The OFFICIAL "This week in your ILLUSTRATION collection?" 1 1

[Bronty]

Didn't see it until now but also of interest is this prelim for LOTR book cover trilogy

 

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/barbara-remington-american-20th-century-lord-of-the-rings-paperback-cover-study-1965mixed-media-on-three-sheets/a/5291-71154.s

[vodou]

1 hour ago, Bronty said:

The narnia covers did well.   A couple of them REALLY well.   Not sure wtf we were thinking when we thought they'd be cheap.

i let this thread nfluence my thinking is my excuse

Bro they're ugly. I was shocked at what Lion went for, but Dawn Treader...at least the image was palatable. The rest...U G L Y. Congrats to the winner/s though, you must really love them, and that's definitely cool.

[vodou]

1 hour ago, AnkurJ said:

Was outbid on the lot I wanted. 

Big drop on the Elvgren fire girl! Dropped by 80k from the 2011 sale. Ouch!

Elvgren market continues to be interesting to watch. Likewise the Nagel, that large canvas went big.

[Bronty]

4 minutes ago, vodou said:

Bro they're ugly. I was shocked at what Lion went for, but Dawn Treader...at least the image was palatable. The rest...U G L Y. Congrats to the winner/s though, you must really love them, and that's definitely cool.

I don't find them ugly and I don't find them beautiful, but that's the thing.   Beauty is subjective, context is objective. Whatever one thinks of the work it's still the cover of a famous novel and nothing changes that.   The Liefeld lovers will have the last laugh over guys like me that puke at his work.

[Bronty]

Ps, if you want to talk ugly, follow that LOTR link.   Ugh!   But I get why it cost 18k for a prelim

Edited May 12, 2017 by Bronty

[vodou]

13 minutes ago, Bronty said:

Ps, if you want to talk ugly, follow that LOTR link.   Ugh!   But I get why it cost 18k for a prelim

As you wrote, subjective. I dig that LOTR prelim, but for image strictly. Not an LOTR fan.

[Bronty]

Just now, vodou said:

As you wrote, subjective. I dig that LOTR prelim, but for image strictly. Not an LOTR fan.

See,  there you go!  I'd literally throw it in the trash if it wasn't what it is.

[vodou]

20 minutes ago, Bronty said:

See,  there you go!  I'd literally throw it in the trash if it wasn't what it is.

Who paid $36k in 2010? Yikes that's a 50% hit right there not including SP. And over seven years too. Time does not heal all wounds. Trash? Yes I concur...re: those Narnias! Tiny they are too.

[ThothAmon]

1 hour ago, Bronty said:

Ps, if you want to talk ugly, follow that LOTR link.   Ugh!   But I get why it cost 18k for a prelim

Why so? The link was weird but not sure why?  Thanks. 

[delekkerste]

1 hour ago, Bronty said:

I don't find them ugly and I don't find them beautiful, but that's the thing.   Beauty is subjective, context is objective. Whatever one thinks of the work it's still the cover of a famous novel and nothing changes that.   The Liefeld lovers will have the last laugh over guys like me that puke at his work.

As I said before, I think they're actually kind of an interesting mash-up of styles.  The most memorable one to me, personally, Prince Caspian, only fetched $3.5K.  The 11-year old in me thinks I should have gone for it; but the current me realizes that I didn't really need it.  Besides, someone got me the Roger Hane book for my birthday...that's good enough for me.  

[delekkerste]

2 hours ago, vodou said:

Who paid $36k in 2010? Yikes that's a 50% hit right there not including SP. And over seven years too. Time does not heal all wounds. Trash? Yes I concur...re: those Narnias! Tiny they are too.

I completed an NYU program in Art Business 5 years ago.  One of the classes I took was Art as a Financial Asset, and the prof broke down all the fees & commissions that go into selling a piece at auction.  Bottom line?  We are totally spoiled in comics and comic art.  It may not get the headlines that the Sotheby's and Christie's evening fine art sales get, but, there are lower transaction costs and a lot more liquidity than in fine art.  When you look at illustration art, as you noted with the LOTR resale and Bronty did with his Elvgren observation, you see the difference in liquidity that the removal of one buyer (the previous winner) can make, plus the impact of the higher commission costs.  

Aside from that, though, as a general observation, it seems as though interest in Heritage's illustration art auctions has waned over the past couple/few years.  Part of that may be that, when the crux of the Martignette Collection was auctioned off, it generated its own heat (which has since dissipated).  I wonder if the market for much of these sub-genres has aged out a bit as well?  Of course, we know that Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon was an active buyer before he sadly passed away.   Also, I would imagine that many collectors (including myself) largely got their fill of what they wanted.  But, of course, the auctions keep coming, and so price has to drop to clear the market (much as I expect will eventually happen in our hobby sometime down the line).  

 

Edited May 13, 2017 by delekkerste

[cstojano]

I am glad I forgot about that Remington piece. As a big LOTR fan/collector I may have thrown in a bid in at the last minute (and ruined my bankroll), even though I am not a a huge fan of the piece. Someone took a nice loss on that one.  I really liked that William Bloom cholera piece (seems so cheap) and several of the Safari mag covers by Beecham.

