New York - Swann Galleries’ auction of Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books on Thursday, December 13 offers an impressive group of Japanese maps, East Coast cartography, American atlases and important non-cartographical works. 

A robust selection of Japanese cartography, representing both the East and the rest of the world, sets this maps auction apart. A color woodblock map of Uraga and Edo Bay relating to Commodore Matthew Perry and his Black Ships leads the assortment and is offered with a complete bound volume of 18 miniature kawaraban (early Japanese newspapers with woodblock illustrations). The archive shows the course of Commodore Perry’s Black Ship squadron and illustrates the opening of Japan’s trade with America in 1854. It is expected to bring $7,000 to $10,000.

Additional Japanese cartography includes an extensive panoramic diagram of the roadways, waterways, cities and topography of the entire island chain of Japan, and a large woodblock plan of Kyoto (Estimate: $2,500-3,500 and $1,200-1,800, respectively). A run of sugoroku­-Japanese game boards-feature in the sale: an unusual and rare world map manga gameboard takes its player around a variety of international sites and was published for young women in 1934, and Eisen Tomioka’s Shina Seibatsu Sogoroku, a Sino-Japanese War propaganda game, each at $700 to $1,000. 

Cornelis De Jode’s rare world map, Hemispheriu ab Aequinoctiali Linea, leads the sale. The second of two that appeared in De Jode’s Speculum Orbis Terrarum, 1593, the map features a two-paged double-hemispheric view of the world and carries an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. Other world maps include John Speed’s A New and Accurate Map of the World, 1676. The double-page, double-hemispheric decorative world map is hand colored in full and expected to sell for $6,000 to $9,000.

A selection of maps relating to the North America’s East Coast include a 1780 chart of the middle Atlantic Coast including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina by Joseph Frederick Wallet Des Barres. The sea chart is monumental at nearly six feet tall and is valued at $18,000 to $22,000. A panoramic excursion view of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay and Block Island, housed in a charming device that allows you to slowly scroll through the area as if you are on a paddle steamer, is estimated at $6,000 to $9,000; William Faden’s The Province of New Jersey, 1778, features The Jerseys divided into East and West, at $6,000 to $9,000; and Otto Sibeth’s large map of Central Park in New York City, showing the park in detail and noting species of plants, is expected to bring $1,500 to $2,500. A New American Atlas Containing Maps of the Several States of the North American Union, 1825, by Henry Schenck Tanner is valued at $12,000 to $18,000. Tanner’s atlas received contemporary praise for its clarity, attractiveness and attention to American detail. Additional atlases include the 1827 North American volume of Philippe Vandermaelen’s monumental world atlas, Atlas Universel de Georaphie Physique. The work is distinct for being the first to utilize lithography as the method of production and features newly emerging areas of the American West in a larger scale than had previously been seen ($6,000-9,000). 

A highlight of color plate books is John James Audubon’s The Birds of America, 1859, with seven volumes and 500 tinted and hand-colored lithograph plates. The work is offered together with Audubon’s The Quadrupeds of North America, all in matching octavo bindings at $20,000 to $30,000. Art Nouveau artist Anton Seder is available with Das Trier in der Decorativen Kunst, 1896-1903, a rare portfolio featuring dragons, lizards, lobsters, birds and other exotic, fanciful and beguiling beasties ($2,000-3,000).

Of the historical prints and drawings available in the sale of note is Across the Continent, 1868, from Currier & Ives which demonstrated the changing landscape of the mid-nineteenth century American frontier upon the completion of the Transcontinental Railroads. The present example comes by descent from the collection of renowned Americana collector Thomas Winthrop Streeter ($7,000-10,000). English artist and illustrator Edward Lear makes an appearance with an assortment of watercolor illustrations of Castello di Melfi in Basilicata and Castello di Lagopesole, each valued at $3,000 to $5,000. 

Ephemera features an enormous album of wide-ranging postcards from Frank Crowe, a musician who in his youth stole away to join the circus. The nearly 2,500 postcards come from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and showcase Crowe’s adventures touring Europe and America with Barnum and Bailey, King and Franklin, and other circuses ($700-1,000).

The complete catalogue and bidding information is available at www.swanngalleries.com. 

