Edward Koren: A Bucket for a Giant Frog

Some original illustrations make no sense without the context of their original purpose. One can enjoy, surely, Edward Koren's undated illustration of a man in a checkered suit presenting the contents of a bucket to a giant frog and still not understand what it signifies. Heritage Auctions, which sold this artwork in 2016, said the man in the picture was feeding the frog. He could also plausibly be offering hydration or a chance to wash up. Whatever the case, we are unlikely to know without seeing how the illustration was used in print. It does look a bit like a TV Guide drawing, but really it could have appeared almost anywhere.

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions listing of October 9, 2016

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/edward-koren-man-feeding-a-giant-frog-illustration-original-art-undated-/a/121641-12080.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115#

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions item description

Note:  Any reader who can shed some light on the intended use of this illustration and where it may have been published is encouraged to come forward.

05201

Ronald Searle: One-Armed Bandit

Ronald Searle's drawing of a gambler joylessly working a slot machine is from the pictorial "Las Vegas: Home on the Range." It appeared in Holiday magazine's issue of June 1960. The original 65-year-old art was sold four weeks ago at Heritage Auctions.

The online presale activity was enthusiastic, bringing the bid price up to $5,200 just thirteen hours before the sale. 

But the bidding went no further.

Ronald Searle
Heritage Auctions listing ended November 4, 2025

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/ronald-william-fordham-searle-british-1920-2011-las-vegas-holiday-magazine-interior-june-1960-ink-on-board-20-x/a/8224-71070.s?ic10=ExpandedResults-ItemImageDesc-040215

Ronald Searle
Heritage Auctions item description

The drawing, as originally published in Holiday:

Ronald Searle
"Las Vegas:  Home on the Range"
Holiday, June, 1960, p. 89

https://ronaldsearle.blogspot.com/2020/05/gamblin-towns.html

It took up a full page in the oversize magazine:

The article is listed in the table of contents as starting on page 88:

Note:  For further reading and pictures, see Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog created by Matt Jones—specifically the post called "Gamblin' Towns."

05143

W. B. Park: Delay of Game

There's not a lot of action to be seen on the baseball diamond in an original illustration by W. B. Park. The several spider webs are apparently a commentary on the slow pace of some baseball games. Park died in 2021, but this watercolor may have appeared decades before the advent of the pitch clock.

W. B. Park's signature

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended April 30, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204871090360?_skw=%22W.+B.+Park%22&itmmeta=01K0X707V7BY38PS5KGPD4MX0R&hash=item2fb344c0b8:g:QEoAAOSwgBBmh2mh&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1ffhgd%2BZSzgKguu3JcQlui72P9oJl4diQjwdf4RRszns3U7dbl7PS3QN8mC73PzxP4WQYpN5KdnbIhaRx%2Bp6Goid5AP2ibsdtWYr2ZL%2FXJk0cpk7Z4ChCcucZgwl6Tm0rwr0eoVNkUlGyUcPZrfK3iM9vMe9xU%2FhPMia0shOlvydMdckMd2J39BX4oReIsB7xJibIw7HkWSmjbQMSy7zlXL7QHkzZThgVoeUX42sceZAhjXl9dXCeMjmW8ONiQjxcQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9j9gKeHZg

W. B. Park
eBay item description 

Note:  If you should know where and when this was published, please come forward—and don't balk.

05011

Ronald Searle: The Devil Goes to Peyton Place

The James Cox Gallery of Willow, New York, sold an original drawing by Ronald Searle (1920-2011) on Sunday. The town, by the way, is just a short ride from Woodstock.

The illustration shows the devil, all in red and carrying a pitchfork, greeting two elderly men on a commercial street by the seaside. The men, pleased to see him, wave back. Both of them carry canes. The devil wears a T-shirt emblazoned with the name "Peyton Place." Behind him is the Peyton Professional Building. Skeletons peek out from the shop windows. The art is signed only with Searle's initials suggesting, perhaps, it might not appear very large on the printed page. The full sheet reveals the artist's instructions to the printer at the lower left: "Fit in where possible on pages C or D." Were there other Searle illustrations on other lettered pages?

