Peter Arno: Former Femme Fatale

The life of Mata Hari informs our views of the alluring secret agent as seductress to this day. In 1917, the exotic dancer was convicted as a German spy and killed by firing squad in France.

Come 1940 and a second World War, cartoonist Peter Arno revisited the idea of the femme fatale as spy, giving her a new code name and her story a decidedly different ending.

"That's Q37, in her day one of the most effective secret agents this country ever had."
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, August 24, 1940, p. 17

The original art came to light at Halls in early 2016.

Halls, 16th March 2016

https://issuu.com/jammdesign/docs/h107-085_listing/44

Given a presale estimate of 600-800 GBP, it sold for a healthy 2,100 GBP.

https://www.lotsearch.net/artist/peter-arno/archive?orderBy=dollarBasedPrice-startPrice&order=ASC&perPage=50&page=1

The buyer, in all probability, was London illustration dealer Chris Beetles. The work was included in the catalogue for Beetles's annual The Illustrators sale for 2016:

Chris Beetles The Illustrators 2016 Catalogue

https://issuu.com/chrisbeetles/docs/the_illustrators_2016_cover_text_co

Michael Maslin's biography Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist had just been published, and it was cited by Beetles under Further Reading.

A scanned image shows some of the details. Arno's plaza seems German or Prussian. The two paired men, military and civilian, walk in lock step. That uniform of the man in front is impressive right down to the spurs. As we read left to right, the men lead our eyes to Q37 herself, in widow's garb, looking after her six children. The big joke is not merely the number of progeny but that they represent so many different races. Such racial caricatures were deemed acceptable in the pages of The New Yorker of 1940 by the editorial staff, the readership, and the advertisers. 

"That's Q37, in her day one of the most effective secret agents
this country ever had."
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, August 24, 1940, p. 17

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166922564572?mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&ch=osgood&euid=d2fd7229aaae45b9

163679d70c0ff7d&bu=43186000575&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20240817013610&segname=11021

Here then is how the cartoon appeared in the magazine:

A spot drawing and a cartoon by Peter Arno

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1940-08-24/flipbook/016/

* * *

Horse in a blanket
Spot drawing
Artist Unidentified
The New Yorker, August 24, 1940, p. 1

Note:  I would appreciate hearing from anyone who retains a price list from the Chris Beetles 2016 catalogue for The Illustrators show. The item in question is no. 119. 

Also, the spot artist's initials may be recognizable to someone in the know.

Do I need to keep asking for original art by Peter Arno to display in these pages? Yes, I think I do.

05219

Edward Koren?—Italian Bike Race

Cartoonist Edward Koren (1935-2023) applied a loose, fluid line to his sketch titled Italian Bike Race. He quickly conveyed the kinetic energy of helmeted cyclists in a semi-abstract way. Just as quickly, we are told, he tore the drawing from his pad and gave it to someone he'd met at the race, who took it home and had it framed.

Edward Koren
eBay listing accessed August 9, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116656520092?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20220405142716%26meid%3D1e66bf95bb114e7fa0c18f8f2298dfbe%26pid%3D101506%26rk%3D2%26rkt%

3D8%26sd%3D267180491061%26itm%3D116656520092%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4481478%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebWithV11WebTrimmedV3VisualRankerWithKnnV3AndUltBRecallAndCassiniEmbRecall&_trksid=p4481478.c101506.m1851

Note:  At the time of posting, this framed sketch is available on eBay. 

August 13, 2025 Update:  Sasha Koren writes, "I came across your post of a few days ago about the Italian bike race sketch available on eBay. I thought you might want to know that it is almost certainly not a Koren drawing, despite the eBay seller’s description of its origin. The drawing isn’t in his inimitable style, and neither his lettering nor his signature looked like that—not in 1973 nor any time after. I’m his daughter, by the way, so can recognize certain variations in his very early work, but none looked like this!"

August 14, 2025:  Withdrawn, apparently.

05028

Barney Tobey: Rural Renewal

In March, Hill Auction Gallery of Surnise, Florida, offered a piece by cartoonist Barney Tobey that was published in The New Yorker back in 1980. The original art shows us a small corner of our ever-changing world loosely but convincingly rendered in ink, wash, and correction fluid:

A ten-word caption pulls the whole thing together:

"Ed, remember my barn when it had cows in it?"
Barney Tobey
Framed original art
The New Yorker, July 21, 1980, p. 27

Barney Tobey's signature

Caption

The auction house gave this Tobey piece a broad valuation of $100 to $1,000. As a genuine, published New Yorker cartoon with something relevant to say, one could reasonably expect the art market to support this estimate but, alas, it did not:

Barney Tobey
Hill Auction Gallery listing ended March 26, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/barney-tobey-1906-1989-farmer-cartoon-illustration-361-c-fdf4814a36?objectID=195608596&algIndex=archive_prod&queryID=07bf770b690d11f324e9e30e123aa83f

The auction house describes the barn as having been "modernized into a living space," but it is more plausibly now a restaurant.

