Lot 253
  • 253

Gaze, Harold

Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Original Watercolor Illustration, signed ("Harold Gaze"), and dated ("1923")
  • Ink, watercolor and gouache
  • 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches
Single leaf (7 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.; 195 x 195mm, with extension of lower left of image to 9 3/4 in.; 278mm). Pen, ink, and watercolor heightened with touches of white on paper, signed "1923 Harold Gaze" in ink, pencil "3". Matted.

Provenance

San Diego Museum of Art, an anonymous gift

Literature

Holden, 'A Golden Age' I: 80-84

Condition

Single leaf (7 5/8 x 7 5/8 in.; 195 x 195mm, with extension of lower left of image to 9 3/4 in.; 278mm). Pen, ink, and watercolor heightened with touches of white on paper, signed "1923 Harold Gaze" in ink, pencil "3". Matted.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot provided by Sotheby's. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colours and shades which are different to the lot's actual colour and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation because Sotheby's is not a professional conservator or restorer but rather the condition report is a statement of opinion genuinely held by Sotheby's. For that reason, Sotheby's condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot.

Catalogue Note

A whimsical watercolor by Harold Gaze, the important early 20th century illustrator Harold Gaze studied at the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art, in Kensington, and also at the Polytechnic School of Art, in Regent Street. At the start of the First World War, Gaze was rejected from active military service, and was instead involved in the munitions industry, a role that brought him to New York in 1916. The following year, his illustrations were first published, by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, of New York, appearing in Rose Strong Hubbell’s 'If I Could Fly: Stories in Free Verse for Children'. His first title bearing his own text as well as artwork was 'The Wicked Winkapong', which appeared in 1918, properly beginning his career.

After Gaze moved to Pasadena in 1927, his output as an illustrator of children's books slowed, as he preferred to produce independent watercolors that he exhibited at various locations in California and around the U.S. more broadly.  Gaze also worked for Disney Studios for many years, and was at one point involved with the production of 'Fantasia'. The inclusion of bubbles—a subtle feature of the present lot—became one of the hallmarks of his aesthetic, and led to him becoming known as "The Bubble Man".