A decade before gaining fame as the director of such horror classics as Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man, James Whale made a name for himself in the British theatre as a set and costume designer. After a series of strokes left Whale physically weak, he committed suicide by throwing himself into his swimming pool on May 29, 1957. His career was the subject of the Academy Award–winning 1998 film Gods and Monsters. Original vintage pencil and watercolor sketch of a grimacing woman in Victorian clothing on an off-white 7 x 9 sheet, captioned “Freda Fay as ‘Mrs. Otherly’” and signed in pencil, “J. Whale 1920.” The consignor notes that the drawing is a costume sketch for an Irish production of Simon Cameron’s Abraham Lincoln: Sketches from behind the Footlights.” In fine condition, with mild even toning. R&R COA.
