Extraordinary Trio of Barks Paintings to be Auctioned by Heritage Three original oil paintings by one of Walt Disney's most famous, talented artists, Carl Barks, will be offered by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas (www.HA.com), November 15 - 17, 2007
News-Antique.com - Oct 27,2007 - DALLAS, TEXAS: Three original oil paintings by one of Walt Disney's most famous, talented artists, Carl Barks, will be offered by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas (www.HA.com ), November 15 - 17, 2007. Barks is acclaimed by many comics and cartoon collectors as "The Good Duck Artist" for his drawings of Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, and his original paintings are highly prized .
Barks first worked for the Disney studios as an "in-betweener," but was quickly transferred to the story department after he began submitting gags. Along with his creative partner Jack Hannah, he came up with story ideas for Donald Duck, once that character proved popular enough to support his own series of cartoons. Working together, Barks and Hannah contributed to such classics as Donald's Nephews (1938), Donald's Cousin Gus (1939), and The Vanishing Private (1942), among others.
Before leaving Disney in 1942, Barks did half the art for a Donald Duck comic book (Hannah did the other half), which would be released by Western Publishing as Four Color #9. The story, titled "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold," was destined to become a classic.
Sensing a new opportunity, Barks asked Western if there might be more comic book work available, and was immediately assigned a 10-page story for Walt Disney Comics and Stories #31, The Victory Garden , in 1943, leading to work that would appear continuously in that magazine for the next several decades. Although these stories were always unsigned, as was the custom of the day, Barks' stories stood out to a legion of fans who recognized the quality of his work. For this reason, he gained the sobriquet, "The Good Duck Artist."
Barks officially retired in 1966, but, at the urging of fans, he obtained permission from Disney to create paintings of the Duck characters beginning in the 1970s, bringing a whole new form of expression to his artwork. He continued to paint almost up to the point of his passing on August 25, 2000, at nearly 100 years of age.
"We've been very successful with our offerings of Barks' paintings in the past," said Ed Jaster, Vice-President for Dallas-based Heritage. "In our most recent Comics Signature Auction, held in August of this year, we sold "Dubious Doings at Dismal Downs" for $150,570, and "Spoiling the Concert" for $155,350. Obviously, the market is strong for paintings by the renowned and beloved artist."
"The trio of paintings offered in our upcoming auction are among Barks' best," said Jaster, "including Disputed Claim, 16" x 22", based on his 1953 Uncle Scrooge saga for Four Color #456, 'Back to the Klondike;' Return to Plain Awful, 30" x 24", based on Don Rosa's 1989 sequel for the famous square-egg story, 'Lost in the Andes,' originally published in Four Color #223 and later reprinted in Donald Duck Adventures #12; and Menace of the Myths, 18.5" x 24.5", based upon the 1955 story from Uncle Scrooge #12, 'The Golden Fleecing.' All three paintings depict Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and his
