2016 November 17 - 18 Comics Signature Auction - Beverely Hills

[Peter G]

Lots of nice Crumb pieces coming up

 

 

https://comics.ha.com/c/auction-home.zx?saleNo=7141&ic=breadcrumb-comics-121913-interior

 

[Peter G]

 

 

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/robert-crumb-and-bill-griffith-arcade-the-comics-revue-3-cover-original-art-print-mint-19/p/7141-78007.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

 

https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/592733.jpg

[Bronty]

for somebody that didn't have that big a body of work, there's always some crumb hitting the market

[Peter G]

for somebody that didn't have that big a body of work, there's always some crumb hitting the market

 

yuh

[Peter G]

I don't remember seeing these prices on Crumb had gotten so high

 

Thats some appreciation in just 6 months time

 

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/robert-crumb-zap-comix-0-complete-3-page-story-ducks-yas-yas-original-art-apex-novelties-1968-total-3-original-art-/a/7087-92248.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

 

 

 

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/robert-crumb-zap-comix-0-complete-3-page-story-ducks-yas-yas-original-art-apex-novelties-1968-total-3-items-/a/7097-92354.s?ic4=ListView-ShortDescription-071515

[drdroom]

My impression is that Crumb's body of work is kind of gigantic... not true?

[suspense39]

Yes, he made a lot of work.

[drdroom]

I mean, Fantagraphics Complete Crumb is 17 volumes at around 144 pages per, and it's not even complete, with some standalone volumes covering longer comic runs, & not including for example Kafka, Book of Genesis and stuff like that, and then the published sketches must be like the same quantity of pages again, & all very collectible as well...

[tth2]

I mean, Fantagraphics Complete Crumb is 17 volumes at around 144 pages per, and it's not even complete, with some standalone volumes covering longer comic runs, & not including for example Kafka, Book of Genesis and stuff like that, and then the published sketches must be like the same quantity of pages again, & all very collectible as well...

Glad you said that, because I always thought he was a very prolific artist.

[Bronty]

Maybe I was wrong in thinking it was a tiny body of work, but still those volumes are only 5 full size comics each when you throw out LP covers and essays and photos and greeting cards and such. 17x 5 = 85 comics, give or take. I'm just thinking about the published comic pages here as every artist has sketches and side projects that we could add to the total - so personally I ignore that).

 

I'm not sure it was all that much for a 40 year career (85 comics over 40 years is 2 comics a year) - it's still smaller than kirbys FF run alone. Obviously Crumb being a one man show can't produce as many since he has to write, ink, letter, etc.. but again if he can make less a day then there should be less overall.

 

Anyone have any points to add? It's bigger than I thought but I'm not convinced it's really that big a body of work.

 

And, as I was getting at originally, I'd guess more crumb pages get listed than say - Byrne FF or Kirby FF which are two reasonably comparable size runs.

[zhamlau]

Between sketch books, prints, advertising pieces, Record art, Comic strips, calendars, marketing art, early greeting card art, Book Illustrations, and normal comic book art He probably has what, 5000 pieces of published art to his name?

[Bronty]

I'm just talking comic art which according to the math above would be under 2k. Bigger than byrne's FF run but smaller than Jacks. I don't think you can count sketch books and such, at least I sure dont, any more than I count kirbys convention sketches in his total

 

Maybe I'll go thru the last few auctions when time permits and compare Items sold from those runs to crumb comic pages sold for a more meaningful comparison

[drdroom]

I agree HA has sold quite a few Crumb pages the last few years. Not paying close attention, cause I don't collect him, but I feel like the tap got suddenly turned on at some point a few years back. I remember assuming that the artist had decided the time was right to divest.

[suspense39]

There really is a very large amount of crumb pieces in this auction.

[Tokay]

Is someone liquidating their collection? Some of the pieces have similar frames.

[Peter G]

Is someone liquidating their collection? Some of the pieces have similar frames.

 

Don't know but there is LOTS more that has now been uploaded. Wonder why the consignor didn't break it up a bit.

[suspense39]

I know! Strange

[AKA Rick]

I may want to attend the live auction, last time I did that it was so much fun (well, not like an amusement park, more like a church, class or seminar). Heritage does it right at their live auctions with comfortable seats, food and beverages and organized bidding. I think the food kept me there longer, so I didn't have to leave to get something, and inherently, I ended up doing impulse bids after continually losing the ones I wanted and winning more of the ones I could afford. I'll say this, with live auctions, it's easy to get caught up into the hype and if you bid and lose, it almost feels like you saved money, and then want to spend that on something else like money's burning a hole in your pocket, and as the auction ends if you've not bought / won anything, you feel a certain obligation to win something since you spent all day there and end up bidding and buying something a bit more marginal in interest, but it's fun.

[comix4fun]

They've been collecting sales tax on Illinois purchases for quite some time now.

[AKA Rick]

I think some people open up PO Boxes and/or use Friends/Family mailing addresses outside of the affected geographies where taxes apply for fulfillment to circumvent paying sales taxes. It seems like a lot of work, but when you're talking about 8-10% on a $10,000+ purchase, that dollar amount seems more and more appealing.