Additional highlights can be found here.

Image: Lot 110: Color woodblock map of Uraga and Edo Bay showing the course of Commodore Perry’s Black Ship squadron, Japan, circa 1854. Estimate $7,000 to $10,000.

New York — The Morgan Library & Museum is proud to announce the recent acquisition of a large-scale study of two figures for Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s celebrated canvas, The Great Bathers of 1884-87, in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Beginning December 18, 2018, visitors will have the chance to see the monumental drawing in the Gilder Lehrman Hall lobby at the Morgan. The drawing has never been exhibited or reproduced in color. A gift from the estate of prominent philanthropist and long-time Morgan Trustee Drue Heinz (1915-2018), Bathers is the first major compositional study by the artist to enter the Morgan’s collection, enriching the holdings of drawings by artists associated with the Impressionist movement.

As Renoir (1841-1919) sought a new direction in his work during the 1880s, he experimented with the classical subject of female bathers. He turned to a seventeenthcentury relief sculpture at Versailles, the Bain des nymphes by François Girardon (1628- 1715), as inspiration for the contemporary scene of three women bathing. Beginning in 1884, Renoir spent nearly three years developing the composition, producing numerous preparatory studies, ranging from small scale sketches to full-scale drawings.

In this study for his painting of modern naiads, the artist explored the pose of the bather in the left foreground of the painting, recoiling as one of her companions splashes her. While the figure appears almost identical in the painted version, Renoir replaced her passive companion by the river bank with a more animated bather, wrapping herself in a sheet.

Among the at least twenty studies for The Great Bathers, the Morgan sheet stands out for being one of two full-scale model drawings for the final composition. Executed on paper mounted to canvas, the drawing’s condition is remarkable. The surface itself is striking: it retains the original powdery white chalk used for the flesh of the figures and to outline their forms.

“The bold, sensuous lines of this expressive drawing present a different side to the Renoir we know through his paintings,” said director of the museum, Colin B. Bailey. “The Morgan’s Drawings Department is renowned for its collection of works that illustrate the creative process, and this drawing gives us a glimpse into the mind of a master. We are delighted to share it with visitors soon.”

Image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Bathers, 1884-85, red and white chalk, with smudging and blending on wove paper lined to canvas. The Morgan Library & Museum, Bequest of Drue Heinz, 2018.71. Photography by Graham S. Haber. 

Philadelphia—For its second survey of photography, the Barnes Foundation is presenting nearly 250 early photographs—most of which have never been exhibited before—created by British and French photographers between the 1840s and 1880s. Curated by Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes, From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France is drawn from the private collection of Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg and spans the invention of the daguerreotype to photography on paper and beyond. The show is on view in the Barnes’s Roberts Gallery from February 24 through May 12, 2019.

From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal.

Following the production of the first photographs in the 1830s, and before the advent of Kodak’s point-and-shoot camera in 1888 and the industrialization of photography, artists experimented with photography, creating innovative processes and uniquely compelling representational tropes.

“When the influential French painter Paul Delaroche saw a photograph for the first time, he proclaimed, ‘From today, painting is dead!’ This sentiment captures the anxiety with which photography was greeted by artists, though it would be nearly 50 years before technology evolved enough to approximate the work Delaroche and his fellow painters were already doing,” says Collins. “This exhibition explores the very fertile period in the early history of photography, when the medium’s pioneers were grappling with the complex inheritance of official, state-sponsored visual culture.”

For the better part of the 19th century—before rebellious groups like the impressionists challenged the status quo—powerful fine arts academies in Paris and London governed the official style for painting and even guided what subjects artists should depict. Some themes were considered more important than others, based on their cultural significance and the skill required to render them. Moralizing historical subjects were generally the most valued; next came portraiture, then genre (or scenes of daily life), then landscape, and finally still life.

Photography developed amid this stringent artistic climate. Between 1840 and 1870, photographers of all stripes—both amateurs and an emergent class of professionals, makers of vernacular pictures and those aspiring to create fine art—experimented with the new medium, not only its mechanics and chemistry, but also its representational potentials. In doing so, they inevitably absorbed—and transformed—the well-established tropes of the dominant academic painting tradition.

