Heritage May 16 - 18 Comic Art Signature Auction - Chicago 3 3

[delekkerste]

45 minutes ago, Nexus said:

On the Lucas Museum possibly acquiring this...I'll believe it when I see it. But if they did, then I really have to question why they passed on "Master Race" for 1/10 the cost (or at least bid more, if they were in it at all).

Same. I think Lucas has become the bogeyman for all outsized sales of specialized comic/illustration art, but, as we saw with Master Race, which would have seemed to be a pretty important and obvious acquisition candidate, that is not the case. I wonder if the Nazi imagery was a turn off? 

I'm not really sure what acquiring EQ would even do for the museum anyway.  It's not like the general public recognizes this to be "the" Frazetta to have above others that they may already have or could acquire for much less.  And, thematically/stylistically, I think there are almost certainly some troublesome questions that would be raised about cultural appropriation, Orientalism (as noted by esteemed writer Glen Gold!), fetishism, female objectification, exaggerated, um, anatomy, etc. that would be sure to be raised in 2019; I don't think this piece really adds anything to the draw of the Museum. I'd even go so far as to say that a good deal of the general public would probably find some reason to be offended by it, and/or find it irredeemably kitsch or titillating. I don't really see this as advancing the art form or anything meaningful that would make it a better candidate for the Lucas Museum than a less expensive Frazetta (maybe even one or more than Lucas may already own?)

To be clear, I'm not ruling it out, as there are only a handful of people/organizations that would even be in the discussion of buying this at $5.4 million, but, it seems unlikely to me.  

Edited May 17, 2019 by delekkerste

[Bronty]

25 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

troublesome questions that would be raised about cultural appropriation, Orientalism (as noted by esteemed writer Glen Gold!), fetishism, female objectification, exaggerated, um, anatomy, etc. 

She does have thick thighs.    

I think the 'troublesome questions' are ridiculous, but whatever.   Not my money and not my outrage.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Bronty

[vodou]

56 minutes ago, Nexus said:

However this happened, it's now a legit comp. Or as legit as these things go.

Agree but until confirmation BP was paid it's 4.5m not 5.4m.

[artcollector9]

Here's a possible reason for a Lucas purchase of EQ:

The Egyptian Queen's outfit was the inspiration for Star War's Princess Leia's costume.

I could see THAT as a plausible reason for George to buy it for his museum. 

 

 

 

[vodou]

45 minutes ago, Bronty said:

The museum is not a reaction to the need to educate the masses. 

Actually education/etc is pretty important if they're going for 503(c) (non-profit) organizational status. Not that EQ over Master Race would be the reason why they wouldn't get it, just sayin'

The 'why' of it is partly ego but also a tax situation. Die with this level of collection intact and your Estate gets hammered. Pass it on now to heirs at greater than 10k (or whatever the current threshold is) per annum in present value and it's a living tax situation (at the giver's rate not receiver's). Create the Trust and then 'donate' to your own non-profit museum...lotsa wins on that one!

Too lazy to look this up, is Lucas going for non-profit or will it just be a private for-profit enterprise?

[Bronty]

17 minutes ago, vodou said:

Actually education/etc is pretty important if they're going for 503(c) (non-profit) organizational status. Not that EQ over Master Race would be the reason why they wouldn't get it, just sayin'

The 'why' of it is partly ego but also a tax situation. Die with this level of collection intact and your Estate gets hammered. Pass it on now to heirs at greater than 10k (or whatever the current threshold is) per annum in present value and it's a living tax situation (at the giver's rate not receiver's). Create the Trust and then 'donate' to your own non-profit museum...lotsa wins on that one!

Too lazy to look this up, is Lucas going for non-profit or will it just be a private for-profit enterprise?

I'm sure that very sophisticated people have mapped out the best possible result to mitigate the cost of the gift but at the end of the day you are still giving your wealth away.

[delekkerste]

31 minutes ago, artcollector9 said:

Here's a possible reason for a Lucas purchase of EQ:

The Egyptian Queen's outfit was the inspiration for Star War's Princess Leia's costume.

I could see THAT as a plausible reason for George to buy it for his museum. 

That sounds plausible. A bad idea, I think, but, plausible. I mean, Disney has already done away with the Slave Leia costume in media and merchandising because they felt it was out of step with the way society is going (or, alternatively, you can say they caved to outside pressures for financial reasons). Is it really worth $5.4 million to buy something which will probably provoke similar outrage and controversy? Do we, as a hobby, want the first reviews of the Lucas Museum to all have the obligatory paragraph about "juvenile art portraying adolescent male sexual power fantasies out of touch with the times"? Because, whether Bronty thinks it's ridiculous or not...you know it will happen.  

