FREE APPRAISAL. To buy, auction, sell or consign your Joseph Mugnaini art that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).

Joseph Mugnaini Art Sold

Joseph Mungaini was an Italian-American artist who began collaborating with Ray Bradbury in the early 1950s for Bradbury’s first edition book covers. We at Nate D. Sanders Auctions sold a Joseph Mugnaini painting for $23,153. Here are the item details:

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Oil Painting, Titled ”Carnival” by Joseph Mugnaini — The Very First Mugnaini Painting Purchased by Bradbury & Which Ignited Their Professional Collaboration

Art by Joseph Mugnaini from the personal collection of Ray Bradbury, and indeed the painting which began the collaboration between the two creative men. Painting known as both ”Carnival” and “Caravan” is a nighttime scene depicting a train perched precariously high, filled with faceless figures, their arms raised in apparent cheering, waving pennant-style flags. The carnival theme is inextricable from Bradbury’s work, serving not only as the setting of his famous novel, ”Something Wicked This Way Comes”, but also as his inspiration to become a writer; Bradbury credits his interaction as a child with a carnival magician named ”Mr. Electrico”, who told him to ”Live Forever!”, as the impetus for his writing career. Painting, composed in oil on board, is circa 1952. Measures approximately 31” x 25”, matted and framed to an overall size of 36” x 30”. Frame shows wear but art appears near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $23,153.

We also sold the following Joseph Mugnaini pieces at auction:

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned ”Modern Gothic” Oil Painting by Joseph Mugnaini — The Second Painting Purchased by Bradbury

Art by Joseph Mugnaini from the personal collection of his friend Ray Bradbury. Classic of both Mugnaini and the period, this is the second Mugnaini painting purchased by Bradbury, in the beginning of their long collaboration. Oil painting titled ”Modern Gothic” depicts an ominous-looking gothic mansion, made modern by the graffiti-ed urban foreground. Painting is signed, ”Mugnaini” at lower left. Gallery exhibition stickers are affixed to verso dated 1952, 53 and 54. Measures approximately 23” x 36.5”, matted and framed to an overall size of 28.5” x 41.75”. Frame shows wear but art appears near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $21,048.

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Preliminary Cover Art by Joseph Mugnaini for His Masterpiece ”Fahrenheit 451”

Preliminary cover art by Joseph Mugnaini for Bradbury’s masterpiece, ”Fahrenheit 451”. Watercolor and sketch features the same figure recognizable in the final artwork used for the first edition cover. Measures 3.5” x 5.75”. Slightly irregular edges, otherwise near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $4,654.

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Book Art Samples by Joseph Mugnaini for ”The Golden Apples of the Sun”

Lot of four different cover designs by Joseph Mugnaini for Ray Bradbury’s book ”The Golden Apples of the Sun”. Three of the four pieces are original painted sheets, with two of the designs featuring the same sunburst-face that ultimately became the cover art for the first edition. The fourth cover is a printed dustjacket sample from the Rupert Hart-Davis edition. All measure approximately 6” x 8”. Creasing, else near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $4,061.

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Trio of Sketches by Joseph Mugnaini

Ray Bradbury personally owned Joseph Mugnaini sketches for his story ”The Pedestrian”, which was published in ”The Golden Apples of the Sun”. Lot of three sketches each feature a different perspective on a nighttime noir scene. Each measures 6” x 8”. Adhesive to versos and some ink squiggles to border of one drawing, else near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $3,176.

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Joseph Mugnaini Original Drawing Titled “The Halloween Kite”

Ray Bradbury personally owned ink drawing by artist Joseph Mugnaini, circa 1970’s. Titled “The Halloween Kite”, unsigned drawing depicts a large kite, which almost looks to be alive, against a night moon. Black and white ink shows Mugnaini’s technique of hatching strokes and stippling. Measures 11.5″ x 13″, in near fine condition. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $3,176.

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Art by Joseph Mugnaini

Ray Bradbury personally owned art by Joseph Mugnaini. Art is an electric blue moonscape, with not one but two moons present in the sky, above a network of bridges to seemingly nowhere, these above a bundle of industrial debris including a broken knight. Matted and framed to an overall size of 17.5” x 17.75”. Creasing through center, transversing one of the moons, otherwise near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $2,685.

Ray Bradbury Personally Owned Art by Joseph Mugnaini

Art by Joseph Mugnaini from the personal collection of Ray Bradbury. Colorful painting depicts a chilling, white-eyed man riding in the basket of an emerald green hot air balloon at night over a residential town, with a large, heavily textured moon in the background. Painted circa 1985 in casein or acrylic on board. Measures approximately 18” x 24”, matted and framed to an overall size of 24.5” x 31.5”. Frame shows wear but art appears near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate. Sold for $2,269.

FREE APPRAISAL. To buy, auction, sell or consign your Joseph Mugnaini art that is for sale, please email your description and photos to [email protected] of Nate D. Sanders Auctions (http://www.NateDSanders.com).