| Title | O. Henry Stories |
| Subtitle | The Cop and The Anthem and The Ransom of Red Chief |
| Artist / Creator | Poppy Dully |
| Place of Publication | Portland, OR |
| Author of Text | O. Henry, Original pages printed by Doubleday, Page & Company, 1923 |
| Number of Images | 16 |
| Image Process | Monotypes on found printed pages |
| Structure / Binding | Altered book with accordion fold pages inside original found book cover. |
| Medium / Materials | Oil based ink, pva glue |
| Paper Stock | Found pages and Arches 150# |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 5 x 7.25 x 1.5 inches |
| Edition Size | Unique |
| Signed & Numbered | Yes |
O. Henry Stories by Poppy Dully - SOLD!
Sold
I found the library bound edition, O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1922, researched O. Henry short stories, and collected imagery from the anthology film, O. Henry’s Full House. Eight monotypes were created for “The Cop and The Anthem”, a 1904 short story by O. Henry. A New York City homeless man named “Soapy” wants to get arrested so that he can be a guest of the city jail for the winter instead of sleeping out in the cold. He decides to get his life back on track after hearing a church anthem when he is unexpectedly arrested for loitering. Eight monotypes were created for The Ransom of Red Chief, a 1910 short story by O. Henry. Two small time criminals, Bill and Sam, kidnap Johnny, a young boy of 10, and hold him for ransom. Their plan quickly unravels and they end up paying the father of the boy money to take him off their hands. The monotypes were printed with oil based ink on the original pages of the library edition book. The pages of the book were selected for monotypes to fit the theme of the two O. Henry stories. The monotypes for The Ransom of Red Chief were printed on Snake Doctor by Irvin S. Cobb, the first place winner for the 1922 O’Henry Award. The monotype pages were glued on an accordion book of Arches 150# paper and mounted in the original cover.
Artist Bio
Artist Statement Poppy Dully’s interest in combining monotypes and book pages into altered books started from four sources: painting mentor Leigh Hyams’ pen and ink artist’s books; William Kentridge’s films and drawings on book pages; the films of French film director Agnes Varda; and a long ago college art assignment to study film for compositional references. When Poppy creates an altered book with monotypes she looks for a book that will relate in its size, format, and text with the film images. With a vintage set of psychology textbooks, Poppy began her experiment with altered books. Using a digital camera, she photographs scenes from the film that seem most eventful. From these photos, she selects 8 to 10 that can tell the story visually. These photos are her source material for the monotypes which she creates by drawing on the plate and then rolling and wiping off oil based ink on the reverse side of plexi-glass plates before printing on the book pages that she has separated from the book. She backs the dried monotypes onto accordion pages that she reassembles in the book’s original cover. Poppy continues to explore the relationship of storytelling in film and books in her altered books. Sometimes it is the discovery of a second hand book that connects her to a film and other times it is the moving images of the film that connects her to a book. Artist Biography Poppy Dully (b.1947, San Francisco, CA) is a Portland, Oregon painter, printmaker, and book artist. She works in acrylics, oil, pen, and ink on a variety of surfaces. She studied design and cultural anthropology as an undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley, received a Masters in Public Health from University of California Los Angeles and worked for over 20 years in fundraising and non profit management in Portland. She has shown her paintings and prints around the Northwest since 1998. Poppy’s altered book with monotypes, After Cleo, 5 to 7, was exhibited in the College Book Art Association nationally juried show at the 23 Sandy Gallery in December 2009.