A Night at the Opera: Peter Arno?

Quick, what's missing from this cartoon listed on eBay?

Well, first off, there's no signature. Who made the drawing? We really can't say.

And there's no caption. We can only guess what the wife is saying to her husband as he sleeps through the Wagner opera.

It appears, though, that we do have a documented date of publication: March 16, 1959. On the verso, that date is notated in European fashion, a possible hint as to where this drawing may have seen print:

The eBay seller proclaims this drawing as the work of Peter Arno. This attribution seems to hang on the evidence of his name being written in an anonymous hand on the back of the drawing. In all likelihood, Arno would have signed his work in the image with his distinctive signature.

On eBay, the item was first listed at $3,495. Now it is $2,795 or a best offer. 

Peter Arno
eBay listing accessed June 23, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/296517175227?itmmeta=01J13YWB1KXTB8NJ4PSJC95D4X&hash=item4509cd07bb:g:SKIAAOSwEW1mdKdG&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4OgYqsUgn81qH7bANPnrclvb%2BaAPAkEPkjofF2UpyzAjomg7Dkw%2FLTNl9OjtzdzsP2pjP%2FYdzh0LWBvHj6nX0Qrd1O4CvYf

r1pCMsziDXzGISgIvlNoS8uoPvV7X8UmV3nCr6zc9GUlwghStQpwZ808B7XOf7yGuQWCfRRKqa9ZEfPszJsgy7F2F7JS7yyA0U1AEa26Dd8eMa874vbigcaKKWO4zk0kzR4IhPirGJAeMfi%2FpV5SC6sNO9cd1fZ%2Btg2Bp1Jugii44nqC8LiclhQbu63AR181sCYeKO2SuwErU%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kw8f6IZA

Peter Arno
eBay item description

Price as of June 24, 2024

Price as of June 23, 2024

A year into this listing, not too surprisingly, 

the seller is prepared to go lower:

Perhaps it would help to look at an actual Arno cartoon in a similar setting, a vocal recital. Here's a 1947 Arno drawing from The New Yorker:

"You have so got it turned off!"
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, November 29, 1947, p 44

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166975516861?mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m164382.l178272&ch=osgood&euid=33552726372c4ad3a89157a7fc53cc

cb&bu=43186000575&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20241004013619&segname=11021&recoId=166975516861&recoPos=1

To emphasize character, Arno draws his figures more or less facing us—not seen from behind. The balcony, the dress, and the curtains are rich in a variety of textures, something we do not see in corresponding areas of the eBay drawing.

With a cartoon by Peter Arno and a spot drawing of Al Capp

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1947-11-29/flipbook/044/

Note:  First off, I can use some help identifying the New Yorker spot artist (WAL?) who rendered Al Capp. I feel I should know this. 

Al Capp
Artist Unidentified [WAL?]
The New Yorker, November 29, 1947, p 45

There's also a lot to be learned about the eBay cartoon. Who drew it? What is the caption? Where was it published? Opinions welcome, although facts would be even better. 

04999

A Mouse at the Opera: Julian de Miskey Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

These days the New Yorker's covers generally don't venture into the opera house. In the early decades of the magazine, though, the cover art frequently took a seriocomic look at the spectacle of grand opera—and the grander the better. Productions, often at the Old Met, including their full complement of cast, crew, and audience were fair game as cover subjects. A proposed cover by the talented Julian de Miskey offers a backstage view of the heldentenor's dressing room at a production of "Siegfried." We are delighted to see that the singer, in full costume as Siegfried, the quintessential Wagnerian hero, has been bested by a tiny mouse.

The paper bears evidence of folding into three parts, as if it were a letter that at one time had been put neatly into an envelope. This shows the widespread casual attitude of artist and editors to concept art that was not destined for publication. No doubt they would have been more careful had they foreseen a time when this rejected cover proposal would be offered for sale by a leading bookseller for $2,500.

