Walt Scott Watercolor for Unproduced Segment of Fantasia 1940

I know of only two major pieces of story art by Walt Scott for the never-produced bug symphony segment of Fantasia, although I have seen some lesser pieces of such art which are not signed but which could be by the artist. The other large piece, which first appeared along with this example in a Russ Cochran auction in the 1980s, is shown in the additional image, below. Scott had a real talent for painting in watercolor, and this is one of my favorite pieces of Disney story art due to its brilliant coloring.

Considerations Re. Concept Art, Part 5.

There is another factor which makes it more difficult to determine whether an example of concept art is authentic. The Disney studio seemed indifferent to art that it produced, other than animation drawings which might be needed for creating new productions at future dates, there was little done before the 1970s to preserve examples of cels, background paintings, or concept art. By the time the studio archives was begun, there were deficiencies in what could still be found at the studio to be included in that archives. With the increased popularity of exhibitions of Disney animation art and of books with illustrations of such art, the studio began to supplement what holdings they had been able to find by actually buying additional art on open market. When the Disney Family Museum was being formed, there was yet another institution looking for and buying up Disney art. And some of the artists whose work both the studio archives and the Family Museum were keen on acquiring were those whose concept art was actively being aquired by private collectors. Although, as previously mentioned, there were those who had been calling into question the authenticity of some of these Disney pieces, it was inevitable that the Disney institutions would acquire not only totally legitimate pieces but also other examples which some might question. Since there is no real way for viewers to know if they are looking at a piece that has never left the studio since the day it was created or a piece that has been newly purchased and which might never have been touched or seen by any Disney artist, it has become questionable if issues of authenticity can really be made on the basis of comparisons to art now owned and displayed/reproduced by Disney.

There is an age-old debate whatever an owner of art should care if his piece is authentic if no one can tell, one way or the other. For those who actually come across my comments but don't care about such matters, feel free to ignore all that I have said. For others who are concerned, I really offer no solutions but only point out what issues might be considered in any search for answers.