Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Middy and Whitney Darrow's Drawing of Pugsley by Charles Addams

New Yorker cartoonist Whitney Darrow, Jr., and his wife Middy were given a sketch by Charles Addams of the Addams Family's Pugsley. They had it matted and framed, as who wouldn't? It is inscribed "For Middy and Whitney/ with love/ Chas Addams" across Pugsley's chest. The rest of the drawing—the mirror, the chair, the inkwells, and the toothbrush or stick—are all there to explain how Pugsley managed it himself without having to make a trip to the tattoo parlor. He's got quite the hand-eye coordination, that boy does.
Image added December 18, 2019

Image added December 18, 2019

RR Auction: March 2015 Fine Autographs & Artifacts Auction, Boston

Charles Addams
RR Auction

That sale price, $269.50 including premium, paid fairly recently in 2015 for a framed Addams Family drawing given by one great New Yorker cartoonist to the family of another, is without question on the low side. This is not because Addams' work is underappreciated—far from it. Instead the low price is an artifact, most likely, of the sale taking place a bit off the beaten path at one of the smaller auction houses.


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