Julian de Miskey proposed New Yorker cover art

Julian De Miskey
James Cummins, Bookseller Listing as of July 16, 2017

https://www.jamescumminsbookseller.com/pages/books/22118/new-yorker-julian-de-miskey/original-conceptual-for-the-new-yorker-magazine-cover-signed-with-artists-initial-m

Note:  This is Julian de Miskey's first appearance here on the blog.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Proposed New Yorker Covers

Opera

Attempted Bloggery's Squeaky Index

02249

Backstage at Lohengrin: Constantin Alajálov New Yorker Cover Art

Constantin Alajálov's original New Yorker cover art shows us the opera from a vantage point few of us ever get to experience. Being able to see the the set from behind and the prompter's box and conductor from up front offers us an insider's exclusive view. Meanwhile, the high Wagnerian drama taking place on the stage is contrasted with the ordinary manual labor of the stagehands. The opera is Lohengrin, of course, whose title character is also known as the Swan Knight. You knew that.

Constantin Alajálov, Original art, The New Yorker, January 30, 1937

http://www.artnet.com/artists/constantin-alajalov/backstage-at-the-opera-lohengrin-Mt5YXlxHNoUYGtJScN_d5w2

Illustration House auction

http://www.artnet.com/artists/constantin-alajalov/backstage-at-the-opera-lohengrin-Mt5YXlxHNoUYGtJScN_d5w2

Constantin Alajálov, The New Yorker, January 30, 1937

Note:  I now have quite a few blog posts about the art of Constantin Alajálov. It's your lucky day.

See more examples of original New Yorker cover art.

You might also like to see a few more posts about composer Richard Wagner.

01154

Arthur Rackham: The Rhinemaidens Warn Siegfried

Back in my college days, I first encountered Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung, the fourth and final opera of the Ring cycle. At the beginning of Act III, the Rhinemaidens lament the lost Rhinegold, then urge Siegfried to return the ring to avoid its curse. The music struck me then as singular, unlike anything I'd ever heard. It still does. The Rhinemaidens' dirge takes on rapturous and even seductive tones as well as they try but, of course, fail to persuade Siegfried.

Arthur Rackham produced extraordinary illustrations for Margaret Armour's translation of the Ring story. As an illustrator, he had obvious advantages over the stage designers and directors of his day. He could choose models who looked their parts regardless of whether they could sing. He didn't have to concern himself with how to bring the Rhine onto an opera house stage, nor did he have to put costumes of any sort on the Rhinemaidens.

The simple title of this original illustration for a color plate, The Rhinemaidens Warn Siegfried, doesn't really explain the fact that the Rhinemaidens are not only warning Siegfried, but coaxing and enticing him as well. It seems to me that Rackham has captured some of the complex spirit of the music here, going far beyond the mere translated words in the title. I wonder how much he relied on the translation and how familiar he was with Wagner's music.

The 200th anniversary of Wagner's birth will be celebrated tomorrow, May 22.

Arthur Rackham, The Rhinemaidens Warn Siegfried
Richard Wagner, Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods, 1911

http://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/illustrations/rhinemaidens-warn-siegfried.html

Rackham's illustration corresponds to the action beginning at about 6:50 in this 2008 video from Valencia.

Richard Wagner - Götterdämmerung

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Act 3, Vorspiel (Prelude), Scene 1 

"Frau Sonne sendet lichte Strahlen"

Zubin Mehta, Conductor

Lance Ryan, Siegfried

Valencia 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLBi5Zbb49Q

The Rhinemaidens, Valencia, 2008

http://mostlyopera.blogspot.com/2009/07/fura-del-baus-valencia-ring.html

June 23, 2013 Update:  Sold.

Note:  My very early post on Rackham's Rhinemaidens can be found here.

0734

Ronald Searle: They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore

Ronald Searle passed away one year ago today in Draguignan, France. His talents were unique, which prompts me to make the trite yet absolutely correct observation, "They don't make 'em like that anymore!"

