The next animation art auction by Heritage Auctions will take place on June 16 and June 17, 2018. The catalog contains some truly spectacular items. Here are three of my favorites: Above are pieces by Eyvind Earle created for an abandoned Disney project from the late '40s and early 1950s about the history of jazz; below is a splendid concept drawing by Mary Blair from Alice in Wonderland; and at the bottom are some character designs for the Horned King from The Black Cauldron by Mel Shaw.

Some great pieces of concept art that I had never seen before are being sold by Van Eaton Galleries right now. The two above are by Mel Shaw for The Great Mouse Detective. They will not be included in They Drew As They Pleased - Volume 5, sadly, as they feature smoking and drinking.

 The one below is a very early concept for Winnie the Pooh by Mary Blair from the late '30s or early '40s. It is too late to include it in  They Drew As They Pleased - Volume 4 (I am reviewing the galleys at the moment), but you will be glad to know that another piece by Blair from Winnie the Pooh will make it into the book.

The beautiful book about Disney's version of "The Nutcracker Suite" from Fantasia released by Little Brown in 1941 contains some fascinating drawings of an insect orchestra.

I should probably know this, but do any of you have more information on that insect orchestra? Who drew those illustrations? Is the insect orchestra an abandoned project? Etc.

[UPDATE: The art was created by the artist Walt Scott.]

Beautiful concept painting created by Walt Peregoy for The Jungle Book and being sold at the moment by Van Eaton galleries.

Thanks to Gunnar Andreassen, here are a few more of the Horvath drawings which were sold recently by Heritage Auctions.

Ken Anderson, of course, and sold at Van Eaton Galleries. Pure delight.

Luciano Berriatua bought recently from Leslie M. Brooks (who manages the Wabbits store on ebay) this great drawing by Ferdinand Horvath.

Luciano asked himself two questions: When was it created and who are the artists caricatured?

To find the answer, he followed the following reasoning:


The paper's three circular pegs and 2 rectangular ones started being used around mid-1935 and until 1944 but strangely the size of the paper (9,5" x 12") corresponds to pre-1935 sheets (the ones used starting in 1935 are usually 10" x 12") . It is therefore likely that pre-1935 paper was used with the new perforations in this case.


In addition, since Horvath left Disney in 1937, the drawing probably dates from between 1935 to 1937.

The first model sheets of Fantasia's centaurs, created for the "Cydalise" sequence, are from September 1938. Horvath's drawings would not therefore be connected to Fantasia. More on this below.

Who are the artists caricatured? The left centaur definitely looks like Ham Luske. The one on the right is identified as Gustaf Tenggren, which is definitely not impossible. Leslie Brooks guessed that the centaur in the middle was Gilles "Frenchy" de Tremaudan, but de Tremaudan always wore very recognizable Harold-Lloyd-type glasses and did not have the kind of hair which appear to be one of the two key features of the middle centaur, along with his nose. By looking at Studio photographs, Luciano recognized Johnny Cannon (see above).

If the drawing was not linked to Fantasia, what project inspired it?

In Robin Allan's book Walt Disney and Europe, in the Appendix B, we see a list of "Other unfinished European projects" which includes 1116 The Odissey (Adventures of Ulysses) and 1125 Mythological Research (Stories of Mythology), both probably from the '30s.

A large number of Hurter's drawings in the book He Drew As He Pleased seem to come from those projects, as is the drawing below from Horvath that appeared in the catalog of Graphic Gallery number 8.

Interesting drawing of Destino by Dali currently being sold by Sotheby's. (Thanks to Emmanuel Bourmalo for the link)

As you probably know by now, one of my big passions is Disney concept drawings and my two favorite concept artists are Ferdinand Horvath and Ken Anderson.

Here are two Horvath drawings that were sold recently on ebay.

This marvelous concept drawing of Robin Hood by Ken Anderson is being offered for sale by Animation Celection. Unfortunately the price is way too high for me.

I love those two cute concept drawings by Tenggren which are being sold at the moment on Heritage Auction Galleries. (Thanks to Emmanuel Bourmalo for the link)

Those concept art drawings were sold on Van Eaton Galleries a while back. I thought you would enjoy them just two days before Jack takes over.

I should have a nice historical gift for all of you tomorrow, hopefully.

The Vance Gerry Memorial Blog run by Ed Gombert is always a fascinating place to visit. It is becoming even more exciting these days as Ed is posting concept art from the abandoned project The Abandoned. Pure delight.

This great little sketch of Stromboli's coach by Albert Hurter is being sold at the moment by Van Eaton Galleries. I enjoyed it and I thought you would too.

A friend of mine just bought this concept drawing. We believe it might have been created by Tom Oreb for Disney. Would any of you have more thoughts or ideas about it?

Speaking of Tenggren, Gunnar Andreassen and Emmanuel Bourmalo noted that:

[there was another Tenggren piece that was sold on Heritage last week. Description: GUSTAF TENGGREN (American 1896 - 1970). Seven Dwarfs study, c. 1938. Mixed-media on board6 x 7.75 in. Not signed. This concept study from the animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs conveys all the long-lasting charm of the merry Dwarfs in a beautifully composed image. It was sold for $ 9.560]

And world-famous collector Pete Merolo wrote:

[I saw that you had the 'Snow White' Tenggren of the 'Queen' displayed -- I thought you'd enjoy seeing this Tenggren of 'Snow White' in rags with the 'Prince' at the well. Although created by Tenggren as inspirational for the film -- it was used in many different publications at that time and throughout the years -- exactly as the 'Queen' artwork. This piece has some irregular borders but is approx. 8'' x 12''.]

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

[This concept artwork was sold by Heritage Auctions last week for $26.290.

Description: GUSTAF TENGGREN (American 1896 - 1970)

The Queen and the Magic Mirror, c. 1938

Mixed-media on paper.

8.5 x 6 in.

Not signed.

This stunning example was created as concept artwork for the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and as one of the most impressive images ever related to the animated feature, was also later featured prominently in the Snow White children's book, published by Grosset and Dunlap, 1938.

The image is breathtakingly detailed and the colors are vibrant and wonderfully preserved, representing the single greatest rendering of the villain from the movie that completely changed the trajectory of animation in America. As such, its importance cannot be overstated.]

Nice concept art by Mary Blair of John and the Lost Boys being sold at the moment by Van Eaton Galleries.

Great Mary Balir concept art currently being sold by Van Eaton Galleries.

An other great concept drawing by Mary Blair being sold at the moment by Van Eaton Galleries for your enjoyment.

I am still catching up with a million things. More soon this week.