[SquareChaos]

4 hours ago, vodou said:

As you wrote, subjective. I dig that LOTR prelim, but for image strictly. Not an LOTR fan.

Count me as a fan as well. Not a fan at that price, but I like it.

[ESeffinga]

And funnily enough, me as well.

I see a lot more cohesive individualistic style and thought in the LOTR piece than I do in the Narnia stuff. The Narnia material (to my eye anyway) is uneven and dates itself, where the LOTR piece has a timeless quality to it.

Now if someone is interested in any of these covers as a piece of nostalgia and it bringing back those old feelings of a place and a time of sitting on their bookshelf as a kid... we've talked about this plenty. It makes no difference how it looks. It's what many people do. But if I was a fan of both series, and I had to hang one on my wall, it'd be the LOTR all day long. And not because of the books, or the movies, but because I'd still be able to enjoy the execution of the visuals in the work, nostalgia aside.

In any case even the LOTR piece not really my thing, but I can respect it more as a work. And fully acknowledge that the things about it that have less meaning to me are likely some of the same reasons the piece costs what it does.

[buyatari]

Not a fan of the LOTR piece at any price but I'd love to own one of the Narnia covers. 

If anyone here bought one of the Narnia covers and has second thoughts send me a pm. I'll pay your final price and bit extra for he hassle. 

[buyatari]

Anyone recognize either of these 2 images?

Years ago I purchased this piece direct from Frank Cirocco. It is marked "The Cleric's Task" and dated 1981 on the back. 

Bought at the same time and also from Cirocco this one I have no clues on. 

 

 

[Bronty]

On 5/12/2017 at 8:54 PM, SquareChaos said:

Count me as a fan as well. Not a fan at that price, but I like it.

The trouble I have in judging that price is that its a prelim.   'Does the final exist?' is the obvious question, but more to the point, I think it also introduces more volatility.     A couple bidders in 2010 could look at it and go - HOLY COW its LOTR, who cares if its only a prelim... and two guys in 2017 might think 'LOTR - how awesome... but jeez, I wish it were  the final.... PASS.'    You don't have that dynamic if its the finished piece although those can be volatile too of course.

About the price however, since you mentioned that.    I don't think the price is unreasonable at all, 17k for the covers to the tolkien trilogy?    that is PEANUTS.     The problem is... mehh... its a prelim... see above.    Its harder to peg the value and it implies less demand.   (RARE is the prelim of ANYTHING that I can muster the slightest excitement for, personally, and I don't think I'm alone).

If it was the final piece it would be a screaming deal at that price.    Even as a prelim, I think 17k today is as cheap as 35k was expensive in 2010.    

And that's from a guy who thinks it is a piece of steaming hot garbage.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Bronty

[SquareChaos]

32 minutes ago, Bronty said:

The trouble I have in judging that price is that its a prelim.   'Does the final exist?' is the obvious question, but more to the point, I think it also introduces more volatility.     A couple bidders in 2010 could look at it and go - HOLY COW its LOTR, who cares if its only a prelim... and two guys in 2017 might think 'LOTR - how awesome... but jeez, I wish it were  the final.... PASS.'    You don't have that dynamic if its the finished piece although those can be volatile too of course.

About the price however, since you mentioned that.    I don't think the price is unreasonable at all, 17k for the covers to the tolkien trilogy?    that is PEANUTS.     The problem is... mehh... its a prelim... see above.    Its harder to peg the value and it implies less demand.   (RARE is the prelim of ANYTHING that I can muster the slightest excitement for, personally, and I don't think I'm alone).

If it was the final piece it would be a screaming deal at that price.    Even as a prelim, I think 17k today is as cheap as 35k was expensive in 2010.    

And that's from a guy who thinks it is a piece of steaming hot garbage.

I wouldn't say it isn't worth $17k, just that it isn't worth that to me.

[Bronty]

Fair enough.    I think that about 95% of the things I see mind you.   Might be 99%!

[vodou]

1 hour ago, Bronty said:

(RARE is the prelim of ANYTHING that I can muster the slightest excitement for, personally, and I don't think I'm alone).

You're probably not alone but I'm not sure you aren't in the minority if not deep minority. And since popularity drives price (supply:demand)...

I know it bothers you that I prefer the pencils of major 90s pinball titles to the finished paintings. My preference is not because they more closely resemble comic art (non-color), as you suggested, but that the pencil stage is where the thinking happened, where the 'art' happened, and the finished painting is almost always a transfer of the pencils to board or canvas. Sometimes the final piece is still dynamic, maybe even more dynamic than the pencils but on the handful of 90s pinball titles we were discussing the pencils were relatively stiff and the paintings even stiffer. Some of that stiffness is undoubtedly due to licensing/likeness concerns and the strictures of what the final product shape, form, function are. Even so, I'll prefer the less-stiff, the more 'art' between the two. Whether I'm even a fan of the title, artists, etc, just picking "A" or "B" side by side. All imo of course, but that's why I prefer the prelims in those cases. I have collected a number of Earl Norem mens sweat prelims for the same reason, that they were 5-10% of the price of the final piece was just a bonus. But not a decision driver!