Posted in: Comics, Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Sponsored | Tagged: auction, carl barks, disney, duck tales, heritage, sponsored

Carl Barks' Santa's Christmas Mail Painting From 1979 Goes To Auction

This is a beauty. Carl Barks is best known for his Disney Ducks comic books, including the creation of Scrooge McDuck, Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, the Junior Woodchucks, the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold, and many others who would receive further fame in the TV series Duck Tales. After Barks retired from comics, he turned to creating oil paintings sold at local art shows, while his Duck fame slowly grew from non-existent to an industry legend. And so, the popularity and value of his paintings have grown ever since. As part of Heritage Auction's current listings of original comic book-related art, they have this "Santa's Christmas Mall" original piece of art by Barks due to go under the hammer in a week's time, Wednesday the 18th of August.

Carl Barks "Santa's Christmas Mail" Painting Original Art (1979). After retiring from full-time comics work in 1966, Carl Barks did a number of things to supplement his income, including writing the stories for Junior Woodchucks issues 6 through 25. He also took up painting portraits of old barns, horses, and still-life images, selling them at local art fairs in California. Next, he took to creating paintings of Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck on commission, until Disney briefly withdrew their permission in 1976 when a fan created and sold some unauthorized prints. Barks then turned to non-Disney themes, painted in a similar style, like this Christmas-themed piece with a tired, overwhelmed Santa. Barks was quoted as saying, "I knew that people went nuts over the idea of Christmas and they loved it, so I catered to their whims" (Barks' own personal favorite holiday was New Year's Day, "because they've got a couple of good football games on"). This "Santa's Workshop" painting is in oils on Masonite, noted with the Barks code 79-15. The painting measures 20" x 16". It was featured in the book Animal Quackers in 1996. The painting is elaborately framed, without glass, for an overall size of 26.25" x 22.5", and is in Excellent condition.

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