Eight Pen and Ink Drawings by James Thurber on Various Themes

Lot 423
02.06.2022 10:00UTC -05:00
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$ 17 640
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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ID 764566
Lot 423 | Eight Pen and Ink Drawings by James Thurber on Various Themes
Estimate value
$ 6 000 – 8 000
THURBER, James (1894-1961). A collection of nine pen and ink drawings, one of which, a self-portrait, signed ("James Thurber"), [New York, 1934-1943). A series of James Thurber drawings. A good selection of Thurber's famous "wobbly" drawings, many of which appeared in The New Yorker. Many examples bear captions and include "She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies" (29 Sept. 1934); "Her maid told ours that she has a red heart tattooed above her knee" (25 April, 1936 with a slightly different caption); "I don't want any part of it!" (28 Nov. 1936). Uncaptioned drawings include two of a pair of men fencing, and an angry woman talking to a doctor. Also of interest are several drawings that were first collected for his 1943 book, Men Women, and Dogs including "I'm not going home – and you can't make me!" The lot includes additionally a penciled "Self Caricature," signed by Thurber at the lower margin. Thurber's work first came to the attention of The New Yorker when his friend and co-worker, E.B. White retrieved several examples from the trash and submitted from for publication. His friend Dorothy Parker, noted that the scenes conjured by Thurber, deals “solely in culminations. Beneath his pictures he sets only the final line. You may figure for yourself, and good luck to you, what under heaven could have gone before, that his somber citizens find themselves in such remarkable situations. It is yours to ponder how penguins get into drawing-rooms and seals into bedchambers, for Mr. Thurber will only show them to you some little time after they have arrived there.” (Thurber. The Seal in the Bedroom and other Predicaments, 1932. Introduction).Nine sheets, ranging in size from 190 x 115mm to 215 x 355mm. (Occasional glue marks, and edge toning, the signed self-portrait creased). Eight hinged at top margins and matted with mylar protective sheets, (the self portrait not examined out of mat). Cloth clamshell.
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