Charles Addams: Ski Bump

Among those New Yorker artists whose work is prized by collectors, few generate the consistent excitement that Charles Addams does. His 1949 cartoon of a skier unexpectedly coming upon a mound in the snow demonstrates Addams's mastery of technique. His linework and his brushwork are superb. You can almost feel the spray of the snow and the stitching on the sweater. It's an extraordinary piece. And it's funny too, highlighting Addams's delightfully macabre sense of humor.

Charles Addams
Original art
The New Yorker, January 15, 1949, p. 32

The original cartoon went on the auction block yesterday at Heritage Auctions. The action in the salesroom was probably not as frenzied as it would be for one of his Addams Family drawings—or for his more famous ski cartoon—but the bidding certainly did not disappoint. A hammer price of $19,000 is more than respectable for a seventy-five year old New Yorker cartoon.

Charles Addams
Framed original art
The New Yorker, January 15, 1949, p. 32

An undated invoice from Graphics International, Ltd.

Charles Addams
Heritage Auctions sale of April 23, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/charles-addams-american-1912-1988-skier-the-new-yorker-magazine-cartoon-january-15-1949ink-wash-on/a/8161-71083.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116#

Charles Addams
Heritage Auctions item description

The drawing merited a full page in The New Yorker, something you really don't see there anymore. I think we can all agree that it was worth the space.

Charles Addams
The New Yorker, January 15, 1949, p. 32

Charles Addams
Original art
The New Yorker, January 15, 1949, p. 32

A cartoon by Charles Addams and a Profiles illustration by Lorenz [?]

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1949-01-15/flipbook/032/

Frank Emerson Denison

Lorenz [?]

The New Yorker, January 15, 1949, p. 33

Note:  It occurs to me that some of you youngsters may not know what I mean when I write of Charles Addams's "more famous ski cartoon." Well, it's a classic from The New Yorker's issue of January 13, 1940 and you can find it in the archives here.

The obituary of previous art owner Kevin P. Connell (1941-2017) may be examined here. When the cartoon was first published, he wasn't quite eight. The death notice states he was a "Key advance man for the 1968 Presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy & organizer for George McGovern's [Senate] reelection." My guess is that Connell purchased the Addams art in the 1960s. In the 1950s he was simply too young, and by the 1970s I think the art might have cost more than $500.

Is the profile illustration signed Lorenz? Lucaz? Waz? Who is this artist?

04627