This is one set of a limited edition of 500 suites containing ten prints each of preliminary concepts and idea sketches painted in mixed media by Carl Barks during the years 1983 to 1988. All were conceptualisations intended for larger oil paintings, some never done.
Each numbered Certificate of Authenticity has been signed by Carl Barks and each individual print initialled by him. The prints have been identically hand-numbered to match the certificate. There are a small number of artists, publisher's and printer's proofs not for sale. There have been no previous editions, there will be none in the future, and all printing plates have been destroyed to prevent future use.
This suite was printed in the traditional four-colour lithograph screened process on 80# Cover Karma White, a fine paper constructed for strength and longevity. This archival quality product has exceptional ink holdout, is acid free to resist ageing, and has alkaline buffering to counteract the effects of acids normally present in the environment. If framed singly or as a group stored under conditions that avoid dust, insects, direct sunlight and extremes in heat, cold, and humidity, these prints will resist fading or yellowing for hundreds of years.
This special lithographic suite was produced by Another Rainbow, Scottsdale, Arizona under license from The Walt Disney Company and comes with its Certificate of Authenticity. This is the only edition, no gold plate, European, or unsigned editions. This set had never been out of its original envelope until we prepared this listing, it is in virgin state in its original plastic sleeve. Prints are as bright and mint as the day they came off the presses. The numbers, initials and signatures are clear and bold, no skips or smears, no miscues. Envelope shows an absolute minimal amount of handling.
History of the Edition
The Paintings reproduced in this suite were done between 1983-1988, in roughly the following chronological order:
1. Among His Souvenirs, oil on watercolor board, 10" x 8" First of two similar idea sketches, reworked because Scrooge did not figure prominently enough, and eventually abandoned because of the pose's similarity to the previously released lithograph, An Embarrassment of Riches. (Pictured)
2. Money Lake, oil on watercolor board, 7" x 8.75 "Inspired by the cover to Uncle Scrooge FC 386(#1), this variation to a theme that Barks painted many times was never done as a lithograph. (pictured)
3. In Uncle Walt's Collectery, opaque watercolors on paper 9" x 9". Barks describes this as an "early concept of the collectery" subject, which was first conceived as a cover for a Disneyana book". (not pictured).
4. Trail of the Forty Thieves, canvas glued to Masonite, 12.5 x 10" Second of two variations, in Barks words 'begun as an effort to put the ducks in the mysterious Arabian desert. Somehow the mirage of ancient Bagdad never quite became the diaphanous, shimmering illusion I wanted to portray.(not pictured)
5. Sheriff of Bullet Valley, oil on masonite, 11 x 8.75 "
Barks described this revision of the original comic book cover to Donald Duck FC 19 from 1948: 'The staging here is pure Hollywood horse opera with Donald walking toward the camera.' Alternately titled The Law Comes to Bullet Valley, Barks suggests a version of this 'might be restaged with the background showing a western cow town complete with a newly robbed bank that proprietor, Scrooge McDuck, is bewailing mightily.'(pictured)
6. Stamp Collectors Bad Moment, oil on masonite, 12 x 9.75 " 'An idea that progressed no farther than this experimental sketch' Barks felt it was 'obvious that only those viewers who had read The Gilded Man story of 1952 could understand what the ducks are doing and why. No title could quite explain all that'(pictured)
7. First National Bank of Cibola, oil on masonite, 13 x 10.5 " Finally released in 1987, Barks speaks of this preliminary study 'The lower third seemed a little overloaded. I adjusted the final version to let a bit of background blue show through below Uncle Scrooge's right arm' (not pictured)
8. Trespassers Will be Ventilated, oil on masonite, 9 5/8' x 12" A preliminary that 'fell together' on his first try, this composition possibly follows the final oil more closely than any other that Barks has attempted. (not pictured)
9. The Makings of a Fish Story, oil on masonite, 13 3/8 x 10.5 " Barks says of this enormously popular effort that 'most of the subjects problems were worked out in this preliminary. The mermaid, however, is more fish-faced than in the final large painting.' (not pictured)
10. Return to Plain Awful, oil on masonite, 11.75 x 14.75 " The first concept of 'this seemingly simple composition' worked out the more difficult aspects of setting up Scrooge's return to the famous square-egg site of the Donald Duck adventure, Lost in the Andes. (Not pictured)
