Shel Silverstein Original Signed Drawing.

Rare original large format Shel Silverstein drawing; warmly inscribed by him to American playwright Herb Gardner

Shel Silverstein Original Signed Drawing.

SILVERSTEIN, Shel.

Item Number: 116953

Rare original drawing inscribed and drawn by renowned children’s book author Shel Silverstein. Warmly inscribed by the author/illustrator, “For Herb Dec. 10, 75 The Last Day Love, Shel.” In Silverstein’s signature style, the drawing depicts a cluttered backstage with spotlights, film reels, ladders, electrical chords, and spotlights. The recipient, Award-winning American playwright Herb Gardner, is best known for his 1962 play A Thousand Clowns, which ran for 428 performances and was adapted into the popular 1965 film of the same name for which he received an Oscar nomination. Silverstein, here, likely refers to the final day of Gardner’s Broadway play, Thieves, which closed in January of 1975. In fine condition. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 25.5 inches by 21.5 inches.

Although he is best known in popular culture for his immensely popular children's books, American writer and artist Shel Silverstein was somewhat of a Renaissance Man. After attending the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, Silverstein was drafted into the United States Army and served in Japan and Korea. He later became one of the leading cartoonists in Hugh Hefner's Playboy Magazine, which sent him around the world to create an illustrated travel journal with reports from various exotic locales. Silverstein's cartoons appeared in issues of Playboy from 1957 through the mid-1970s. One of his Playboy features was soon expanded into Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book (Simon & Schuster, 1961), Silverstein's first book featuring new, original material intended for adults. Because it was unclear as to whether some of the material was intended for adults or children, his editor at Harper & Row, Ursula Nordstrom, encouraged Silverstein to write children's poetry, resulting in a vastly commercially-successful and widely appreciated body of work. Silverstein was additionally a prolific song-writer, he wrote the music and lyrics for numerous high-charting singles, most notably Johnny Cash's A Boy Named Sue.

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