From Today, Painting Is Dead: Early Photography in Britain and France features over 60 photographers, including such masters as William Henry Fox Talbot—the scientist and inventor credited with developing the first photographic prints on paper; Félix Nadar, the great portraitist of Paris high society; Roger Fenton, the English painter turned celebrated photographer who achieved widespread recognition for his photographs of the Crimean War in 1855; Gustave Le Gray, the leader of 1850s French art photography; and Julia Margaret Cameron, whose literary and biblical-themed figure studies and captivating portraits were unprecedented in her time.

Exhibition highlights include:

• Original calotypes from 1840 to 1845 by William Henry Fox Talbot, including still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and street scenes from both England and France.
• The earliest war photographs, taken of the Crimean War by Roger Fenton, including his iconic Valley of the Shadow of Death as well as the 11-plate panorama of Sebastopol.
• An 1844 daguerreotype of Jerusalem—one of the first of the city—by Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey.
• A full-plate daguerreotype of the Fontaine des Innocents in Paris by Baron Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gros from 1850.
• Some of the earliest existing travel photographs of the Middle East, Southern Europe, Africa, India, Burma, Ecuador, Mexico, and New Zealand.
• Portraits by Félix Nadar, Napoleonic Paris’s great portraitist and larger-than-life personality, with subjects ranging from literary legends—including an oversize 1885 deathbed portrait of Victor Hugo—to the first official Japanese delegation to France (1864). Also included are Nadar’s 1860s photographs of the Paris catacombs and sewers, which represent one of the first uses of artificial lighting in photography.
• Pre-Raphaelite allegorical portraiture by Julia Margaret Cameron.
• French physiologist ?tienne-Jules Marey’s 1880s motion studies of athletes, which prefigure the development of motion pictures, much like Eadweard Muybridge’s motion studies in the US.
• Seascapes, landscapes, photographs of military maneuvers, and other works by Gustave Le Gray, the leader of the 1850s French movement of fine art photography. 

EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION:
All works are from the collection of Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg. This exhibition was organized by the Barnes Foundation in association with art2art Circulating Exhibitions. The presentation at the Barnes Foundation is curated by Thom Collins, executive director and president of the Barnes.

This exhibition was produced as part of a new educational venture between the Barnes and the University of Pennsylvania led by Thom Collins and professor Aaron Levy, with curatorial contributions from students in the 2018 Spiegel-Wilks Curatorial Seminar “Ars Moriendi: Life and Death in Early Photography.”

Boston - The acclaimed North Bennet Street School (NBSS) has selected Sarah Turner as the institution’s next President, effective December 1. Turner will spearhead expansion of the School’s public programs and community partnerships within the craft-education world, while continuing the School’s 137-year legacy of training students for careers in traditional trades and fine crafts.

From its beginnings as a settlement house offering vocational training, NBSS has become a unique, professional craft school, recognized internationally for its excellence as a learning institution. The School offers nine full-time programs—Bookbinding, Carpentry, Cabinet & Furniture Making, Jewelry Making & Repair, Locksmithing & Security Technology, Piano Technology, Preservation Carpentry, and Violin Making & Repair—in addition to dozens of continuing education classes. Since 1881, America’s first trade school remains committed to fostering individual growth, attention to detail, and technical mastery.

Turner brings more than 20 years of experience in contemporary craft and design, as an educational leader, instructor, and artist at a number of celebrated institutions, including Cranbrook Academy of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Oregon College of Art and Craft, and the State University of New York at New Paltz. Notably, at Cranbrook, Turner redesigned the Academic Programs and implemented an international Teaching fellowship to bring art and design thinkers to studio practice. Turner also launched a new public lecture series, instituted regular symposia on changing topics, and developed new community and institutional partnerships.

“My heart lies in leadership work; helping studio-craft institutions draw together the contributions of all members to make something unique, useful, and forward-looking,” says Turner. “The strong sense of this, past and present, at North Bennet Street School drew me to the position. I am excited to get started on bringing about new connections and ideas.”