I think we can let Mr. Searle illustrate this point for himself with a marvelous, over-the-top depiction of a Wagnerian soprano delivering the goods as only she can in a production of, apparently, Siegfried. Sorry for all the scanning artifact. Anyway, it ain't over till the fat lady sings, to use a second cliche, and now it's indeed over. Hojotoho!

Ronald Searle, They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore, 1978
Town & Country, October 1978
Ronald Searle in Perspective, Boston: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1983, Page 132-133

For the record, the dragon Fafner is slain by Siegfried before Brünnhilde is awakened from her sleep in the magic fire, so I don't think this is really a scene from the opera. I know you were concerned too.

 ****

I've always known the phrase to be "They don't make 'em like that anymore" without the full "them" that Searle uses. I certainly got this idea from the Broadway musical How Now, Dow Jones (1967), which was standard musical fare in our home back in the day. Say, was there any other good music around at the time?

"They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore"

"How Now, Dow Jones" (1967)

Marilyn Mason and Brenda Vaccaro

Elmer Bernstein, Music

Carolyn Leigh, Lyrics

"How Now, Dow Jones"
Playbill

http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/5069/How-Now-Dow-Jones

Image added December 26, 2015

Marilyn Mason, Tony Roberts, Brenda Vaccaro, and Company
"How Now, Dow Jones"

 http://www.playbill.com/features/article/122237-How-Now-Dow-Jones

0562

Rackham's Rhinemaidens

Lot No: 678^•
RACKHAM (ARTHUR)
WAGNER (RICHARD) The Rhinegold & Valkyrie, NUMBER 236 OF 1150 COPIES, SIGNED BY RACKHAM, 34 tipped-in colour plates, publisher's pictorial vellum gilt, soiled, 4to, William Heinemann, 1910

Estimate: £200 - 300  

Sold for £132 inclusive of Buyer's Premium 




Arthur Rackham's mythic illustrations are the reason these books retelling the stories of Wagner's four Ring operas remain so desirable. In addition to The Rhinegold & Valkyrie (1910), there is Siegfried & the Twilight of the Gods (1911). Take a good look at Rackham's exquisite Rhinemaidens below because they won't look anything like this in the opera house!  

Sale 18867 - Printed Books and Maps including Selections from Oxfam and Binding Tools, 28 Jun 2011 Oxford

The three Rhinemaidens Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde

The Rhinemaidens tease Alberich.

Alberich tries to reach the Rhinemaidens.

Alberich steals the Rhinegold.

The Rhinemaidens try to reclaim their gold from Alberich.

Image replaced May 13, 2013

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Rhinemaidens_try_to_reclaim_their_gold_%28Arthur_Rackham_sketch%29.jpg

Loge the god of fire and mischief, with the Rhinemaidens who tell him of their sorrow

The Rhinemaidens lament the loss of the gold as, far above, the gods cross the rainbow bridge into Valhalla.

The Rhinemaidens warn Siegfried but fail to get him to return the ring.

But the Rhinemaidens become deadly serious. It is Siegfried's fate to keep the ring and fall victim to its curse. They bid the hero farewell and swim off to see Brünnhilde, to whom they will explain everything. By the end of the day she will have inherited the ring.

The Rhinemaidens obtain possession of the ring and bear it off in triumph.

****

Is this 1910 illustration, obtained from a different online source, truly a Rhinemaiden lamenting? I'm not sure. The Rhinemaidens in the operas always remain as a trio.

If you've gotten this far, I hope you have a renewed appreciation for the art of Arthur Rackham. Perhaps you yourself are a lifelong fan, as I have been. If not, see me after class!

The book auction listing is located here:  http://bonhams.com/eur/auction/18867/lot/678/

My online image source is here:  http://www.artpassions.net/rackham/wagner_ring.html


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