The work is dated 1967, evidently on the back. We are given no information as to where it might have been published.

Ronald Searle's initials

The context is not entirely clear, but the drawing does show the outdoor set of the "Peyton Place" television show, which had recently made the switch from black and white to color. The devil may be a reference to the controversial sexual content of the show. The skeletons might suggest that the two older men made some sort of bargain with the devil.

Detail of the three figures

The original art hit the auction block on Sunday with a presale estimate of $600 to $800.

Ronald Searle
James Cox Gallery listing accessed May 28, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/RONALD-SEARLE-ENGLISH,-1920-2011-9-c-E9146E79F1?utm_term=ronald%20searle&utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalerts&utm_content=345278&utm_term=345278

Ronald Searle
James Cox Gallery item description

Sold!

A photo of the "Peyton Place" television show's outdoor set shows some of the architectural elements just as Searle drew them. It seems very likely he worked out the drawing on the set.

https://jannaludlow.co.uk/Television/PP_the_Set.html

Note:  Any reader who may have seen this drawing in print should let me know. Maybe it's a thus far overlooked illustration for TV Guide. Maybe not. In the meantime, by all means think of Attempted Bloggery as a place to post images of your devilish original art by Ronald Searle. I await your submission, wearing Prada. 

04968

W. B. Park: Less Cowbell

An original color cartoon by W. B. Park features a cow stripper and her bull admirers. It is dated August 11, 1986, but it was not published until May of 1988 in Park's Off The Leash syndicated strip—or was it? According to the art's eBay seller, there is a smaller black and white version of this cartoon as well. Park's Wikipedia page informs us that the panel strip was distributed by United Feature Syndicate from 1989 to 1999, so somebody's dates may be off by a bit.

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended August 18, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126620695415?_skw=Rare+Original+The+New+Yorker&itmmeta=01JBJQ0D1FC7KG0Z4K5SX7XYYM&hash=item1d7b2e7b77:g:1dcAAOSwN99muQLH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKk2CtBipykyrIzXn%2BGsB4Xc0w0X447Db0h%2BxrS5wWriFWh6fQtdbpD2SrPy

map%2FWBcZLMlV16Zy856mAIQQXGlHXVC374nH9kzfn%2FJ1PNXdJkkNi3xycEsPV7icWxUtPeEQTS3PODdayQcWGfmxVqdd7HOT5Qia3%2FuFPSFZFwUTKtpRiwWo5WcC55msJKPLFCDozohplGMJejr46y7jg9ss0t6dUR94p1Hb4EjqCY9tZOuDKtzyGKdEEZqf%2FYsGdKo%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-jQgdfcZA

W. B. Park
eBay item description

[End of eBay listing]

CartoonStock lists not one but two additional versions of this gag in what is clearly Off The Leash's vertical panel format. The black and white version, right, is closer the the horizontal color original that was offered on eBay.

W. B. Park
CartoonStock

https://www.cartoonstock.com/search?type=images

&keyword=%22W.+B.+Park%22+cow&page=1

04835

Stanley W. Reynolds: Woman With a Parasol

Stanley W. Reynolds illustrated some memorable magazine covers for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair between 1925 and 1927. They are highly stylized art deco designs which may be seen at the Condé Nast Store here. Beyond this brief burst of creativity, there isn't much of his work to be found online. 

Early in 2017, an original Reynolds illustration was listed on eBay. Painted in rich watercolors, it is more art nouveau than art deco and looks nothing like the published magazine covers. A woman wearing, apparently, nineteenth century finery and carrying a parasol stands behind a Dutch door. She is prepared to emerge onto a garden path.

Stanley W. Reynolds's signature

Detail

Detail

Detail

Stanley W. Reynolds
eBay listing ended January 13, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Listed-Artist-Stanley-W-Reynolds-Watercolor-New-Yorker-Vanity-Fair-Deco-/282306695231?hash=item41baca503f%3Ag%3AKz0AAOSw-0xYUrnu&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Stanley W. Reynolds
eBay item description

Note:  I'd like to hear from anyone who can identify where this art may have been published or is familiar with other work by Stanley W. Reynolds.

04816