http://www.ebay.com/itm/Walt-Disney-Uncle-Scrooge-Rare-Mint-Poster-with-Donald-Duck-and-Nephews-/230847346438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bf92f706
I have had this poster in my collection for over 20 years and someone else is selling one on ebay right now. This is the very first time I have seen another copy of this poster, and I have never been able to find out what artist did it. It is either a Carl Barks painting (and I have never found this artwork in any of the registries or books) or it is an amazing imitation of Carl Barks style.
Has anyone ever seen this before (it appeared in this poster and also on a fake credit card in 1987)? Does anyone have any information on it?
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Author
Topic: What is this, I've been wondering for years
(15 messages)
GeoDiaz
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 1 -
2012-09-05 at 01:42:50
Robb_K
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 2 -
2012-09-05 at 01:52:23
That doesn't look like Barks' work or style. to me. That could easily be another Disney artist who was NOT trying to "copy" Barks' style, but only to keep the format of Barks' paintings, done for a Disney department or franchisee production group of some sort. I've never seen a Barks painting of that general layout.
GeoDiaz
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 3 -
2012-09-05 at 02:16:03
I disagree, I think it seriously looks like his style or possibly some of his own work.
The jewels are in Barks style such as in "McDuck of Duckburg" or "In the Cave of Ali Baba", the arch way in the money bin is from a half dozen painting like "This dollar saved my life at Whitehorse" or "Spoiling the Concert", and the over all feel is similar to the very bright (and far later) "Rich Finds at Inventory Time" but with the more detailed stye of "Hands Off My Playthings" or ??Business as Usual" .
It may be hard to see what I'm talking about in the Ebay pictures, I will take more detailed images of my copy of the poster.
The jewels are in Barks style such as in "McDuck of Duckburg" or "In the Cave of Ali Baba", the arch way in the money bin is from a half dozen painting like "This dollar saved my life at Whitehorse" or "Spoiling the Concert", and the over all feel is similar to the very bright (and far later) "Rich Finds at Inventory Time" but with the more detailed stye of "Hands Off My Playthings" or ??Business as Usual" .
It may be hard to see what I'm talking about in the Ebay pictures, I will take more detailed images of my copy of the poster.
Morequack
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 4 -
2012-09-05 at 03:32:59
I don't know. It definitely looks like someone imitating Barks' style. But I doubt that it is Barks' work. The Scrooge likeness, as well as that of Donald, just isn't Barks, to me.
Debbie
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 5 -
2012-09-05 at 03:37:00
The characters look too "animated" to be Barks, in my humble opinion. As good an artist as Barks was, the characters in his paintings looked a bit more stiff than in this print.
Patrick Hanifin
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 6 -
2012-09-05 at 04:20:03
I know that after Carl had painted Embarrassment of Riches I later saw these posters for sale at Disneyland. It is not Carl's art.
Patrick Hanifin
www.PatrickHanifin.com
www.SqueakyCleanComedy.com
Patrick Hanifin
www.PatrickHanifin.com
www.SqueakyCleanComedy.com
Cien2
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 7 -
2012-09-05 at 12:53:15
this particular poster has been my interest since the first time i saw it many years ago on eBay. it doesn't seem to pop up much on eBay. I tried asking around about it several months ago to no avail, but Dan Shane in DCML mentioned that he purchased one from the poster bin at Walt Disney World roughly 20 years ago. Patrick Hanifin said it's sold in Disneyland. This at least confirms this particular poster was meant to be produced and sold for mainstream Disney locations targeting mainstream Disneyworld visitors some time in the late 80s(?).
Like Geodiaz, I also speculated and still does, that this might be one of Barks' undocumented works. I would highly suspect someone who worked in Disneyland, hired Carl Barks to do one oil painting based on Ducktales-style sketch.
Then again, there's also the possibility this is the work of Barks imitator.