Turner has unique perspective on an educating artisans. She earned a BA in Sociology from Smith College, a Certificate in Metalsmithing from the Oregon College of Art & Craft, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

According to Marc Margulies, Chair of the School’s Board of Directors, the nationwide search for a new President resulted in dozens of well-qualified candidates before Turner's selection. “Sarah has the training, experience, and passion necessary to lead the institution,” he says. ”We are thrilled to have her as our next president. She understands the context of teaching in a workshop, knows first-hand the details of running a postsecondary school, and appreciates the significance of a career in craft and the trades.”

Turner succeeds Miguel Gómez-Ibáñez, the School’s first leader to also be a graduate, who will retire in December. Among other accomplishments, during his successful 12-year tenure Gómez-Ibáñez secured and led the renovation of the School’s new 64,000 sf facility, established multiple strategic partnerships, and oversaw the School’s recent $20 million fundraising campaign, which will help to fund $1 million in student scholarships annually.

“This transition is coming at an ideal moment,” adds Margulies. “Sarah inherits an institution with a tremendous legacy and bright future, supported by a dedicated community of alumni, donors, and friends. The Board looks forward to working with her to enhance the School’s presence, reputation, and impact in the world.”

About North Bennet Street School

North Bennet Street School (NBSS) trains students for careers in traditional trades that use hand skills in concert with evolving technology, to preserve craft traditions and promote a greater appreciation of craftsmanship. Since 1881, America’s first trade school remains committed to teaching the whole person while fostering individual growth, attention to detail, and technical mastery. The private vocational school’s programs and experienced faculty draw students worldwide who graduate with the skills, tools, and practical understanding needed to build self-sufficient, meaningful, and productive lives. For more information, visit: www.nbss.edu.

San Francisco — Letterform Archive, the nonprofit library and museum dedicated to the history, preservation of and education in graphic design and letterform arts, announces its new membership program and the launch of the Online Archive. Beginning on November 29, 2018, charter participants in Letterform Archive’s membership program will receive access to the online Archive, a digital repository of highlights from the non-profit center’s collection of over 50,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design. While the physical Archive is located in San Francisco, it is connected to an international community, and the new membership program and online Archive will serve designers and students around the world as a resource for serendipitous discovery and creative inspiration. 

The online Archive launches with 1,000 items spanning two centuries and captured by the Archive’s state-of-the-art photography, allowing users to explore the collection at exceptional resolution. A digital tool to discover the unexpected, the online Archive’s intuitive search and browse methods employ metadata developed specifically for graphic design. After the site opens to the general public, Archive members will have exclusive access to special upcoming features, such as the ability to create their own custom sets, or “tables”, a term that references the physical table at Letterform Archive around which 

bespoke collections are curated for guests. It’s the perfect metaphor for the community and connection inspired by each visitor’s experience. 

Highlights from Letterform Archive’s distinguished collection include Zuzana Licko’s and Rudy VanderLans’ work as Emigre, Inc. As early adopters of digital tools, Emigre were design pioneers, and their Emigre magazine represents a critical turning point in the history of the craft. Soon after Letterform Archive was founded, Emigre donated a major collection with the goal of making it as accessible as possible. The first 11 issues of Emigre magazine are now available in the online Archive, marking the first occasion these full issues have been available in digital form. The quality of the images allows users to zoom into each tabloid-size page to see all the graphic detail and read the text of every article. 

“During my days of editing Emigre, I often wished something like Letterform Archive had existed,” VanderLans said. “If it lives up to expectations, and I’m sure it will, this new website will be a boon to editors, researchers, curators, and design aficionados alike.” 

The online Archive contains sketches and inkings by LA-based designer and illustrator Michael Doret, who is behind some of the most recognizable artwork in recorded music and professional sports, as well as the logos and title graphics for many Disney and Pixar films, including Inside Out , Moana , and Zootopia. Because pencil-on-paper sketches are unique, these images represent the only copy of these objects in the world, and, because many concepts end up on the cutting room floor, this is the first time they’ve been seen outside Doret’s studio. 

Also in the online Archive is work by Jacob Jongert, an under-appreciated Dutch modernist who perfected the branding power of lettering and color. Letterform Archive’s collection of his work is the most complete in the U.S., with hundreds of items created in the 1920s and 1930s for Van Nelle, a Rotterdam-based manufacturer of coffee, tea, and tobacco. Together, the collection is a tremendous resource to learn about designing a cohesive brand. Letterform Archive offers the best view of Jongert’s work on the web, with hi-res images of labels, boxes, tins, in-store displays, posters, advertising, and other collateral, like pocket notebooks and calendars. 

