William Steig: Headstrong Husband

A 1970 New Yorker cartoon original by the great William Steig remained in the collection of Neil and Susan Sheehan for well over five decades, it seems. Then, along with a few other Steig drawings of theirs, it appeared suddenly on the market last weekend and was sold within twenty-four hours. At least we got to see it before it passed back into obscurity.

William Steig
Framed, original art
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 20

William Steig's signature

The price was $500.

William Steig
AbeBooks listing ended May 17, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/ORIGINAL-1970-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-Signed/32447228712/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=img

Careful readers may have noticed that this week's posts include no fewer than three Steig drawings featuring disembodied heads. Coincidence? Not exactly. Yesterday's post was a variation on this same theme as Steig worked through the idea in his New Yorker submissions. As for Tuesday's post with that knight raising the severed head, well, these things happen.

Oh, yes. Here's how today's drawing looked in The New Yorker:

William Steig
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 20

William Steig
Framed, original art
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 20

With drawings by William Steig and Charles Saxon

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1970-01-10/flipbook/020/

* * *

It can be no accident that the simple, direct contours of the emotionally overwrought Steig drawing are contrasted on the page opposite with the lush tones and genteel manner of the cartoon by Charles Saxon, who here is conscripted to play superego to Steig's id, if you will. 

"It seems to me that you've simply got to be for
or against sex these days."
Charles Saxon
The New Yorker, January 10, 1970, p. 21

So there you have it: a cartoon depicting surreal, raw anger and one with politicized, unsexy talk of sex, both spanning a single spread in The New Yorker back in January of 1970. 

By the way, I don't recall any other New Yorker artist so casually having his character self-decapitate as Steig has done here. For that matter, who else has resorted to this Saxon trick of placing a face at a dinner party between the candles in a candelabra? For the cartoonists, it's all about the faces.

Ah, there are such riches to be found in these back issues.

05270

William Steig: The Argument That Doesn't End

From the collection of Neil and Susan Sheehan comes an imaginative and absurd New Yorker drawing by William Steig. Published in 1969, the drawing was listed online this past weekend by Second Story Books and was promptly sold.

William Steig
Original art
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 167

William Steig's signature

The work was offered on AbeBooks for $500. 

William Steig
AbeBooks listing ended May 17, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/art-prints/ORIGINAL-1969-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-Signed/32447222280/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=readmore_low

William Steig
AbeBooks item description

The original art has sustained considerable toning, but the image appears forever young on the pages of the magazine. Not the same can be said for Steig's couple.

William Steig
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 167

William Steig
Original art
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 167

With a spot drawing by Mario Micossi and a cartoon by William Steig

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1969-11-08/flipbook/166/

* * * 

"The Art World" spot drawing
Mario Micossi

Note:  For those who remember William Steig chiefly as the creator of Shrek, that children's book wasn't published until 1990, twenty-one years after this drawing.

05269

William Steig: Mystery in the Making

Neil and Susan Sheehan owned several wonderful New Yorker cartoon originals by William Steig. This one, from 1964, sold quickly, as did the others.

                        "A perfect night for a murder."
William Steig
Framed original art
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 54

William Steig's signature

William Steig
eBay listing ended May 16, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/318307590972?_skw=William+Steig&itmmeta=01KRRZPWHC9ZSYA95FTBHZJ6RT&hash=item4a1c9c633c:g:AAQAAeSwEv9qByrr&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xBPeiliTW06%2BiyNO8If%2FE3WxqmX%2BUuRSzLM7CoFc8Q0Rs79VgvoXajedz%2B0z1XhLD7n9QxV%2F6

zpnDscA%2FfYs9Dg3qNzQdFV7AlBb7YjRiWeSRfX2tMzD9l9wiimOiyxGaWfEOIZL%2BG8gEDIOoIt%2FVN2Xr%2BORAYGGA9kcyXDD9o%2BeAJ23mjBbQ%2B79SSgCwMS8%2FSsDDB4YdeqKovenr3RUz8OjsqotrAG6fvSK%2BHi4xChf777JpdT74%2F%2B27y9sJYKbrM%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-7I25_GZw

William Steig
eBay item description

Here it is in the magazine, which Susan Sheehan worked for, by the way:

                        "A perfect night for a murder."
William Steig
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 54

                       "A perfect night for a murder."
William Steig
Framed original art
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 54

With Cartoons by William Steig and James Stevenson

* * *

James Stevenson's cartoon, printed on the page opposite, has a sleek corporate look which sets off the gloomy, atmospheric Steig.

