David Levine: Marcel Proust

Yesterday, I came to the end of Marcel Proust's seven-volume masterwork Remembrance of Things Past, as I still tend to call it. Nevertheless, by the last book it seems clear that In Search of Lost Time is truly a better and more meaningful translation of the title. So today I celebrate the author of this longest of novels about whom so much has been written. At least two essays on his work appeared in The New York Review of Books of January 9, 1964, and April 6, 2006. Four decades apart, both were illustrated with the same caricature by David Levine, dated 1963. It shows a weakened if not bedridden Proust raising a cup of steaming hot tea, smelling its essence, and, behind glassy eyes, no doubt recalling and reinterpreting some aspect of the life he has lived. 

I think it is an extraordinary drawing, capturing Proust in a setting we have all read about but haven't been able to actually see. The original art was sold Thursday in Swann Galleries's Illustration Art sale. Its estimate before the sale was $500 to $700, but understandably there was quite a lot of bidder interest in the piece.

David Levine
Swann Galleries Illustration Art sale of December 4, 2025

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/_F6618C2C9A

David Levine
Swann Galleries Illustration Art item description

Note:  My reading is now moving on to Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon, whom I'm quite certain David Levine never drew.

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Carla and Simon Bowden's Copy of Man Bites Man by Steven Heller

Man Bites Man:  Two Decades of Satiric Art is a 1981 survey by prolific author and editor Steven Heller. A copy inscribed by Heller to Carla and Simon Bowden in the year of publication is currently available on AbeBooks for a reasonable $30. (I believe Carla worked at the Leo Burnett advertising agency at the time and the couple either lived or came to live in Westport. I also believe they eventually divorced.) Heller has written, coauthored, or edited more than one-hundred thirty books, mostly about design. A partial listing of his published work on Wikipedia currently does not include this book or indeed any of his books published prior to 1986.

Cover drawing by Edward Koren

The world-class cartoonists whose work appears in this project

Steven Heller
AbeBooks listing accessed September 3, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30825029207&searchurl=kn%3Dgeorge%2Bbooth%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image20

Note:  That back cover shows the signatures of many of the first-rate cartoonists who originally captivated me, inspiring my interest in the field. I would be honored to hear from anyone with personal reminiscences, original art, photographs, correspondence, or other rarities relating to any of them.

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David Levine's Signature

"There is no collectible genre that has more deceit than the autograph business." One can have nothing but respect for an autograph dealer who leads with that line. Here then is what is certainly an authentic signature of David Levine, whom Jules Feiffer called "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the 20th century":

David Levine's signature

David Levine
eBay Listing Ended February 6, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/David-Levine-Autographed-Index-Card-Famous-New-Yorker-Caricature-Artist-D-09-/141258195825?hash=item20e3a50371%3Ag%3ANvMAAOxyaTxTTrkW&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

David Levine
eBay Item Description

Note:  I don't really understand why there isn't a blog somewhere devoted to the art of David Levine or, if there is one, why I can't seem to find it. Last year Jerelle Kraus wrote a very good piece on "David Levine and the Power of Political Caricature" all about trying to get him published in the Times here.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

David Levine

Autographs

Attempted Bloggery's Unsignable Index

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David Levine: Hearing No Evil

A drawing by caricaturist David Levine gathers the personalities from the Watergate scandal in a circle. There is a lot of finger-pointing going on in a clockwise manner. The image appeared on a printed insert included in the tenth anniversary issue of the New York Review of Books in the summer of 1973. The listening devices in the drawing are unmistakeable references to the White House tapes recorded by President Nixon in the Oval Office. Caricaturist Bado points out on his blog that Levine's image is based on a Thomas Nast political cartoon of Boss Tweed and the Tammany Ring. The eight Nixon Administration caricatures were familiar figures on the nightly news then, but they are not so familiar to us today. Left to right they are (to the best of my and my friend's and family's recollections): Alexander Butterfield[?], unidentified, John Mitchell, Richard Nixon, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, unidentified, and H. R. Haldeman.

David Levine
New York Review of Books Tenth Anniversary Issue, October 18, 1973

Thomas Nast
"Who Stole the People's Money?" 'Twas Him
Harper's Weekly, August 19, 1871

https://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon-Large.asp?Month=August&Date=19

Royal Books, which offers this print for sale as a "broadside," makes some other interesting assertions as well. To be clear, the New York Review of Books is not in any way related to the New York Times Book Review, Vice President Spiro Agnew does not appear in this print, and "passing the buck" does not fully convey the degree of moral turpitude permeating the Nixon White House.

David Levine
Royal Books Listing Accessed March 17, 2019

https://www.royalbooks.com/pages/books/126004/richard-nixon-david-levine-cartoonist-watergate/broadside-depicting-richard-nixon-spiro-agnew-and-others-passing-the-buck-issued-in-honor-of-the

Thomas Nast
Two Great Questions
Harper's Weekly, August 19, 1871

https://www.harpweek.com/09Cartoon/BrowseByDateCartoon-Large.asp?Month=August&Date=19

Note:  I'm afraid I've come up a bit short in my ability to recognize all the coconspirators from the Nixon Administration. My thanks to my father for being able to recognize John Dean without his, Dean's, glasses on. Political junkies are invited to help me identify the remaining unnamed figures in the Levine drawing. Avid historians are also welcome to identify the individuals in the Nast drawings standing with Boss Tweed.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

David Levine

Richard M. Nixon

Attempted Bloggery's Unpardonable Index

  
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Donald Trump Caricatures by David Levine

The estate of caricaturist David Levine (1926-2009) has taken advantage of Donald Trump's recent political ascent to offer two drawings of the real estate developer at auction.  The 1988 caricature of Trump wearing diapers over his suit trousers did not find a buyer in 2015 but sold for a hammer price of $1,500 earlier this year perhaps owing to his current notoriety. On the other hand, the drawing from 2000 of the famous builder carrying a 2 by 4—more than a mere chip on his shoulder—failed to sell.

