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 - Swann Auctions

The Swann Auction Galleries June 24 Illustration Art Sale showcased an impressive array of original artworks by Edward Gorey. Six lots were offered with five resulting in sales (lot 185 Amphigorey: A Musicale. Three proscenium designs failed to meet its reserve). Four of the lots originated from The Oliphant Press printer's archives, while the remaining two lots came from a private collector. 

The lineup began as all art does, with a collection of concept sketches outlining The Disrespectful Summons (1971). The three pages of notes and loose drawings laid out the book visually by Mr. Gorey as he began to organize his thoughts. The lot exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $3000 - $4000, ending with a hammer price of $5000.00 (including buyer's premium).

Subsequent lots included finished artwork from two books, theatrical set designs and a Christmas themed image.  Lot 99 An Exchange of Gifts (1982) was a captivatingly charming image that did very well with a final hammer price of $10,000.00 (including buyer's premium). Framed like a brooch by strands of holly, the small girl and her dog are unwrapping gifts to one another. The dog received a doll in the likeness of the girl and the girl has a doll shaped like the dog. 

We will take a closer look at the three remaining lots that sold in future posts. Each of these three represent important pieces from Edward Gorey's artistic career.

 

New Johnny Dixon Novels Coming

 

For followers of the John Belliars series of mystery books for young readers, Author Brad Stickland posted this message on the John Belliars Facebook page:

"Know all ye who enjoy mysteries: I have been asked to write some new Johnny Dixon novels. I'm about 40% through a first draft of the first novel, provisionally titled THE MAN WHO SUMMONED SHADOWS. I think I'm getting comfortable in good old Duston Heights once more. I'll do my best, my friends, so wish me luck.

(The artwork is by me, trying to imitate a certain great illustrator's traditional crosshatching)"

Brad Strickland is of course referring to Edward Gorey whose artwork graced 22 books in the Bellairs/Strickland series. Mr. Stickland was chosen to continue the popular book series after John Belliars passing.

 

A British Review

 

Born To Be Posthumous, Mark Dery's seminal biography of Edward Gorey caused a stir when it was published in 2018, so it is somewhat surprising that The London Review of Books has taken three years to publish a review. You can read the review HERE.

Marvin Kaye

 

Mystery author and editor Marvin Kaye died on May 13, 2021 at the age of 83. Edward Gorey created wraparound dust jacket cover designs for eight of the numerous anthologies Kaye produced. 

 

The Gorey Art Market

 

Edward Gorey expert appraiser Christine von der Linn offers insights into collecting original artwork by Edward Gorey in this essay for Swann Galleries. Read the essay HERE

Swann's Illustration Art sale in June will include the fantastic postcard image shown above.

QRV Button Magnets

 

Ashcroft and Moore's The Great Gotham Gorey Collection auction was held on April 1, 2021 and offered many interesting items. Books, posters, t-shirts, and detritus from the long closed bookstore were embraced with spirited bidding. One of the most interesting lots was a collection of 45 Q.R.V. themed pinback style button magnets (one extra non-matching piece included in the lot was a Boston City Opera magnet). Researching these buttons, it became obvious that Edward Gorey created these himself and that the background color for each was hand painted by Mr. Gorey.

The lot consisted of multiple copies of 12 different Q.R.V. designs mounted to metal pinbacks. Three of the designs are represented with examples in gold, bronze, or silver. Five designs appear with gold and silver while the remaining four designs had only one background color present. Were these tests for a promotional item or perhaps a hand made object like the Figbash dolls that Mr. Gorey intended to include with the deluxe edition of the book? The answer can be found by going back 20 years to the 2001 catalog of rare and unusual Edward Gorey items sold by Bromer Booksellers.

Anne Bromer is a Boston based bookseller who was also a long time purveyor, promoter, publisher and friend of Edward Gorey. Bromer published two miniature books by Edward Gorey - The Eclectic Abecedarium in 1983 and Q.R.V. in 1989. While visiting Mr. Gorey at his home, Ms. Bromer acquired a set of ten handmade refrigerator magnets, each bearing the initials Q.R.V., a small child, and often a banner. Mr. Gorey informed Ms. Bromer that he made them so he could visualize different designs and colors for the cover of the miniature book. Mr. Gorey told her at the time that he had created two sets of the button magnets - presumably one with gold backgrounds and the other in silver (the examples with bronze colored backgrounds are the least successfully painted examples). Mr. Gorey did not indicate at the time that there were in fact twelve different images or that he had made many more examples. The set of ten button magnets were taken off the front of Mr. Gorey's refrigerator and went home with Ms. Bromer.

After his passing in April 2000, Ms. Bromer decided it was time to part with her extensive Gorey collection and her set of refrigerator button magnets were sold through the catalog. Until the recent auction, only Andreas Brown was aware that Edward Gorey had created a total of 55 buttons - the original 10 that Anne Bromer acquired and the remaining 45 that Mr. Brown had in his store hold of rare and unusual items by Mr. Gorey. 

The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust has been diligently organizing the thousands of items in the Gorey Archive. By coincidence, a sheet with original artwork for four of the button magnets was just recently located. One drawing is shown here (artwork 1.8" x 2"). To see the other three designs on the sheet, follow The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust on Instagram and Facebook.