I just think this piece is a liability for a museum more than it is an asset.  It belongs in the collection of a rich, pervy fanboy!!  

Edited May 17, 2019 by delekkerste

[Nexus]

40 minutes ago, artcollector9 said:

Here's a possible reason for a Lucas purchase of EQ:

The Egyptian Queen's outfit was the inspiration for Star War's Princess Leia's costume.

I could see THAT as a plausible reason for George to buy it for his museum. 

 

 

 

That might be a reason, but it would be a terrible one for the expense.

[exitmusicblue]

5.4 million is less than 0.1% of Lucas's wealth...

Another way of putting it -- he could acquire 1000 EQs and still have a billion bucks left.

Edited May 17, 2019 by exitmusicblue

[delekkerste]

4 minutes ago, exitmusicblue said:

5.4 million is less than 0.1% of Lucas's wealth...

Master Race was less than 0.01%... 

I don't know if he bought EQ or not, but, $5.4 million would pay for a lot of salaries and upkeep at the Museum (at $100 a pop, it's the equivalent of 54,000 annual memberships). Probably a better use of that money than spending it on a painting of a Westernized Egyptian princess with a 34GGG bust being gazed at lustily by a (phallic) sword-wielding warrior that probably won't go over very well with critics and much of the public. 

But, YMMV!! 

 

[The Cimmerians Purse]

21 hours ago, vodou said:

With no other bidders (or any interest whatsoever based on "her" face) what it really was: a fixed price sale done very publicly.

when you say based on her face, do you mean because of the changes to her face that Frazetta made?

 

yeah, interesting theory for sure. Kind of a hey, we'll let it go at this... but also if anyone bids the hell out of it that wouldn't have hurt any feelings, other than that initial prospective buyers of course.

[Timely]

With $6.2 Billion, he probably makes about $200,000,000 in interest alone every year! He could use EQ for toilet paper & it would hardly blip on his yearly financials! 

[exitmusicblue]

3 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

Master Race was less than 0.01%... 

I don't know if he bought EQ or not, but, $5.4 million would pay for a lot of salaries and upkeep at the Museum (at $100 a pop, it's the equivalent of 54,000 annual memberships). Probably a better use of that money than spending it on a painting of a Westernized Egyptian princess with a 34GGG bust being gazed at lustily by a (phallic) sword-wielding warrior that probably won't go over very well with critics and much of the public. 

But, YMMV!! 

 

No one should ever forget their roots.

[Bronty]

44 minutes ago, delekkerste said:

That sounds plausible. A bad idea, I think, but, plausible. I mean, Disney has already done away with the Slave Leia costume in media and merchandising because they felt it was out of step with the way society is going (or, alternatively, you can say they caved to outside pressures for financial reasons). Is it really worth $5.4 million to buy something which will probably provoke similar outrage and controversy? Do we, as a hobby, want the first reviews of the Lucas Museum to all have the obligatory paragraph about "juvenile art portraying adolescent male sexual power fantasies out of touch with the times"? Because, whether Bronty thinks it's ridiculous or not...you know it will happen.  

I just think this piece is a liability for a museum more than it is an asset.  It belongs in the collection of a rich, pervy fanboy!!  

That's plausible, but if EQ would cause that reaction or that judgement alone, that's pathetic.     What is Star Wars if not an epic power fantasy?     If we are at the point where a pair of knockers causes outrage over anything and everything else then that's truly pathetic and weak minded and eventually the pendulum will swing back.

[Brian Peck]

Today's HA auction has started with a number of Murphy Anderson stories, including Showcase #60 which ended at $90K for 8 pages part one, $66K for part two (10 pages) and $50K for part three (6 pages). Pretty good prices especially for part one with $11250 a page.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Brian Peck

[Brian Peck]

Last Pre-CrisisSuperman #423 cover by Swan and Anderson ended at $52,800.

[exitmusicblue]

The scary thing about EQ is that 90k suddenly seems like chump change...

[Brian Peck]

Just now, exitmusicblue said:

The scary thing about EQ is that 90k suddenly seems like chump change...

To some.

[The Cimmerians Purse]

I wonder how much of a hit the racist porn scandal was on the final price of EQ? I bet that sale took a hit on it. Potentially drove away some buyers.

Easier to argue that it was a product of the times, with out that strong evidence of how he thought personally.

[Brian Peck]

$18K for Bloom County Sunday "Bill the Cat" First Appearance

Really shocked it met reserve, that 5-6x what a Bloom County strip goes for. Not alot of the originals out there, though Berke Breathed did recently sell a bunch.