Jul 16, 2020 - Sale 2541

Sale 2541 - Lot 141

Price Realized: $ 750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
NICKY ZANN.
"After You With the Pistol." Cover illustration for book of the same name by Kyril Bonfiglioli (New York: International Polygonics, Ltd. for their Library of Crime Classics series, 1992). Graphite, India ink, markers, and correction fluid on Bristol board paper. 42x272 mm; 16 1/2x10 3/4 inches, on 20 1/2x10 3/4-inch sheet. Signed "Zann" in lower left image.

After You With the Pistol is the second in a series of comic thriller novels following the escapades of Charlie Mortdecai, a dissolute yet debonair art dealer, and his manservant, Jock. Since their first publication in the 1970s, the books have achieved cult status and were the subject of the 2015 film Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp. After You With the Pistol is the second in a series of comic thriller novels following the escapades of Charlie Mortdecai, a dissolute yet debonair art dealer, and his manservant, Jock. Since their first publication in the 1970s, the books have achieved cult status and were the subject of the 2015 film Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp. The Pop Art aesthetic of this bold cover is emphasized through the use of Ben-Day dots, lending the piece a strong similarity with the work of Roy Lichtenstein, who was Zann's contemporary.

Zann (1943 - ) is a New York-based artist whose career spans five decades and reaches far and wide across New York's pop and culture scene. Recognized as one of the most innovative and prolific cartoonists and illustrators of his generation, Zann's work has appeared in magazines such as Newsweek, Esquire, Fortune; daily newspapers such as The New York Times; and in comics and on mystery covers. His celebrity caricatures have been featured in ads for ABC, MTV, CBS and NBC networks, as well as for HBO. In the early 1970s, the Disney Corporation endorsed Zann to draw Disney characters, all personally approved by Roy Disney. His work has been exhibited around the world including at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Textile Museum in the Netherlands.