These three highlights represent just a sampling of the 1,000 imaged items in the online Archive at launch. The growing collection also includes advertising design, book jackets, calligraphy, corporate identity manuals, experimental design, packaging, posters, typeface specimens, and more. 

Since Letterform Archive opened its doors in 2015, its mission has been to democratize design. Members help take accessibility to the next level, and their gift helps provide resources for students, educators, designers, and a global community of those who love letters. Letterform Archive offers members tremendous benefits, including the opportunity to access its Salon Series both in-person and online and the ability to experience lectures and materials related to specific topics of interest. Membership options are outlined below, and the packages are outlined at the link here. 

About Letterform Archive 

Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for education, inspiration, and community, with a collection of over 50,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design, spanning 2,000 years of history. Since opening to the public in early 2015, we’ve welcomed nearly 5,000 lovers of letters through our doors in San Francisco. We also share the collection through educational programs, original publications, social media, and - now - an online Archive. 

The University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Information Sciences and the Library Sciences and Informatics Library will establish the first Puerto Rico Center for the Book in 2019 as the 53rd affiliate center of the Library of Congress, the two institutions announced today. The Library’s Center for the Book is a network of U.S. sites promoting an interest in reading and literacy.

The newest affiliate center will be housed at the University’s Rio Piedras Campus in San Juan. It will be based in the Library Sciences and Informatics Library, with an online presence to highlight Puerto Rican books and authors.

A launch event for the new center is planned for Jan. 25, featuring a reading and program with U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith. Smith has been visiting several states across the nation to engage Americans in conversations about poetry.

The Puerto Rican Center will celebrate books and work to develop literacy skills, cultivate lifetime reading habits among young people and stimulate research into the history and culture of books and Puerto Rican literary heritage. The Center will also seek to enhance the role of libraries and information professionals to promote a culture of reading, writing, creativity and innovation.

“The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress welcomes the Puerto Rico Center for the Book into our family of affiliated centers,” said John Van Oudenaren, director of the Library’s Center for the Book. “We look forward to co-sponsoring events and other activities with our new center as they promote the rich literary heritage of Puerto Rico.”

Preliminary activities include guided walking tours of literary sites in Old San Juan, mini book fairs showcasing Puerto Rican books, writers and publishers, and other special events.

“The Graduate School of Information Sciences and the Library Science and Informatics Library at the University of Puerto Rico are highly honored to have the Puerto Rico Center for the Book included as the 53rd affiliate of the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book,” said Luisa Vigo-Cepeda, the Puerto Rico Center’s project director. “Efforts will be geared to develop a wide range of events, such as authors colloquia, workshops, reading festivals and contests to explore the making and writing of books. A makerspace is being developed at the site as well as in the virtual space to stimulate creativity and innovation in reading and writing.”

About the Poet Laureate

As poet laureate, Smith has traveled the country to connect with rural communities and engage Americans in conversations about poetry with her project “American Conversations: Celebrating Poems in Rural Communities.” This year she also unveiled a new anthology, “American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time,” featuring the works of 50 living American poets of different ages and backgrounds. She is also launching a new weekday podcast and public radio feature titled “The Slowdown.” Smith is the author of four books of poetry published by Graywolf Press, including “Wade in the Water” in April 2018; “Life on Mars” (2011), winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; “Duende” (2007), winner of the 2006 James Laughlin Award and the 2008 Essence Literary Award; and “The Body’s Question” (2003), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Smith is also the author of a memoir, “Ordinary Light” (2015), a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award in nonfiction.

Born in Falmouth, Massachusetts, in 1972 and raised in Fairfield, California, Smith earned a B.A. in English and American literature and Afro-American studies from Harvard University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. From 1997 to 1999, she was a Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford University. Smith has taught at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, at the University of Pittsburgh and at Columbia University. She is currently the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities and director of the creative writing program at Princeton University.