Some things that I found very Barksian:
- ALL the stuffs Geodiaz have mentioned
- one of the nephews "fishing" for money
- the gold bullion
- the bulldozer driven by Donald, which made the "money waves"
- the scroll of paper from the calculator thingie Scrooge punched
- the shading on the ducks' faces and eyes
Some of the stuffs that i think non-Barks:
- Scrooge head is too rounded, too Ducktales-styled
- Scrooge's body and fingers are also seemed "fuller" and "fatter", not sure i chose the correct phrases
- the $ and crown sign on Scrooge's chair, seems very Richie Rich-like , who often work the material riches into sight-gags
- Donald body and head is also a bit Disneyfied to me
- the composition layout is very weird, like Rob has pointed out. We have top-down view of Scrooge and his desk, but on the background we have down-top view (not sure if this is the correct term, i just made this one up) of the bin ceiling.
At the end of the day though, we all have to agree on one thing:
If this is NOT Barks' work, then whoever the artist is, he is REALLY good.
I wouldn't mind to know who the actual artist is, I would like to see more works of this particular "mysterious artist"
thanks for the link, geodiaz, i've been looking to purchase that poster for years. I hope I could get this one relatively cheap.
cheers,
Like Geodiaz, I also speculated and still does, that this might be one of Barks' undocumented works. I would highly suspect someone who worked in Disneyland, hired Carl Barks to do one oil painting based on Ducktales-style sketch.
Then again, there's also the possibility this is the work of Barks imitator.
Some things that I found very Barksian:
- ALL the stuffs Geodiaz have mentioned
- one of the nephews "fishing" for money
- the gold bullion
- the bulldozer driven by Donald, which made the "money waves"
- the scroll of paper from the calculator thingie Scrooge punched
- the shading on the ducks' faces and eyes
Some of the stuffs that i think non-Barks:
- Scrooge head is too rounded, too Ducktales-styled
- Scrooge's body and fingers are also seemed "fuller" and "fatter", not sure i chose the correct phrases
- the $ and crown sign on Scrooge's chair, seems very Richie Rich-like , who often work the material riches into sight-gags
- Donald body and head is also a bit Disneyfied to me
- the composition layout is very weird, like Rob has pointed out. We have top-down view of Scrooge and his desk, but on the background we have down-top view (not sure if this is the correct term, i just made this one up) of the bin ceiling.
At the end of the day though, we all have to agree on one thing:
If this is NOT Barks' work, then whoever the artist is, he is REALLY good.
I wouldn't mind to know who the actual artist is, I would like to see more works of this particular "mysterious artist"
thanks for the link, geodiaz, i've been looking to purchase that poster for years. I hope I could get this one relatively cheap.
cheers,
Timoro
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 8 -
2012-09-05 at 13:38:13
I've seen this picture on the cover of jigsaw puzzle box. Artist is someone who have seen Barks' paintings, but who still must follow the modern "animated" character models. So I guess it is done in some European (Spanish?) studio. Might even be digital painting.
Timo
Timo
Patrick Hanifin
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 9 -
2012-09-05 at 15:23:21
The fake credit card is called THE UNCLE SCROOGE MONEY CARD and a lot of the original picture is chopped off. "If you're a real penny pincher, this card was made for you. It's designed so that you hoard your money instead of spending it. In fact, you can not buy anything with The Uncle Scrooge Money Card." Copyright The Walt Disney Company. ISBN #0681551186. Manufactured by OSP Publishing, Monterey Park, CA.
Patrick Hanifin
www.PatrickHanifin.com
www.SqueakyCleanComedy.com
Patrick Hanifin
www.PatrickHanifin.com
www.SqueakyCleanComedy.com
GeoDiaz
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 10 -
2012-09-08 at 02:26:29
Here are the close up pics of my copy of this poster I had earlier this week. I also added a quick pic of the newest addition to my collection (I'm beyond giddy about that one, just picked it up today).
http://blog.mcduckindustries.com/2012/09/scrooge-poster-and-new-editon-pics-for.html
http://blog.mcduckindustries.com/2012/09/scrooge-poster-and-new-editon-pics-for.html
Robb_K
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 11 -
2012-09-08 at 15:45:36
It seems to be the work of someone working for Disney Products Div. who was given the job of making some "Barkslike" money bin paintings, similar in style to those of Barks.
GeoDiaz
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 12 -
2012-09-08 at 17:37:38
I think I agree. While many aspects of the work are totally Barks- the deal breaker is the ducks themselves, they are not Carl's. If that is correct (and it seems like the most probable theory) the next interesting thing about this piece is that Disney Productions was trying to copy Carl's painitng style.
