A Letter from Gluyas Williams to Tom Sanders

In 1932, a fan named Tom Sanders, interested, apparently, in becoming a cartoonist, requested an autograph from Gluyas Williams, one of the most technically skilled artists working for Harold Ross's New Yorker. Williams responded to the request with an ALS written on his Boston stationery. It was sold in September on eBay.

For what it's worth, numerous closeups of handwritten letters don't really help:

And the verso:

Gluyas Williams
eBay listing ended September 13, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166926813309?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01JEMDPB7E7H24N1XTSME6NSDQ&hash=item26dd9d087d:g:x8UAAOSw9ptmw1oh&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmjdcZXuAzwldE

J0RNEU8E3bRVz7eS7mW8oJNReIWcUuw64kQM%2BP0%2FAw0l2Zz3U3mc0s0TKG786m18C%2FZkiQgHH1zj%2F51g3zABJbN67liyQSiqLPj6GtR8G6Xge%2FvxSglNvJLF3D0TbheCmalpvPOIDQCe5yszhdKslrtR%2B2SJiA

9lZXOem4nS0hFlZGXTHdTVpMWkv%2B1rswOIu5XW8F%2FIt1U0TBjd7y8Uimn2cMwkCm1lEN5myMpsEj0BRZ18zhZuUeefA9rhN4YhTLrZ7PA6aqA9U6zgUt5q%2Ff2Aaf2Q5%2BA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kz2Y31ZA

Note:  If this letter looks familiar, that may be because it was featured on Ink Spill's post of September 17, 2024, complete with transcription and a better photo: https://michaelmaslin.com/tuesday-spill-an-art-spiegelman-documentary-gluyas-williams-on-being-a-cartoonist-its-lots-of-fun-at-times/

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Remembering Edward Koren (1935-2023)

Contributor David from Manhattan writes:

Ed Koren's death has hit me hard. I've been unearthing a handful of things I haven't shared on Attempted Bloggery. One in particular is an anthology, Man Bites Man: Two Decades of Satiric Art  (A & W Publishers, 226 pages) compiled with loving care by Steven Heller in 1981 when he was only 30. With twenty-two different artists, an introduction by Tom Wolfe, generously illustrated in b&w and color, with work selected by the artists themselves, and in the case of Koren, imaginatively chosen.

No New Yorker cartoons or covers, familiar or not, but here's a two-page spread from Esquire, Leisure Hours on the Pike . . . 

. . . and Ranking Members from The People, Maybe by Karl A. Lamb . . . 

. . . and Our Vital Literary Life which began life as a 1977 invitation to a Gotham Book Mart exhibition . . . 

. . . and simply asks, Is It Funny? (1978). Ten pages in all, with an informed introduction and a great front cover (in case the title of the collection needs further explanation). 

My copy, from a Colorado bookstore a few years back, includes a Koren drawing on the front free endpaper. Despite all that white space made available, Koren may have had other things on his mind at that moment.

Still, any collection "dedicated to three giants of the comic arts: Art Young, Gluyas Williams and Otto Soglow" should be carefully examined.

Note:  Thanks to David from Manhattan for going into his library and putting this whole post together about the great Edward Koren. The images are all his. This is David's fifty-fifth contribution to Attempted Bloggery.

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Gluyas Williams: Soap and Water

A boy washes his hands over the course of an eighteen-panel original drawing by Gluyas Williams. The two sheets are individually framed. The second sheet bears a dedication to Timothy, the artist's godson.

1–6

4–9

10–15

13–18
"For Timothy, from one of his godfathers, Gluyas Williams"

Gluyas Williams's signature

Champagne included for scale only

The framed pair of drawings was given a presale estimate of $250 to $400 by a Cranston, Rhode Island auction house, with the bidding starting at $125.

Gluyas Williams
Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers listing accessed before the sale

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/pr-gluyas-williams-pen-ink-cartoon-illustrations-203-c-1544ff1ae9?objectID=176473528&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=fc9b8cf31269321d87572b49679a469f

The art was sold on Monday for $700, well above the high estimate.

I can tell you that this drawing does not appear in The Gluyas Williams Gallery (1957), but I can't help thinking it would be more helpful if I could say where it actually did appear in print. At present I cannot, but I'd like to hear from anyone who can.

January 19, 2023 Update:  The new owner of this piece, Rob Stolzer, has left a note in the comments section observing that this series of drawings was reprinted in Fellow Citizens (1940). The book gives no indication where the piece was first published.

Note:  In the meantime, Attempted Bloggery seeks scans of original art by the great Gluyas Williams.

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June's Copy of The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker

The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker was published in 2004. June is a psychotherapist whose copy of the book was signed by four New Yorker cartoonists—Danny Shanahan, Michael Maslin, Liza Donnelly, and Peter Steiner—the first three of whom she was friends with locally. Her copy was offered at auction by Zicorn Arts on October 15 with what proved to be an overly optimistic estimate of $300-$400.

I was curious about where this was signed and who did the lettering "For June." I asked cartoonist Michael Maslin, who wisely conferred with his wife Liza Donnelly before responding:

We probably signed at the Merritt Bookstore in Red Hook (it's no longer there -- it's now a noodle shop). I have a very clear memory of us all sitting there signing a ton of those books. The lettering "For June!" could either be Liza or me -- I just showed it to her and she leaned to it being her. So, a toss-up, but likely her.

There you have it. The book received only a $100 bid and the lot was passed. But that doesn't mean the auction house and bidder didn't come to an agreement after the fact.

Danny Shanahan and Michael Maslin

Liza Donnelly

Peter Steiner

Industrial Crises

The day a cake of soap sank at Procter and Gamble's

Gluyas Williams

"Well, back to the old drawing board."

Peter Arno

Robert Day

Claude Smith

Lee Lorenz

"Oh dear! I've got all the husbands and wives separated,

but I forgot about the live-togethers."

William Hamilton

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

Edward Koren

"No comment."
Jack Ziegler

The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker

 

The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker

Zikorn Arts

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/signed-by-artists-the-complete-cartoons-of-the-ne-50-c-2d747a08e1

 

 

Note:  Cartoon collections such as this one, signed by several New Yorker cartoonists who each contribute a drawing, are just the sort of books that look great scanned and posted on a blog for all to read. If you've got the book, I've got the blog.

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