About the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress

Congress created the Library’s Center for the Book in 1977 to stimulate public interest in books and reading. It has become a national force for reading and literacy promotion with affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The affiliates meet every spring at the Library of Congress to exchange ideas. For more information, visit read.gov.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States - and extensive materials from around the world - both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

Boston - An attic discovery of the rare 1845 first edition of Poe’s Tales (Lot 224, Estimate: $60,000-80,000) in paper wrappers surpassed all expectations to sell for $315,000 after fierce competition from internet and telephone bidders. Based on the context of the discovery of this copy of Poe's Tales, the original owner presumably bought this and other similar contemporaneous books to be read for amusement in the 1840s. Once read, the Poe and its companions were bundled and stored away in a trunk in the attic until they were found during an in-home auction evaluation by Skinner specialists. In the rare book trade, it was thought that all copies of Poe's Tales in wrappers were known. 

Department director, Devon Eastland notes that the annual November Fine Books & Manuscripts Auction is timed to coincide with the long-running Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair, a venue that guarantees that serious American and international collectors and dealers are in Boston and able to view sale material in person. She notes “Bidders appreciated that the copy of Poe’s Tales was a previously unknown copy fresh to the market, having been in a private collection for some time which garnered excitement in the market.”

The 350 lot auction included works from New England estates;  printed books, documents, literary first editions, natural history prints, and maps. Books & Manuscripts are offered twice-yearly at Skinner and consignments are being accepted for spring 2019 auction. 

Dallas, Texas - Among the highlights in Heritage Auctions’ Animation Art auction Dec. 8-9 in Beverly Hills, California, will be a trove of memorabilia celebrating the 90th birthday of Mickey Mouse and the one of the largest collections of artwork by Mary Blair ever offered, many of which come directly from the Mary Blair Family Trust.

Mickey Mouse Celebrates 90th

The industry that is Disney, evolving to printed and animated comics, television shows, movies, theme parks and endless merchandising opportunities first took off because of the enormous popularity of Mickey Mouse. In honor of his 90th birthday, the auction includes 66 lots relating to the comic icon, including what is believed to be the single largest collection of artwork from his earliest films, including Steam Boat Willie (estimate: $10,000+), Plane Crazy (estimate: $5,000+), Barn Dance (estimate: $1,000+) and The Opry House (estimate: $1,000+), as well as from timeless classics like Fantasia.

The selection, the best Heritage Auctions has ever brought to market, also includes rare lots from his greatest roles, including The Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Fantasia (estimate: $2,500+) and his roles in Two-Gun Mickey (estimate: $7,500+), The Brave Little Tailor (estimate: $2,500+) and The Mickey Mouse Club. The range of Mickey Mouse artwork spans his first roles at the studio through original artwork from his most recently video game, Epic Mickey. The selection includes animation drawings, production cels, layout drawings, original paintings, bronze statues and even the coveted Walt Disney Studio Mousecar Award (estimate: $5,000+).

The 66 lots of Mickey Mouse artwork in the auction include, but are not limited to:

A Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse and Pete Animation Drawing Original Art (Walt Disney, 1928) comes from the historic cartoon that premiered Nov. 18, 1928, at the Colony Theater. The short was directed by Disney, who also provided Mickey’s voice. With artwork by Disney Legend inductee Ub Iwerks, this image (estimate: $10,000+) is considered a Holy Grail-caliber piece of Disney art, partly because animation drawings with both characters are extremely rare. The image comes from the scene in which Pete grabs Mickey and throws him into the bin to peel potatoes.

A Mickey Mouse Early Publicity Artwork Signed by Walt Disney (Walt Disney, c. early 1930s) is a salute to the mouse who Disney famously said “started it all.” This early studio original publicity illustration of Mickey in his early 1930s design includes his classic “pie slice” eyes and double brow. In ink and gouache on lightweight board, the image shows Mickey in his standard fan-card waving pose in artwork that has a Les Clark feel to it. The lot even includes a bold ink inscription and verified signature that reads, “Best Regards to Erie St. Claire Walt Disney.” The hand-signed signature is in the style Disney used in the 1920s and 1930s. This is one of the earliest Disney-signed pieces of original Mickey Mouse art ever seen at Heritage Auctions.