It's always picked at the back of my mind that Carl Barks, a former Disney employee and a freelancer for a licensee of Disney products, was allowed to use Disney copyrighted characters in his art and sell them for his own personal profit. It's almost unheard of that Disney allowed any artist to do this outside of the Disney company- Ward Kimball himself got into issues doing it (look up his Mickey with a paper bag over his head he did for a Disneyana convention). Now by the time of the Carl Barks Studio someone may have purchased licensing rights for Carl (as there came a point where Disney had him cease production of his original paintings for several years) but his original oil paintings in the 1970 where not licensed.
So my point in this post is that it's interesting to think of Disney Productions trying to imitate work that was done outside of Disney Productions licensing. It??s not imitating Carl??s Comicbook work or his storyboard art- it??s specifically imitating Carl??s own personal non Disney licensed work.
It's always picked at the back of my mind that Carl Barks, a former Disney employee and a freelancer for a licensee of Disney products, was allowed to use Disney copyrighted characters in his art and sell them for his own personal profit. It's almost unheard of that Disney allowed any artist to do this outside of the Disney company- Ward Kimball himself got into issues doing it (look up his Mickey with a paper bag over his head he did for a Disneyana convention). Now by the time of the Carl Barks Studio someone may have purchased licensing rights for Carl (as there came a point where Disney had him cease production of his original paintings for several years) but his original oil paintings in the 1970 where not licensed.
So my point in this post is that it's interesting to think of Disney Productions trying to imitate work that was done outside of Disney Productions licensing. It??s not imitating Carl??s Comicbook work or his storyboard art- it??s specifically imitating Carl??s own personal non Disney licensed work.
Gerd Syllwasschy
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 13 -
2012-09-09 at 05:42:20
Quote from user: GeoDiazbut his original oil paintings in the 1970 where not licensed.
Oh yes they were. The Disney Studio granted Barks a special license to do Duck paintings in 1971.
It was revoked in 1976 when unlicensed prints of one of his paintings showed up at some comic convention.
Oh yes they were. The Disney Studio granted Barks a special license to do Duck paintings in 1971.
It was revoked in 1976 when unlicensed prints of one of his paintings showed up at some comic convention.
GeoDiaz
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 14 -
2012-09-09 at 16:55:30
Quote from user: Gerd SyllwasschyQuote from user: GeoDiazbut his original oil paintings in the 1970 where not licensed.
Oh yes they were. The Disney Studio granted Barks a special license to do Duck paintings in 1971.
It was revoked in 1976 when unlicensed prints of one of his paintings showed up at some comic convention.
Now that's something I didn't know- I thought they gave legal permission but not an actual license. Can you tell me where to find more info on that "special license"?
Oh yes they were. The Disney Studio granted Barks a special license to do Duck paintings in 1971.
It was revoked in 1976 when unlicensed prints of one of his paintings showed up at some comic convention.
Now that's something I didn't know- I thought they gave legal permission but not an actual license. Can you tell me where to find more info on that "special license"?
Joakim Gunnarsson
What is this, I've been wondering for years
Message 15 -
2012-09-09 at 17:06:20
Quote from user: GeoDiazCan you tell me where to find more info on that "special license"?
You can find more info here: http://www.cbarks.dk/thecorrespondence1970s.htm
Quoting from the July 26, 1971 entry: "...the Disney attorney gave me a royalty-free license to do oil paintings of 'fine art' quality for a price of not less than $25.00 each. I can sign my name as the artist, and letter 'c Walt Disney Productions' on the front of the painting. The license runs to the end of this year and will be canceled if anyone else asks for similar permission..."
You can find more info here: http://www.cbarks.dk/thecorrespondence1970s.htm
Quoting from the July 26, 1971 entry: "...the Disney attorney gave me a royalty-free license to do oil paintings of 'fine art' quality for a price of not less than $25.00 each. I can sign my name as the artist, and letter 'c Walt Disney Productions' on the front of the painting. The license runs to the end of this year and will be canceled if anyone else asks for similar permission..."
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