WHAT: Not all art is limited to a sculpture or paint on canvas. The category of illustration art (originals made for magazines, ads, books, posters and other visual media) now commands an active and growing segment of the market.
As example, a full-page watercolor, ink and wash cartoon signed by Charles Addams and published in The New Yorker on March, 1943, sold well above the estimate of $20,000 in a recent sale of illustration art at Swann Galleries in New York City.
MORE: Known for his dark humor and macabre characters, Addams created Morticia and other regulars who became The Addams Family, later made popular via multiple media.
Professionally trained as an artist, Addams built his cartoon family through a dark sense of humor that surfaced early in his work; the Addams family starred in his cartoons for The New Yorker from 1938 to his death in 1988.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: A well-bred, debonair gent, Addams was also a popular social figure.
HOT TIP: Addams always worked as a freelancer.
BOTTOM LINE: Once more affordable than fine art, original illustration art has been building for several decades.
The former darling of younger collectors shut out by prices, illustration art is gaining on traditional fine arts in value. Desirable pieces sometimes sell higher than traditional works.
