About this lot
Description
Chester Gould (American 1900-1985)
Ink drawing of Dick Tracy
signed and inscribed 'TO / HIRSH / COHEN / with best / wishes / CHESTER / GOULD'
ink on Dick Tracy letterheaded paper
28 x 21.5cm
Footnote:
Born in Oklahoma in 1900, Chester Gould is most widely acclaimed for his creation of the iconic Dick Tracy comic strip which was distributed by the Chicago Tribune, New York News Syndicate between 1931 and 1977 and followed the, often violent and gruesome, exploits of the titular police detective, Dick Tracy.
Although Gould’s comic was criticised for its gratuitous and explicit violence, it was also this unflinching realism that made the strip truly pioneering. Whilst earlier serialised comic strips had gravitated towards the romantic and sensational, Gould was steadfast in his approach, even going so far as to study courses in forensic science and he worked alongside the Chicago police department to learn about investigative procedures. In addition to the forensic techniques such as ballistic testing, fingerprinting and fabric analysis illustrated in Dick Tracy, Gould’s comic also featured a number of technological innovations, such as the two-way wrist radio pictured in the letterhead of the present lot.
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