THEAUCTION

When Carl Barks died on August 25, 2000, great public interest was focused on his estate possessions, especially the Disney related property. According to his will it soon became clear that Barks had decided to auction everything away in public auctions except for a few personal effects that were distributed to the family. This decision proved to be, at least, very problematical! Undoubtedly, Barks' basic intentions were fine, as this way he could be sure that as many of his fans as possible would be able to obtain a unique treasure of their own choice, but the resulting number of auction lots ran into the thousands, making it extremely difficult to finish the project in a satisfactory way. In fact, the project involved over 25 daunting Disney related collection auctions until November, 2010, before clarity was reached and some closure was bestowed to the heirs.
On this page you are presented to the first Disney related auction, that was held in 2007 by the esteemed American auction house Bonhams & Butterfields.

PROLOGUE

In 2001 most of Barks' personal furniture and some private possessions were sold at an auction. Here is a transcript of a local newspaper advertisement announcing the event:

AUCTION
The Estate of Carl Barks "Famous Walt Disney Animator" Saturday June 30th, 2001. Preview is at 10am; Auction is at 11am 1415 Heritage Drive in Grants Pass, Oregon. Some of the items you will see there:
Large Curio Cabinet, China Cabinet, Canon NP 6016 Copier, HP Computer, DeskJet printer, ScanJet scanner & LaserJet printer, Sony 31" TV, Oak Bedroom Wall Unit, Lift Chair, 3 Oriental Carpets, Entry Hall Tree, Massage Recliner, Glass Front Credenza, Maple Desk, Oak Dinning Table & 4 Chairs, Sofa Table, Tilt Top Table, Blue Print Cabinet, 9-Drawer Dresser, Sofa, Coffee Tables, Lamps, Oak Queen Bed, Electric Bed, Treadmill, Frames, Bookcases, Dickson Elk Bronze, Horn w/silver trim, Vaseline glass, Figurines, Cranberry Candlestick, Hurricane Lamps, China Set "Rural England", Copeland Spode Tower, Costume Jewelry, Whirlpool Refrigerator & W/D, Gary Safe, Garage Items, Much Much More!

Among the many auction numbers was a 1998 Buick Century Custom 4 door, 4760 miles, red with tan cloth interior, concert sound, all electric (the photo is of a similar vehicle). It was the last of many cars the motor interested Barks owned throughout his long life.

AUCTION

On Monday June 4, 2007 Bonhams & Butterfields' Los Angeles branch in California held the first Disney related auction consisting of items from Barks' Estate. As you can gather from the auction catalogue the Barks items held a prominent place and one of his oil paintings, 16-75 Hands Off My Playthings!, were presented on the cover.
The Barks section was presented on no less than 51 pages covering a total of 159 combined lots primarily featuring sketches and paintings. Most of the lots were sold, and the ones that did not obtain any bids were transferred to later auctions.

Below you are presented to a mere three pages from the elaborate catalog enabling you to get a feeling of the offered items, their presentation, and the obtained prices. Among the numerous items are cartoons, conceptual drawings, manuscripts, oil paintings, artist proof lithographs, and certified file copy comic books.
The catalog used is the property of the editor of this website, and you will see prices for the purchased items that have been added by hand, meaning that the items not sold have not received any comments. It is important to realize that the prices are hammer prices only, to which the purchasers would have had to add a auction house percentage fee - the size of which varied with the value of the individual lots - in order to arrive at the end price.

EPILOGUE

After the first Disney related auction had taken place, a stunning number of 24 large ebay.com online auctions were conducted during the next three years. They were organized chiefly by two appointed sole agents; comic fan and retailer Jerry Weist and comic historian Chris Boyko.
They performed the giant task of sorting, cataloging, and pricing the thousands of items, that all came with a special hand-signed Certificate of Authenticity. Included in the auctions were a portion of Garé Barks' professional items. Just a few weeks after the last auction Weist died.

Also, a number of one-lot auctions (especially through heritage.com) have been scattered around in the intermediate years. Most lots come from earlier Estate purchasers who wish to sell...