April 2, 2015: Sports & Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/2/2015
Specially commissioned by Gum Inc. in 1941, this original, unpublished artwork of Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham (No. 47) was destined for use in a proposed set of "V-Men" (or "V-Gum") trading cards that were intended for distribution in Canada and England. The 5-1/4" x 6-3/4" artwork features a prominent World War II figure - mostly of British and French renown - in an "action" scene. The offered rendering emanate from the personal collection of Charles Steinbacher, the art director for the George Moll Advertising Agency, which handled the Gum, Inc., account. (Steinbacher is a legendary figure in the field of 1930s cards; he is best known to today's enthusiasts for producing Gum, Inc.'s famous "Horrors of War" set and as the source of virtually all surviving Gum, Inc. original artworks.) The "V-Men" set - very reminiscent of the company's R164 "War Gum" issue in style - was initially conceived to encompass forty-eight entries, but just twenty-four subjects were completed before the project’s cancellation by Gum, Inc. (shortly after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor). The unused artworks were subsequently returned to Steinbacher, and they remained in his possession until discovered by his family (along with prized original artworks from several other Gum, Inc. card sets) long after his death. This artwork consists of a line drawing on board with a thin paper overlay holding the color work (in the identical format employed in the production of War Gum), and each is captioned at the base. A copyright note for Gum, Inc. appears on each artwork, along with the proposed card number for each design. The piece has been matted to 10-1/4" x 12-1/4" total dimensions.
"V-Men" Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham No. 47 Original Artwork
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