                      "I went through chintz, stripes, flowers, and God    

knows what all till I finally found something I really liked."    

James Stevenson
The New Yorker, November 28, 1964, p. 55

05268

William Steig: Report of a Beheading / Temptation on the Path

A two-sided drawing by William Steig changed hands last month on eBay. 

The first drawing shows a knight, sword still in hand, presenting a severed head to his lady, who seems rather impassive. The lady is drawn with elegance; the knight is rough-hewn. Did that head belong to someone she knows? Was he a lover? The garden setting provides a contrast with the gruesome subject matter.

This drawing, which bears Steig's signature, is on the side with more toning, the seller notes, indicating that it was framed and displayed. 

On the other, unsigned side, Steig presents us with a devil concealed behind trees. He pokes his head out and gets the attention of a well-dressed young woman walking away from him on the path to town. She pauses and turns her bonneted head towards him. Will this lead to her downfall?

William Steig
eBay listing ended April 11, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/188265051812?_skw=William+Steig+original&itmmeta=01KRSRNF864DV5EWCTBPDD1TPY&hash=item2bd578b6a4:g:V64AAeSwQldp2Zlb&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCuoCY2L02nXNhfLB%2BxMYz14UA2CUFDB%2B4eM4HaFHKLcmPKntwydgBSev6ffatPP8h

U%2BY1WMWwV%2B8EaaUfuatpMmxWQHQHgJWUuWt06WRGXBKs56O5U%2BSfC298GV0g%2BLNxF66WcISDc%2BPOg2hYOEVgzSNMkjLpMwXLiOeKqGZ5MF3SpB86wez5iKzDquUWSBb8%2Fc8uO00YJaquCahlPDsA7ssMRj3s4Ojdx%2F7o8teQ0t46pVqjxi2UUKar%2BdqKFiSk%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5701bjGZw

William Steig
eBay item description

Note:  Whether or not these drawings ever saw publication, William Steig certainly packed a lot into them. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who recalls seeing either drawing, or perhaps a close variation, in print. 

05267

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #990

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #990 from the issue of May 11 & 18, 2026, a couple sitting in a car are stopped at a chicken crossing indicated by a road sign. As they wait for the many chickens to pass, the man, who sits in the driver's seat, speaks. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Mort Gerberg.

"Don't you know any other jokes?"

0526?

Saul Steinberg: Now or Never!

Many fine and wonderful items get away from me on eBay but this one hurt: an original drawing from The New Yorker by Saul Steinberg. It is from the collection of Neil and Susan Sheehan, she a writer for the magazine, and it was sold hours before I ever became aware of it. I doubt whether one could have gotten such a good price, $750, even as far back as 1980. The publication date was in 1969.

Now or Never!
Saul Steinberg
Framed original art
The New Yorker, August 30, 1969, p. 23

The drawing may very well be untitled but I took the liberty . . .

Saul Steinberg's signature

There are, unfortunately, condition issues. Art of this quality should have been framed archivally from the getgo. The framing, I believe, was the work The New Yorker.

Detail

Saul Steinberg
eBay listing ended May 15, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/406928826919?itmmeta=01KRSRVE2VSGAREKR3PV814J9W&hash=item5ebed92227:g:1owAAeSw44JqByyE

Saul Steinberg
eBay item description

Now or Never!
Saul Steinberg
The New Yorker, August 30, 1969, p. 23

Now or Never!
Saul Steinberg
Framed original art
The New Yorker, August 30, 1969, p. 23

With a spot drawing of the Seine by FP and a drawing by Saul Steinberg

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1969-08-30/flipbook/022/

* * *

On the opposite page of the spread is a much smaller spot drawing signed FP. It is a lovely evocation of the Seine in Paris, a place New Yorker readers might well visit in the month of August. The art is direct and bold and in no way trying to compete with the Steinberg. Does anyone recognize the illustrator to whom those initials belong?

Spot drawing of the Seine
FP
The New Yorker, August 30, 1969, p. 22

05265