Sale 2465 - Illustration Art, December 14, 2017

270 c CHARLES ADDAMS. Movie Scream. Cartoon for The New Yorker, published January 18, 1947, page 36. Pen, ink, watercolor, and correction f luid on board. 356x356 mm; 14x14 inches, 16 1 / 2 x15-inch board. Signed “Chas Addams” in lower right image. Archivally hinged to shadowbox matte; framed. [12,000/18,000] Relying on his favorite themes of impending doom, the vulnerable viewer, and good old fashioned scare tactics, this remains a favorite as far as non-Addams Family cartoons go. However, close inspection reveals a familiar face — among the crowd of alarmed theatergoers is none other than Barbara Jean Day, his then-wife and muse behind his iconic Morticia Addams. This timeless image was later published in “Addams in Evil” (RandomHouse, 1947), “My Crowd,” page 99 (Simon & Schuster, 1970), and “The World of Charles Addams,” page 79 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1991).