Charles Addams: On the Run

A work of original Charles Addams art was sold this past weekend at Heritage Auctions. A man is seen running frantically across a lawn and the neighbors out raking the autumn leaves believe they know what that means.

"I'll bet he wants to borrow something."
Charles Addams
Original art
Out of This World, November 6, 1955, The McClure Syndicate
Nightcrawlers, 1957

It is not, as the auction house listing states, an "illustration" and it is not from The New Yorker. The drawing is actually a single-panel cartoon for Out of This World distributed by the McClure syndicate to newspapers for the date November 6, 1955. Two years later it was collected in the Addams book Nightcrawlers. The caption was not initially identified by Heritage, but the auction house located it before the sale—and very nearly got it right. I've provided the caption here exactly as it appears on page 86 of Nightcrawlers.

"I'll bet he wants to borrow something."
Charles Addams
Original art
Out of This World, November 6, 1955, The McClure Syndicate
Nightcrawlers, 1957

Starting the bidding early and low encourages bidder interest.

Charles Addams
Heritage Auctions listing accessed August 28, 2023, twenty days before the sale

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/charles-addams-the-new-yorker-illustration-original-art-new-yorker-1955-/a/7341-95007.s?ic4=MyRecommendationsItem-071515

Charles Addams
Heritage Auctions item description accessed August 28, 2023

The description was modified by the time of  the sale to add the (slightly incorrect) caption.

Charles Addams
Heritage Auctions item description accessed September 16, 2023

Bidding as of August 28, 2023, twenty days before the auction

The final sale price was an even $10,000 plus the $2,000 buyer's premium:

Charles Addams
Heritage Auctions listing at the close of bidding on September 17, 2023

The drawing, as it appears in Nightcrawlers, is cropped on both sides, eliminating the head of the rake on the left and most of the house over the hill on the extreme right. As a result the woman and the running man are at the very edges of the image. Not surprisingly, the composition works better as Addams originally drew it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115672404809?hash=item1aee9cd349:g:HDYAAOSwjSZjwcZY&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwNv%2FaQYkkasurSBCbIOeWRL
t2Kf3SHokdMeMMvQoENzi10Lu61gU4Ac3K15re8u4cV7iT80efn8ZYaXBLjF8HqmFSMoPtqAzlLI3bkw5ydxdWxy8PJf2O%2BUwrTLlAF%2
BKndIp2JN3EKFQtDLq9rlleJ8WMN4iDbgOHlKbvriH8RMKW2ChCNK7RKqiZ2PFO6KznXOqrGCx8HNYFEtWyO7%2FkkbgaEm7NJib
sU0YOGWBa9ed99hYtPo0dcVXCCbD5%2B600g%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_ztyobWYg

September 23, 2023 Update:  Blog reader and contributor David from Manhattan informs me that this piece was offered by Taraba Illustration Art back in 2019. Fred Taraba had the correct caption and knew where the cartoon was first published, so it's strange that this basic information wasn't passed along to Heritage. In 2019, the artwork's appearance was considerably different:

"I'll bet he wants to borrow something."
Charles Addams
Unrestored original art
Out of This World, November 6, 1955, The McClure Syndicate
Nightcrawlers, 1957

The paper has since undergone considerable restoration as was suggested by Fred Taraba in his listing and the overall look of the piece is now markedly improved. Some of the printer's pencil markings may have been removed as well. I've decided to give this conservation work my seal of approval, because the art can now be displayed fully as Addams drew it without the distracting rubber cement residue on either side of the crop lines. While I am unaware of the cost of the paper conservation, it appears to me the Heritage seller was perilously close to the break-even point.

Note:  There's a lot of outstanding original Charles Addams art out there. Send me images of what you've got and I just might dedicate a future blog post to it. Maybe I'll even let you borrow something. 

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