U.S. Presidential candidates are caricatured frequently during primary season and much more so if they make it to the Oval Office. The question implicit in this sale is whether purchasing a decades-old  drawing by a major caricaturist of a possible future President is a sound investment. It probably is, but many people still reject the idea that Donald Trump will be our next President.

David Levine, Original art, Donald Trump, 1988
The New York Review of Books, May 22, 1988

Swann Auction Galleries, January 28, 2016

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2403+++++188+&refno=++714349&saletype=

David Levine, Donald Trump, 1988
The New York Review of Books, May 22, 1988

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1988/05/12/big-shots/

David Levine, Original art, Donald Trump, 2000
The New York Review of Books, December 21, 2000

Swann Auction Galleries, January 28, 2016

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2403+++++189+&refno=++713580

David Levine, Donald Trump, 2000
The New York Review of Books, December 21, 2000

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2000/12/21/golden-boy/

Note:  Rebecca Rego Barry wrote about these political caricatures pre-auction on Fine Books & Collections. She believes these Levine drawings will prove underpriced should Mr. Trump become President and who can argue with that?

The archives contain a couple of earlier posts on the remarkable David Levine including one about his unprecedented concurrent appearances on the covers of Time and Newsweek.

Donald Trump is simply too big not to be mentioned on this blog, and I'm not talking about his hands.

Levine archivist David Leopold has been mentioned here in his capacity as Creative Director of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.

There's more here about the art of caricature as well.

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David Levine's Concurrent Time and Newsweek Covers

In yesterday's post, a biographical tidbit found on eBay stated that David Levine once produced caricatures for the covers of both Time and Newsweek during the same week, and that neither magazine knew this was going on beforehand. This was news to me, although apparently it is well known to Mr. Levine's devotees.

For me, seeing is believing. I did a little research and this is what I found:

David Levine, "Man of the Year: L.B.J. as Lear," Time, January 5, 1968

President Lyndon B. Johnson, Democratic Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, and Democratic Representative Wilbur Mills

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TIME-Magazine-January-5-1968-LBJ-as-Lear-Man-of-the-Year-/330964912940?pt=Magazines&hash=item4d0f0bcb2c&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

David Levine, Original Artwork for "Man of the Year:  L.B.J. as Lear," Time, January 5, 1968

President Lyndon B. Johnson, Democratic Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, and Democratic Representative Wilbur Mills

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/5023586794/

David Levine, "Politics '68," Newsweek, January 8, 1968

The 1968 contenders for the Republican Presidential nomination: frontrunner Richard M. Nixon followed by Michigan Governor George Romney, New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, California Governor Ronald Reagan, and Illinois Senator Chuck Percy.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-NEWSWEEK-MAGAZINE-JANUARY-8-1968-POLITICS-68-/151079797163?nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Note:  Yesterday's post on a David Levine bookplate is here. To see all my posts on caricature, click here.

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Bookplate Signed and Sketched Upon by David Levine

David Levine has not only signed a bookplate, he's drawn a caricature of a pen as well. This bookplate has never found its way into a book, but presumably that is what it was intended for. It is an orphan now available on eBay.

David Levine bookplate

David Levine bookplate

Add cahttp://www.ebay.com/itm/David-Levine-The-New-Yorker-Artist-Signed-Autograph-Bookplate-w-Sketch-/220343494511?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item334d7ee76fption

Here's a similar but more detailed and more caustic caricature of a pen in a copy of Levine's book Pens and Needles, published in1969. It is currently offered for sale on eBay.

David Levine, Pens and Needles, 1969, title page inscribed "To Charles + Pat Searle," signed with a caricature of a pen by David Levine and dated 2/6/78.

David Levine, Pens and Needles, 1969, Book Cover

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVID-LEVINE-ANNOTATED-BOOK-SIGNED-02-06-1978-/300257347291?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45e8bb86db

From historydirect, the same eBay seller offering Pens and Needles, here is another caricature drawing of a pen by David Levine being offered on eBay:

David Levine, caricature of a pen signed D. Levine drawn on a printed postcard of a caricature of Chekhov from The New York Review of Books.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVID-LEVINE-SKETCH-SIGNED-CIRCA-1976-/370211587170?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5632548462

Now, did you read what I read? This last admittedly wordy eBay listing offers the tantalizing biographical detail that Levine once illustrated the magazine covers for both Time and Newsweek during the same week, a fact of which the editors of both were unaware prior to publication. What an incredible coup! I did not know of this. 

Is such a thing even possible? Tune in tomorrow.

August 14, 2015 Update:

A beautiful example of David Levine's souvenir pen drawing was offered on eBay at a very reasonable price.

EBay Listing Ended May 17, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVID-LEVINE-The-New-Yorker-Artist-ORIGINAL-AUTOGRAPH-SIGNED-SKETCH-/261881254259?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item3cf956d173&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Here's a cruder example sold on eBay in June:

EBay Listing Ended June 3, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DAVID-LEVINE-The-New-Yorker-Artist-ORIGINAL-AUTOGRAPH-SIGNED-SKETCH-/161717585642?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item25a71e86ea&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

EBay Item Description

EBay Bid History

Note:  For more on the topic of caricature, see my earlier blog posts here.

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