25178

ALEX RAYMOND (1909-1956)

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:2,800.00 USD Estimated At:10,000.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
ALEX RAYMOND (1909-1956)
<B>ALEX RAYMOND (1909-1956)</B></I> <BR>Original Magazine Story Illustration, c.1936 <BR>Ink on paper <BR>22in. x 20in. (sight size) <BR>Signed lower right: Alex Raymond <BR><BR>This breathtaking illustration has an eerie and haunting resonance -- the grim reaper goads a beautiful couple to race on in their convertible. Twenty years later, <I>Heart of Juliet Jones</B></I> cartoonist Stan Drake and Alex Raymond suffered their own deadly high-speed crash. <BR><BR>Writer Arlen Schumer interviewed Drake about the accident in an article for <I>Hogan's Alley</B></I> #3. To Drake, Alex Raymond was a striking figure; matinee-idol handsome with a pencil-thin mustache, virile, hugely talented and admired among his peers. Alex Raymond wanted to test drive Drake's new 1956 Corvette convertible, which boasted 450 horsepower, and a four-second acceleration from 0 to 60 miles per hour. On that day, September 6th, 1956, a steady rain was falling, and the top was up on the Corvette. At first, Drake took the wheel, traveling around Westport while Raymond admired the automobile. "Finally, we were on a road over by the highway, and he said, 'Can I drive?' and I said, 'Sure.' " Raymond began driving down South Morningside Drive to Clapboard Road, where Raymond began driving as if he were on his favorite race course. <BR><BR>As he sped down the steeply graded Clapboard, he failed to see a stop sign that was hidden by overgrown weeds. Racing through the intersection, Raymond and Drake were suddenly in a free fall. Clapboard Road dropped off precipitously after the stop sign, and the velocity of the car launched it into midair. "By not stopping, we shot out about sixty feet into the air," Drake said. "They calculated where the wheels hit the road, and it was about sixty feet. The last thing I remember, we were coming right at these trees. There was a pencil on the dashboard, and it was floating in the air. That's the last thing I remember before we hit." Raymond was killed but Drake was thrown clear, and survived the crash. While he was recovering, a doctor told him that this had been the fourth time in the past month Raymond had been hospitalized due to injuries sustained in auto accidents. "He had been trying to kill himself," Drake said. <BR><BR>The flawless "painterly" drybrush technique used in this drawing shows the 1930s influence of illustrator Matt Clark on Raymond. Many Raymond aficionados consider 1935-36 to be the artistic peak of Alex Raymond's career, and after marveling at this masterful drawing, it would be hard to refute that opinion. <BR><BR><B>Important notice:</B> Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 24.5% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid.