Gustaf Tenggren’s Snow White Art Tops Heritage Auctions’ $3.43 Million Art of Disney Auction
Heritage Auctions’ latest Art of Disney event realized $3.43 million, with original artwork from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Carl Barks paintings, vintage Disneyland attraction posters and pieces from the Joe Ranft Family Archive among the strongest results.
The August 21-23 auction sold all 1,346 lots offered and attracted 3,531 bidders from around the world. Heritage Vice President of Animation and Anime Art Jim Lentz said the results showed strong demand for Disney material spanning the studio’s Golden Age through the Disney Renaissance and into films from the 2000s.
Gustaf Tenggren artwork from Disney’s 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs claimed the three highest prices of the entire auction. His atmospheric concept painting showing Snow White listening as the Prince sings “One Song” led the sale at $85,400. A panoramic Tenggren concept painting depicting six of the dwarfs returning home sold for $41,480, while his painting of the Prince on horseback brought $36,600.
Original Carl Barks artwork was also among the biggest draws. A preliminary painting for First National Bank of Cibola, showing Uncle Scrooge and his nephews surrounded by desert treasure, sold for $36,600. Barks’ preliminary painting Sheriff of Bullet Valley (The Law Comes to Bullet Valley) followed at $34,160.
Vintage Disneyland attraction posters produced several notable results of their own. A first printing of the 1956 Rocket to the Moon hand-silkscreened poster realized $34,160, while a rare 1959 poster advertising the Matterhorn Bobsleds sold for $26,840.
Two works by Disney Legend Mary Blair also ranked among the top lots. Her colorful concept painting for the Japan section of “It’s a Small World” reached $31,720. A concept and color-key painting from Alice in Wonderland showing Alice, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit at the tea party sold for $29,280.
The auction also included material from the Joe Ranft Family Archive, offering collectors pieces connected directly to the longtime Disney and Pixar story artist. Ranft’s Disney Legend Award and pin, which were presented posthumously in 2006, sold for $31,720. Heritage described the archive as an unusually personal look at Ranft’s life and work.
“It was especially satisfying to see Joe Ranft’s genius recognized through the presentation of his family archive,” Lentz says. “The response was a wonderful acknowledgment of his imagination and enduring influence on some of the most beloved animated films ever made.”