Artist: W. W. Denslow (American, 1856-1915).
Title: "Don't Touch Me, She Cried".
Medium: Original color lithotint.
Date: Composed 1904.
Dimensions: Overall size: 8 11/16 x 6 3/16 in. (221 x 157 mm). Image size: 6 1/4 x 5 in. (159 x 127 mm).
Lot Note(s): Stamp signed with the artist monogram, lower right; signed in the stone, lower right. Edition unknown. Light textured cream wove paper. Wide margins. Fine impression with heavy ink application. Good to very good condition; very minor staining lower margin, not into image. Provenance: Ex-collection Frances G. Doolittle. Comment(s): We have not found this scarce, vintage print at auction in the past 25 years. The print is from the portfolio Denslow created to illustrate 'The Pearl and the Pumpkin' by Paul West. William Wallace Denslow was an American illustrator best remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. With his profits from his plays and books, Denslow bought a small island in Bermuda, built a “castle” on it, and crowned himself King Denslow I of Denslow Island. He began drinking heavily as his career went into a slump, and spent his last years working for a third-rate advertising agency in New York, drawing postcards, sheet music covers, advertising booklets, and an occasional magazine illustration. In 1915, he unexpectedly sold a cover to the popular humor weekly, Life, went on a bender with the money, caught pneumonia, and died. [26473-1-150] |