With a pre-auction estimate of $5,000+, Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse Animation Drawing Original Art (Walt Disney, 1928) is an outstanding and extremely rare 12-field, 2-peghole animation drawing of Mickey Mouse from his first widely released cartoon. After Pete kicks Mickey, who falls down the stairs, Mickey is met by a laughing parrot; Mickey responds by throwing a pail of water over the parrot’s head. This Disney-directed short, in which most of the animation was done by Iwerks, was ranked No. 13 in Jerry Beck’s  book: The 50 Greatest Cartoons.

Another lot carrying the same $5,000+ pre-auction estimate, Plane Crazy Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse Animation Drawing Original Art (Walt Disney, 1928-29) comes from the silent film that was shown first to a test audience May 15, 1928; it also was shown on the very first Disneyland television show in 1954. This rare 12-field, 2-peghole ode to Charles Lindbergh is considered a milestone in Disney Studio and Mickey Mouse history.

The art of Mary Blair, Walt Disney’s favorite artist

Blair was a 20th-century artist renowned for her Disney artwork, which was so highly regarded that it earned her a 1991 induction into the Disney Legends group and established her as Walt Disney’s favorite artist. Some of her artwork in the auction comes from the Mary Blair Family Trust. Blair, whose artwork include concept art for films like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South and Cinderella, is notorious for her 90-foot-high mural that remains a focal point of Disney’s Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. The offered Contemporary Resort Hotel Tile Display Prototype (Walt Disney, 1971) carries a pre-auction estimate of $50,000+.

“The significance of this auction can not be overstated, when it comes to the appeal to serious collectors of animation art,” Heritage Auctions Animation Art Director Jim Lentz said. “This sale includes work from one of the most popular Disney artists of all time, and perhaps the most popular comic character ever created. This auction really does have something that will appeal to collectors of all levels.”

The It’s a Small World, After All attraction at Disneyland opened April 22, 1964 at the New York World’s Fair, with the proceeds from the more than 10 million tickets sold going to UNICEF. Offered here is Blair artwork for two of the attraction’s most popular rides. An “It’s a Small World” Park Ride Penguin Prop (Walt Disney, 1964), which some consider the “Holy Grail” of Blair props, was refurbished and given to the Blair family when the ride was closed briefly for renovation in 2008. The prop (estimate: $25,000) later was given to the Mary Blair Family Trust by Marty Sklar and exhibited around the world. Carrying the same pre-auction estimate is an “It’s a Small World” Disneyland Ride "Blue Hair Boy" Statue (Walt Disney, 1964), which now can be seen in Disney theme parks in Orlando, Florida, Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Removed during the 2008 renovation that closed the ride from January to November, it was refurbished and given to the Mary Blair Family Trust by Sklar, and has been a part of Mary Blair exhibitions around the world, and can be seen in John Canemaker’s Magic, Color, Flair: The World of Mary Blair.

Also carrying a $25,000 pre-auction estimate is Cinderella Coach and Castle Concept Painting by Mary Blair (Walt Disney, 1950). “Goodness me, it’s getting late. Hurry up dear, the ball can't wait!” says the Fairy Godmother to Cinderella as she enters the coach and takes off for the castle. One of the most impressive known Blair Cinderella pieces, this large original painting of Cinderella in her coach, racing up to the castle, has it all: the coach, the white horses and the full moon in a cloudy sky, all rendered in gouache on illustration board.

The auction includes one of the largest Peanuts/Charlie Brown animation art collections ever offered, in which some of the projected highlights include:

·         Peanuts - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Sally and Linus Production Cel Setup (Bill Melendez, 1966): estimate: $5,000+

·         Peanuts - The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show “Happy Dance” Snoopy and Charlie Brown Production Cel Sequence of 7 with Pan Master Background (Bill Melendez, 1983): estimate: $2,500+

·         Peanuts - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Lucy Van Pelt, Violet Gray, and Charlie Brown Production Cel (Bill Melendez, 1974): estimate: $2,500+

·         Peanuts - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Charlie Brown and Lucy Van Pelt Production Cel (Bill Melendez, 1964/70s): estimate: $2,500+

The auction features animation art of countless favorite stories and characters. Other top lots include, but are not limited to:

·         Slue Foot Sue's Golden Horseshoe Concept Art by Sam McKim (Walt Disney, 1955) $25,000+

