Carl Barks divided his Disney duck paintings between pure gag scenerios with little or no connection to his comic book stories and scenes with clear references to moments in the stories. As for the latter group he tended to choose motifs from his long adventure stories. The main reasons were that they had more exotic potential being from different parts of the world, and, more importantly, such motifs were in greater demand by the purchasers! Most of the Disney paintings were in fact made to order by collectors and fans, and Barks happily complied with most of their suggestions. One such artwork that met the 'requirements' described is The Stone That Turns All Metals Gold from 1991. This is the story.

 

 

 

THE TRIGGER
 

The painting was triggered by Barks' story in U$10 The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone from 1955, in which Scrooge McDuck by chance finds a lead to an ancient alchymist's stone that could turn everything it touched into gold!
Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie participate in the quest for the unique stone, which takes them to several places in the world such as the Black Forest of Germany and countries in the Middle East, until they finally get hold of the mythical artifact on the Greek island of Crete.

Barks always liked ancient stories from history, legend, and myth, and the intriguing tale of the mythical Philosopher's Stone - made by an alchemist from 4 metals fused into a ball of mother-of-gold - that could supposedly turn all base metals it touched into pure gold!
That tale was right up Barks' alley! He even managed to incorporate another tale, namely the one about the sinister maze on the Mediterranean island of Crete.

 

THE ARTWORK


1990 concept sketch
Pencil on paper - 20x25" (510x635mms)

      


139/91 The Stone That Turns All Metals Gold
 Oil on Masonite - 20x25" (510x635mms)

Comments:

The sketch is one of many roughs, and it gives a rare insight into Barks' altered way of thinking when constructing character images. Scrooge is standing happily in the center of the composition facing the audience, but in the finished painting he, as well as the Duck family, have turned their backs while still facing the front of the artwork. This oddity was repeated in several of Barks' later paintings.
The painting is similar to a scene in the story, in which the ducks happen to discover the Philosopher's Stone in the throne room of fabled King Minos. ● As usual in Barks' adventure and Money Bin paintings we are presented to an abundance of colourful valuables. ● All the depicted figures on the wall, on 2 of the vases, and on the shield render duck-like characters. ● Apparently, Barks used rather tricky shades of blue colours, which later caused one of his followers, Italian artist Gilberto 'Gil' Ugolini (see more HERE), to almost abandon his version of Barks' painting as he was unable to 'decode' the exact colours. ● The stone's shadow is incorrect, as the stone is above the light source when falling, in fact, there should be no shadow visible from it in this frozen moment.

Titbits:

From 1981 Barks dispensed with his official coding system in which, for instance, 13-71 meant the 13th painting published in 1971. Instead he began/continued a strict numbering of all his official Disney paintings resulting in this painting being #139.

The painting is officially dated in 1991, but Barks actually started it the year before, and he received the first of three equally sized payments of 7,500 dollars each beginning on August 13. At that point of time it carried the simple work title Philosophers Stone. The next payments took place in August and September 1991. The painting resold at a February 2011 auction at 59,750 dollars.

The paintings Barks produced from 1981 and until his death were designated to be copied and distributed as lithographs and/or serigraphs (see multiple examples scattered around in this website). This was a very lucrative deal for Barks who - in addition to the painting prices - earned large sums in royalties (see more HERE).

The painting was made into lithograph #17 and produced in 745 official issues (595 regular, 100 gold plate, and 50 special birthday editions). Image sizes are 16x20" (410x510mms) made on paper sized 21x25½" (530x650mms), all numbered and signed by Barks.

The painting was commissioned by Barks' long term business partner Another Rainbow Publishing (AR) and intended for reproduction as lithographs. It was the last artwork that Barks sold to AR. Notice: A lithograph marked #18 titled Mardi Gras Before the Thaw was published in 1992, but Barks had finished it before #17. It was withheld, though, due to controversies with AR publisher Bruce Hamilton that resulted in legal obstructions. In a letter from 1990 Barks revealed sincere doubts about his finishing the #17 painting at all, but thankfully he had second thoughts.

 

EXTRA

Barks made another painting carrying a scene from the story. It also takes place somewhere inside the huge maze-like cave construction on the island of Crete, and depicts the Greek mythological Minotaur (meaning Bull of Minos). It was a large creature, half man and half bull, that foraged on human flesh and was finally killed by the Athenian hero Theseus.
 


U$10 The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone

    


14-75 Cave of the Minotaur

    


2-74 El Dorado, Gilded Man

The scene in the story depicts a statue of the minotaur which is nevertheless scary to the Duck family, but Barks decided to bring the creature to life in the corresponding painting, 14-75 Cave of the Minotaur, in order to present it as a genuine menace*. It is interesting that he had made a similar scene the year before in 2-74 El Dorado, Gilded Man, that was taken from the story in FC0422 The Gilded Man.

* Notice that Barks totally unexpectedly painted a mural in the upper left corner showing the minotaur and a young girl as lovers in a tender pose. That he would not have gotten away with in the story!

 

 

 http://www.cbarks.dk/THESTONEPAINTING.htm

   Date 2017-08-20