Comic book writer and author Neil Gaiman is putting some of his collection of original art, toys, and other items up for auction. Much of the collection are memorabilia from his projects, purchased art, gifts from comic book artists, and Christmas cards he created. Link to an article by George Gene Gustines in The New York Times here.
"I like the idea of spreading joy," Neil Gaiman, the author of the Sandman series, said in an interview about why he is selling some of the original comic book art, toys and other collectibles he has amassed.
During the dark days of pandemic lockdowns, buying art provided a particular comfort, he recalled. Works would arrive and he would "just kvell," he said. He remembered buying a drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet in the snow, by the British artist E.H. Shepard. "If someone comes to the house, I say, 'Come and look at this,' if they are the right sort of person," he said.
Part of the auction's proceeds will be donated to the Hero Initiative, which helps comic creators in financial distress. "[H]e will also give living artists whose work sells part of the proceeds."
In a YouTube video for Heritage Auctions, Gaiman said, "I have had now almost forty years of joy from this. And I just love the idea of somebody else getting to be its custodian. You don't own the stuff. You are looking after the stuff until the next people get the stuff."
Included in the auction are an iconic 17-panel page from The Watchmen by Dave Gibbons and an illustration of Gaiman's Sandman character Death by Moebius.
