WINSOR McCAY "LITTLE NEMO" LINEN-MOUNTED CARTOON POSTER.
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Winning Bid:
$15,576.00
(Includes 18% Buyer's Premium)
Bidding Ended:
Thursday, March 12, 2020 9:00:00 PM (20 Minute Clock Begins At Thursday, March 12, 2020 9:00:00 PM)
Item Description
Large 39.5x54.75" poster (rarely distributed size) was stone lithograph-printed in France, 1911 w/art signed by popular French poster artist R. Hem. Poster has two Vitagraph Co. symbols, larger at lower right; eagle w/"V" symbol at upper left. Poster was created to promote the 1911 short "Little Nemo," which had an almost eight-minute, live action prologue where McCay makes a wager w/cartoonist George McManus (of "Bringing Up Father" fame) and Vitagraph actor and comedian John Bunny. The bet was that McCay could make 4,000 drawings that "move" in one month, causing the men to laugh uproariously. In this prologue, McCay is shown drawing his characters Nemo, Flip, Imp and Doctor Pill at an astounding speed and accuracy using just a fountain pen (McCay had a legendary ability to draw rapidly). The next scene shows workers hauling in barrels of ink and huge bails labeled "Drawing Paper." McCay is also seen at his desk w/huge stack of paper w/drawings. Various fantastic animated scenes then take place, involving McCay's characters. Top of poster has Flip and Imp holding French title banner which roughly translates to "Winsor McCay - The Latest In Cartoons." There are a series of drawings underneath this, featuring alligator, Flip and Nemo drawing Imp. McCay himself is shown seated at his desk, surrounded by stacks of completed animation drawings and his art tools, a portrait of Flip in his hands. Smaller inset image at bottom left shows McCay placing wager from live-action prologue. Poster was originally folded and has now been linen-mounted. Some scattered color touch-ups and minor restoration along fold lines and fold crease intersections, including to yellow portion of Nemo's hat. There is also some slight age toning along fold lines and barely noticeable lighter margins as once framed. Colors remain bright and bold and poster displays Exc. overall. This has been speculated to possibly be the first cartoon poster ever created and is easily among the earliest cartoon posters. Rare as poster was created for the French market and has no known English counterpart. Historic poster from the beginning of the age of animation which rarely comes up for sale.
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