera have appeared throughout the year at various auction venues, book fairs, and through rare book dealers giving collectors a wide selection of material to covet and acquire. Here's hoping that 2024 will generate even more collecting enthusiasm and excitement.

(photos courtesy of Nadeau's Auction House, Swann Auction Galleries, Rago Arts and Auction Center, Freeman's Auction House, and The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust)

 

Neil Gaiman

Time and again, in interviews and online posts author Neil Gaiman references Edward Gorey and the influences his work has had on his own creative endeavors. While the two men never met, Mr. Gaiman expresses a deep appreciation of Mr. Gorey and his works.

In a post on Tumblr, Neil Gaiman replied to a fan query, asking if he owned any original artwork by Edward Gorey. Mr. Gaiman not only responded in the affirmative, he provided a couple photos of some pieces in his Gorey collection.

The upper left photo shows the magnificent original artwork from Print Magazine. The other three photos show large, hand painted theatrical set pieces. Mr. Gaiman appears in a discrete selfie in upper right photo showing the pair of large set panels.

Mr. Gaiman has been interviewed for the upcoming documentary about Gorey's influences on his work by filmmaker Christopher Seufert. There are four interview clips posted on YouTube including this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcJX_TTpBKU

Goreyana's 13th Anniversary

 

2007/08 was a dark time for Edward Gorey collectors. The Gotham Book Mart, the mainline source not only for Gorey books, merchandise and original artwork, but also for information had closed permanently in 2007. Most book dealers would have a few Gorey items in stock, but there was no longer a centralized location for information and collectors were for the most part on their own, clinging to their 1996 copies of Goreyography by Henry Toledano and old catalogs from various book dealers and auction houses for reference. The seminal Elegant Enigmas traveling exhibition would not materialize until 2009, and the only physical location to experience the works of Edward Gorey was The Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts.

As a way to re-energize myself and reconnect with my collection, I created this Goreyana blog on October 5, 2008. My intention was to show pieces from my collection, inform interested parties about Gorey happenings, pass along many of the stories that I had gathered over the years and hopefully begin conversations with others interested in Edward Gorey and his works. Thirteen years of diligent posting have not dampened my curiosity and enthusiasm for all things Gorey and I look forward to creating upcoming posts that everyone will find informative and entertaining.

- Irwin Terry

goreyana.blogspot.com

ampootozote@aol.com

Auction News: Ashcroft and Moore

 

With two major auctions of Edward Gorey material following back to back, collectors have been all abuzz for the past two weeks. The Swann Auction on June 24th featured original artwork, while the June 30th Gotham Gorey Squared auction at Ashcroft and Moore Auctioneers was the followup auction to the April 1st sale of the late great Gotham Book Mart's remaining inventory. Live bidding on the 432 lots took almost eleven hours to complete, with spirited bidding on most pieces and only a few items failing to sell.

This sale also included items from the estate of Consuelo Joerns, a longtime personal friend of Edward Gorey's. Ms. Jorens and Mr. Gorey were frequent correspondents and the auction had eighteen lots of personal postcards and letters spanning decades between the two friends.

The auction began as a trip down memory lane for visitors to the famous bookstore. Photographs, prints, and paintings that once adorned the walls were sold before the much sought after Gorey selections came up. Books, original artwork, buttons, hand made stuffed animals, personal items, and a large selection of stage used props and set pieces are all finding their way into collections around the world.

To view all the pieces sold and what the final hammer price was (minus the additional buyer's premiums), visit the auctioneers website HERE.

Auction News

The auction of The Edward Gorey Collection of Sam Speigel at Swann Galleries has come and gone, and the majority of books, posters, pieces of ephemera and artwork have found new homes in numerous collections. Prices realized were strong, with fewer than 20 of 130 lots remaining unsold at the end of the auction.

Mr. Speigel's collection was of particular interest for the numerous limited edition, lettered copies of Edward Gorey's books that were offered. Never before has there been this wide a variety of limited edition lettered copies available for purchase at one time.

Standouts amongst the pieces which sold included several rarely seen hand colored limited edition books and postcards. A signed copy of The Beastly Baby did particularly well, as did the grouping of hand signed, limited edition posters for theatrical productions.

It is unlikely that another collection of this depth will be offered anytime soon.

Auction News - Edward Gorey at Swann

On Wednesday May 7 longtime collector Sam Speigel is offering his extensive collection of Edward Gorey books and related material at Swann Auction Galleries in New York City.

In an auction that should be subtitled Edward Gorey A to Z, Mr. Speigel is offering almost every deluxe limited edition publication produced by Edward Gorey throughout his career. Most of these titles are one of 26 copies lettered A to Z, and often feature special bindings and goodies such as hand coloring. The second half of Mr. Speigel's collection will be offered by Swann in the fall. 

With 130 lots featuring the rare and unusual, this auction and its catalog are sure to be referenced for years to come. To view lots, or to purchase the catalog, visit Swann HERE.

More Gorey Glasses

On my posting from January 28, 2012, I featured a set of Edward Gorey designed "double old fashioned" glasses sold in the gift shop of The Metropolitan Opera. The Met also produced a second set of glasses with different Gorey images. This set shows the four principal classifications of singers - Soprano, Contralto, Tenor and Bass, performing in fantastically designed costumes. These images were also available on tee-shirts from the Met store.

I do not own this set of glasses, but a fellow collector has kindly photographed their set for use here.