We now come to the third and final redrawn New Yorker cartoon by Charles Addams that came to light three years ago when offered for sale at an auction house in Penzance. Like the two we have already seen, this one features characters we today recognize as the Addams Family. The original drawing was published in The New Yorker of August 30, 1947.
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| "It's the children, darling—back from camp." Charles Addams The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 20 |
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| A cartoon by Charles Addams and a spot drawing of a street corner by "h" |
As luck would have it, I have already posted the original published art here:
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| "It's the children, darling, back from camp." Charles Addams Original art Published as "It's the children, darling—back from camp." The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 20 |
And now let's have a look at that redraw:
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| "It's the children, darling, back from camp." Charles Addams Redraw after The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 20 |
The redraw suffers a bit from foxing outside the image. The board is 76 x 56 cm with a lot of white area around the drawing, whereas the New Yorker original from Christie's is only 40.6 x 30.5 cm. The redrawn caption is in capital letters while the original is in cursive. Could these differences be because the original is intended solely for reproduction while the redraw is intended for display? Interestingly, both captions are written with two commas, but The New Yorker substitutes a dash for the second comma, giving the punchline more punch.
Here is Gomez in the original and then in the redraw:
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| Original |
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| Redraw |
Addams has moved the torn curtain to the left to better frame Gomez against a dark backdrop. His nose is drawn differently. The banisters are less tapered in the redraw. In fact, many of the details seem less carefully rendered and shaded.
Thing lurks above:
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| Original |
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| Redraw |
Again, some of the exquisite subtleties seem lost in the redraw.
Lurch stands at the ready:
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| Original |
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| Redraw |
The redraw doesn't have the same attention to detail. Compare the feather duster, the steps, the floorboards, Lurch.
Finally, there is the quadrant with Morticia, the driver, Wednesday, and Pugsley, the visual payoff for the cartoon:
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| Original |
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| Redraw |
Once again, the redraw is splendid, but there is more care given to the original.
The David Lay auction continues:
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| "It's the children, darling, back from camp." Charles Addams Redraw after The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 20 |
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| Verso of Whatman drawing board |
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| Signature of Chas Addams |
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| "It's the children, darling, back from camp." Charles Addams Redraw after The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 20 |
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| Handwritten caption in capital letters |
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| "It's the children, darling, back from camp." Charles Addams Redraw after The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 20 |
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| Verso label |
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| Verso |
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| Detail of Lurch, Morticia, driver, Wednesday, and Pugsley |
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| Detail of Gomez |
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| Charles Addams Lay's Auctioneers Fine Art Sale of January 29, 2021 |
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| The three Addams redraws in the virtual Fine Art Sale Lot 583: Redraw of January 24, 1948 Lot 582: Redraw of August 30, 1947 Lot 581: Redraw of November 25, 1939 |
And there you have it. If the three redraws were commissioned together, as seems probable, their dates would have to be after January 24, 1948. We are told they were obtained in London the late 1940s.
Note: I wish once again to thank the reader who informed me of this sale. I apologize for taking three years to report on it.
Are there any more Charles Addams redraws out there? Your blogger wants to know.
These newsworthy Addams finds were covered in the Daily Mail here.
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The artist who signed the New Yorker spot drawing opposite the Addams cartoon with an "h" is unknown to me. Can anyone help me out?
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| "h" Spot drawing of a street corner The New Yorker, August 30, 1947, page 21 |
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