Childrens Books OA

[ft88]

Not perfectly comic related but does anyone know where you can get (or even view online) original artwork for childrens books both old and new. I'd be curious how much some of these pieces would go for especially compared to comic book art. It seems to have similar traits: Not really fine art, pulls to childhood memories, one of kind, somewhat famous names in the arena.

 

Plus there's quite a bit out there so its not as if supply is hugely limited so as to completely choke off interest. Books or atists of interest might be

 

Dr Seuss, Richard Scary, Robert McCloskey, Shel Sliverstein, etc.

 

Some other classics that would be fantastic to own a page.

 

Harold and the Purple Crayon: Crockett Johnson

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: Judith Viorst

Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak

Goodnight Moon: Margaret Wise Brown

Curious George: H.A. Rey, Margret Rey

 

About the only ones I have ever seen are the Dr Seuss pages which go for 10s of thousands for a popular page. Curious for leads.

 

Ed

[KLNole]

Here is a link to a gallery that has some illustration originals, we were looking at some Rosemary Wells for our kids nursery. Seems like there was a Crockett Johnson a few months ago on Heritage.

 

http://www.everypicture.com

 

Good luck

[ft88]

Thanks thats a great start, I'll keep looking but it is really fragmented.

 

So $45,000 for this

 

http://www.everypicture.com/original-art/maurice-sendak/3844/max-and-wild-thing.html

 

Looks like a sketch from a convention. Unless it was published piece, it sure seems pricy.

[KLNole]

Here is one more, had to check that they were still around, but I have ordered some things from them before.

 

 

http://www.storyopolis.com

 

None of this stuff is cheap, just think how much the other Sendak pieces are if they won't post the prices for those.

[dem1138]

What about Stephen Kellogg? Don't diss Pinkerton or he'll lick you!

 

 

[artdealer]

The children's book art you are asking about is just about top of the line material....and you are going to pay for it. I don't get that material in very often.

My website http://www.graphiccollectibles.com has quite a bit of contemporary and vintage children's book art. Just click on the link on my homepage that says "Children's Book Art"

Best,

Mitch Itkowitz

Graphic Collectibles

[TheWatcher]

Illustration House is having an auction with Gorey, Geisel, and Schultz in it illustration art auction

[CAP Freak]

 

Anybody got any pieces they'd like to show us.

[westform]

I think the C Johnson you are talking about was the Barnaby strip that just sold for something like 9k... silly me, I thought I could have it at 5k no sweat. A friend swears he saw one sell just over a year ago on ebay in the wrong section for $600!!! Aaaack... probably the same one.

 

I would love to have a Crockett Johnson from Harold or any of the examples you mention but have never seen any for sale. Doesn't mean there haven't been any but I have the means to shell out and I've never seen one or been offered one. Classic Children's book art seems to be rarer than just about anything in the Comic art field...

 

.... maybe most of it resides with the families or with museums???

[shiverbones]

I would love to see some tibor gergely, Garth Williams or Richard Scarry Littel golden book art! OH, I would club a baby seal for a page from Mr. Dog!

[Stronguy]

There is a small shop (gallery) in Lahaina, Hawaii that has some Seuss original. Saw them a couple of years ago but don't remember much about what they were asking.

[Weird Paper]

Books of Wonder in NYC has often had original children's book art for sale. I bought a Lane Smith and a Mark Teague from them years ago. In the past, they have had nice pieces by Steadman, Van Allsburg and others. Every February, either LA (even years) or San Francisco (odd years), hosts the country's largest antiquarian book show, and there is usually plenty of children's book art, often including high end stuff by folks like Wyeth and Rackham.

[WOXL]

My wife recently finished her masters degree and started teaching 4th grade so I wanted to get her a nice present. Her favorite book as a kid was Esphyr Slobodkina's "Caps for Sale" from 1939 (she's not that old... just has classic taste in literature ). Kraushaar Galleries handles her artwork and had access to a couple of original interior pages from the book... starting at $10k!! While they were beautiful, that is simply beyond the means of a new teacher and an engineering grad student. So instead of buying an original, I commissioned CAFer Larry Jones to recreate the book's cover at a sale price of $50:

 

 

My wife and I both love the commission and after I make some title stats, it will display proudly in her classroom. I know this isn't exactly children's book OA, but if you can't find an original or don't have the funds, a nice but inexpensive commission is a decent compromise.

 

-Bob

[KLNole]

Bob,

 

That is really nice. Rick Geary does a lot of nice commisisons for a really reasonable rate. Check out my CAF for a Wizard of OZ and Spiderman I had him do for my kids. Sometimes it is easier, and a lot cheaper to go the commission route.

 

Best,

 

Lee

[dem1138]

I used to read "Caps for Sale" to my students!

 

My favorite was the "Book of Ethics" - should be standard reading for every student in every grade every year!