·         Haunted Mansion Stretching Room Disneyland Painting Original Art (Walt Disney, 1969) $25,000+

·         Cinderella Coach and Castle Concept Painting by Mary Blair (Walt Disney, 1950) $25,000+

·         Lady and the Tramp Background Color Key/Concept Painting by Eyvind Earle (Walt Disney, 1955) $25,000+

·         Cinderella Production Cel Setup on Master Background (Walt Disney, 1950) $20,000+

·         Mary Blair The Lady in Red Painting Original Art (c. 1930s) $20,000+

New York ? On December 5, Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts sale includes The World of Hilary Knight featuring his original Plaza Hotel portrait of Eloise, (estimate: $100,000-150,000), a portrait that captures the irrepressible spirit of one of the most influential children's book characters in history.

Toting a history as lively as its inspiration, this portrait was painted as a birthday gift by Hilary Knight for Eloise co-creator Kay Thompson in 1956, on the eve of Kay's appearance on Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person on CBS, where she proudly displayed the painting to guest host Jerry Lewis. Shortly thereafter, she loaned the work to the Plaza Hotel where it hung ceremoniously in the lobby as an homage to their most famous (imaginary) resident. However, on the night of a Junior League Ball at the Plaza, November 1960, it disappeared. As Mr. Knight tells the story, "Kay called me, 'Drunken debutantes did it!' And soon it was all over the news, in the columns, and Walter Cronkite confirmed it on the evening news." The famed portrait of Eloise had been stolen. Despite the press and the hubbub, the portrait failed to reappear. Some years later, Mr. Knight received a call: "The painting had been found in a dumpster, frameless." Once identified as the missing artwork, it was returned to Mr. Knight, who had already replaced the Plaza portrait with a new one: an oil painting that still hangs there today. Mr. Knight rolled up the original and put it in his closet, forgetting about it for the next 50 years, until it was revived for an Eloise exhibition at the New York Historical Society 2017. It is now being offered at auction for the first time.

Los Angeles - The Getty Research Institute announced the acquisition of a collection of hundreds of rare books, prints, and manuscripts related to the culinary arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries assembled by culinary authority Anne Willan and her husband Mark Cherniavsky - the Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky Gastronomy Collection. Additionally, a donation from Willan will support ongoing research grants known as the Cherniavsky Library Research Grants.

“Mark had a talent for finding great examples of rare prints and early cookbooks and books about food and has built an exceptional collection,” said Getty Research Institute Chief Curator Marcia Reed. “Over the years Mark and Anne have been wonderful contributors and friends to the GRI, donating important rare books, lending works to our exhibitions, and hosting educational programs. We are grateful to Anne for her generous gift of this collection as well as her support of related scholarship in honor of her late husband, and our friend, Mark.”

Named in honor of Mark Cherniavsky and in celebration of the Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky Gastronomy Collection, the Cherniavsky GRI Library Research Grants will support and encourage research relating to antiquarian books, culinary research and other related topics. These grants will be awarded to up to two scholars a year and are made possible by a gift from Anne Willan.  Willan is a celebrated author, cooking educator and founder of the prestigious Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne, which operated in Paris and Burgundy, France, from 1975 until 2007.

This extraordinary collection of rare books and prints on gastronomy from the 15th through the 19th century offers unique insight into the visual culture of food. The elaborate art of culinary preparation, consumption, and display reveals food's status as a symbol of political and social power. Amassed by antiquarian cookbook collectors Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky over a period of 50 years, the collection comprises nearly 200 books published before 1830 and hundreds from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Highlights include Johannes Cassianus's De institutis coenobiorum, Collationes partum (Venice, 1491), which describes fasting and feasting within a monastic order; M. Emy's L'art de bien faire les glaces d'office (Paris, 1768), which opens with an evocation of cupids making ice cream; and Antonin Carême's Le Maître d'hôtel francais (Paris, 1823), which contains recipes for dinners given for, among others, Tsar Nicholas I, George IV, and Prince Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand.

The collection's many early modern books, which illustrate elaborate feasts, celebrations, and processions, complement the Getty Research Institute's unparalleled festival collection. Also included is Willan's working library of cookbooks, her professional archives, and the archives of Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne, which she founded.