IDEA SKETCHES

Barks made these two preliminaries for his intended painting. They were both in the size 10x12½" (300x380mms), and as for #1 made with oil on cardboard, whereas #2 is oil on Masonite. Barks signed both of them in the lower right corner as C. Barks Idea Sketch.
It is easy to see the many small differences between the two versions, but the biggest change, according to Barks himself, was that he had made the ducks too small in the first sketch, so he made them bigger in the next version. This rather subtle - but still significant - alteration is often overlooked by Barksists.

Whether or not Barks would have discovered a few more detail mistakes at a later stage will never be known, but here are a few comments:
The two leading nephews' footprints are only visible back to the group but not beyond - They carry the Junior Woodchucks' standard but not their corresponding JW hats - The ribbon on Donald's cap sits in the front - A cane is useless in the desert sand - It is incomprehensible to think that Scrooge with his fine eyesight (and nose to match) would have almost missed the treasure when walking by - The camel skull's selenodont teeth are not rendered correctly.

INTERVIEW

In a private, videotaped interview from the mid 1990s Barks mentioned the painting briefly. He and the interviewer referred to sketch #1, and the following is an excerpt from the conversation.

Barks was first asked about the project in general: That was just an idea I had for a possible painting with the ducks going across a desert, and there is this old camel skeleton there in the foreground, and I had thought of a half-buried treasure chest or something all buried in the sand and the kids and Donald don't know ... (here Barks paused to reenact the ducks' surprised reaction to the discovery) ...
... I never was able to get that mirage to look right. I needed a mountain or something behind the mirage so that you could see the distance and realize that that's just a vaporous thing up there in the sky. My mirage just looked too solid and I thought, well, by the time the printers get to it, it would look like a real city standing out there ...
... I made about 4 versions of it ...
The interviewer began analyzing the motif by suggestive observations about the details: ... You had an urn with handles that almost looked like ears ... the camel skeleton looked like ribs ... and a streak of sand that almost looked like 5 fingers like Mother Nature is still trying to hold on to the treasure ... Barks' short down-to-Earth reply was quite typical for him: ... That had been kind of accidental ...

SNAPSHOTS

SALES

Although Barks had indeed scrapped the project it would not die! With his blessing, the publisher Another Rainbow, that had already issued several fantastic works such as The Carl Barks Library (CBL), produced 500 numbered lithographs depicting sketch #2 in 1989. The motif measures 10x12½" (300x380mms), and they were all signed by Barks with a simple CB in the lower right corner thus indicating that these were not lithographs of an official painting. The accompanying Certificate of Authenticity had Barks' full autograph on it, though.

In February, 2012, the original idea sketch (still sketch #2) was auctioned and fetched a nett price of 9,500 dollars. A typed note attached to the back read: A subject begun in an effort to put the ducks in the mysterious Arabian desert. Somehow the mirage of ancient Baghdad never quite became the diaphanous, shimmering illusion I wanted to portray.

EXTRA
Barks made other unfinished paintings during his golden years. Two of his known Non-disney paintings are presented here.

Supposed ID: 3-82*

The painting was never finished, but Barks had reached the final stages when he abandoned the project. The ingredients all seem to be in place but the 'polished' colour layers have not yet been applied. Furthermore, the lady's dress is not quite finished either.
It is not known why Barks stopped working on the painting. It can be speculated that he simply lacked the necessary time as he had just been commissioned to make another batch of his Disney ducks, or that on second thought he found the motif to be a little bland. We shall never know...

* The painting was intended to be the next in a mini-series from the Old West that began with 1-82 Well-armed Stranger and 2-82 Worth a whole Month's Wages (see them HERE).

Supposed ID and title: 8-96 Queen of Sheba

One unfinished painting that made it to an official book was Barks' rendering of  the ancient African Queen of Sheba meeting King Solomon of Jerusalem at a historically famous visit. The work was to be part of Barks' Kings and Queens of Myth and Legend series (see more HERE). It shows the queen's pompous arrival to the palace bearing gifts, and the king peering anxiously after her from the throne in the background.
The painting was mistakenly published in the elaborate book Animal Quackers in 1996. Barks tried furiously to have the work deleted from the book but the printing process was too far gone and he did not succeed. Barks' reason was that the painting was not finished. If you look closely you can see the following items that still need attention: the queen's headgear, the gemstones, and some of the servants.