Barney Tobey
Hill Auction Gallery item description

"Ed, remember my barn when it had cows in it?"
Barney Tobey
The New Yorker, July 21, 1980, p. 27

"Ed, remember my barn when it had cows in it?"
Barney Tobey
Original art
The New Yorker, July 21, 1980, p. 27

With a spot drawing by P and a cartoon by Barney Tobey

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1980-07-21/flipbook/026/

* * *

A spot drawing by P

July 13, 2025 Update:  The drawing is now available from Curated Cartoons.

Barney Tobey
Curated Cartoons listing accessed July 13, 2025

https://www.curatedcartoons.com/products/remember-my-barn?_pos=1&_sid=c2018609d&_ss=r

Note:  This old blog still has enough room to post and comment on a barnful of original art by Barney Tobey. Farmers and collectors please take note.

Perhaps some knowledgable reader can inform a curious blogger of the identity of spot artist P?

04956

Donald Reilly: On Getting Accepted to Smith College

Cartoonist Donald Reilly's drawing from the July 24, 1971, issue of The New Yorker is one I find a little unsettling even today.

"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the
moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there
who will be your friends for life."
Donald Reilly
Original art
The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70

Reilly's use of bold lines and wash works well in the background but also on the figures. He rather expertly contrasts the mother and daughter in dress, hairstyle, and attitude. Finally, the mother's awkward attempt to use her daughter's language gives this cartoon its unusual aftertaste.

"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the
moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there
who will be your friends for life."
Donald Reilly
Framed original art
The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70

Donald Reilly
Swann Galleries listing of June 5, 2018

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(THE-NEW-YORKER--CARTOON)-DONALD-REILLY-I-realize-acceptance?saleno=2480&lotNo=254&refNo=744911

"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there who will be your friends for life."
Donald Reilly
The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70

"I realize acceptance at Smith means little to you at the moment, dear, but you'll see—you'll meet freaks there who will be your friends for life."
Donald Reilly
Original art
The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70

With a spot drawing of books and a cartoon by Donald Reilly

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1971-07-24/flipbook/070/

* * *

The spot drawing is signed, but I can't make out the signature.

Artist Unidentified
Spot drawing
The New Yorker, July 24, 1971, p. 70

04922

Maeve Brennan: The Long-Winded Lady

From Honey & Wax Booksellers of Brooklyn comes a beautiful copy of The Long-Winded Lady: Notes from The New Yorker by Maeve Brennan. The 1969 book collects "Talk of the Town" pieces the magazine published in the 1950s and 1960s. The volume is described as "a near-fine copy of a surprisingly scarce first edition" and is priced at $250.

Maeve Brennan
Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed October 20, 2024

https://www.honeyandwaxbooks.com/pages/books/1003495/maeve-brennan/the-long-winded-lady-notes-from-the-new-yorker

Note:  Who illustrated this cover?

04775 

Eight Caricatures of Stephen Sondheim

There's another lot in Doyle's recent Stephen Sondheim sale that caught my attention. It contained eight caricatures from the composer's estate. The songwriter kept many framed likenesses of himself. Some are original art and some are reproductions.

Martin Kreloff

 

Naturally one of the original works caught my eye right away, an original mock-New Yorker cover. The unsigned caricature here is, alas, not a good likeness. The rhyming dictionary may well have been one of Sondheim's tools, but he could hardly have relied on it enough to merit its inclusion front and center. This seems to detract from his accomplishment, which countless other musical composers with countless other rhyming dictionaries could hardly approach. The chess board on which the master writes music has gotten the dark and light squares all wrong, the graphic equivalent of a lyric that doesn't quite scan. I suppose this was something made as a personal gift and never actually submitted to the magazine, but anything's possible. The presence of the frame, at least, suggests That Sondheim himself was pleased with it, as he must have been pleased with all these pieces.

Trog (Wally Fawkes)

John Minnion

The lyrics in the Squigs picture are from "Anyone Can Whistle," "A Little Night Music," "Company," "Sweeney Todd," "Marry Me a Little", "Into the Woods," and "Sunday in the Park with George." There  may be other shows represented as well.

Justin "Squigs" Robertson

Stephen Sondheim
Doyle sale of June 18, 2024

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/eight-caricatures-of-stephen-sondheim-237-c-14c4435b61?objectID=189111447&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=892c36dd40f196a000e9db97625bc6e7

Stephen Sondheim
Doyle item description

Note:  I have yet to identify half these artists. Any help would be appreciated.

04676