Howard Chandler Christy, “I Am an American!,” charcoal and pastel on board, 1941, sold for $40,000 (auction record for a drawing by the artist).

 
NEW YORK CITY — Debuting on the market, Howard Chandler Christy’s large and masterly drawing for the poster I Am an American!, 1941, rose past its $25/35,000 presale estimate to achieve $40,000, inclusive of buyer’s premium, at Swann Galleries’ January 28 auction of illustration art. The work was created for the 1941 Mayor’s Committee Celebration of “I Am an American Day” in Central Park for natural-born and naturalized citizens. The charcoal and pastel maquette shows Christy’s favorite model Elise Ford as the beautiful Columbia, powerfully striding forward as a determined force for liberty and democracy.

Charles Addams’ “The Dark Side of ‘Little Annie,’ watercolor, ink and gouache cover art for Show: The Magazine of the Arts, April 1962, set an auction record for magazine cover art by the artist, realizing $17,500.

Also strong across the board of the sale’s examples of advertising art, book and magazine illustrations, fashion and costume drawings, cartoons and comics were 11 pieces by master of the macabre Edward Gorey, most all of which exceeded their high estimates.