Anotol Kovarsky's elevated view looking south on Park Avenue shows the spring plantings on the median surrounded by pedestrian and automotive traffic. The design was proposed as a New Yorker cover circa 1960 but, for whatever reason, not accepted by the magazine. The original art is currently offered for sale by Honey & Wax Booksellers of Brooklyn for $3,600.
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| Rough sketch on verso |
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| Anatol Kovarsky Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed June 1, 2023 |
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Service on the IRT Third Avenue Elevated line was cut back starting in 1950 and the Manhattan tracks were demolished by 1955. Anatol Kovarsky's vibrant cover proposal for The New Yorker shows the El where it passes over a crosstown street, possibly 23rd Street. The view is facing west after dark. Below the El, the image includes the city's bustle, the traffic, and the illuminated signs. The skyscrapers above the El stand majestically over the chaos. One can only speculate as to why the magazine wasn't interested. Perhaps, in 1950 or so when everyone knew the elevated tracks were slated for demolition, the editors wanted their cover art to be more forward-looking. The original art is available from Honey & Wax Booksellers priced at $3,600.
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| Detail of the Third Avenue El |
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| Detail with the No. 15 bus heading east |
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| Anatol Kovarsky Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed May 31, 2023 |
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Anatol Kovarsky's cover study for The New Yorker issue of August 17, 1966 was created in New York. It depicts the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from a high angle while the finished cover art showed a different top-down view. The original art for the study is available from Honey & Wax Booksellers while the published cover art, we learn, resides in the Morgan Library.
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| Anatol Kovarsky Preliminary art The New Yorker, August 17, 1966 |
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| Detail of buses |
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| Detail of gargoyles |
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| Detail |
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| Anatol Kovarsky Preliminary art The New Yorker, August 17, 1966 |
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| Anatol Kovarsky's signature |
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| Anatol Kovarsky Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed May 29, 2023 |
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| Anatol Kovarsky Preliminary art The New Yorker, August 17, 1966 |
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| Anatol Kovarsky The New Yorker, August 17, 1966 |
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| Anatol Kovarsky The Morgan Library & Museum catalogue listing accessed May 31, 2023 |
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In the CartoonStock Caption Contest #167, the jars do not contain pickles. To review the rules of the monthly cash prize contest: Five bucks buys no more than three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $60 into the first dozen pay-to-play contests and this one brings my cash outlay up to $65. I was lucky enough to win $200 along the way but as some very talented caption writers play I don't expect to be able to keep it up. My three new entries are shown below, above the break. Below the break are my also-rans. The drawing of the closet you don't want to be in is by Amy Kurzweil.
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| "What can I get you, Sybil?" "It all began with stamp collecting." "Give me a minute to put myself together." * * * "Trust me, I have plenty in the way of brains." "He loves me for my brains." "There's been a local brain drain." "I try to be more mindful." "You've got to own those bad memories." "Any thoughts?" |
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| "It seems you're not the subject after all." |
These captions didn't meet scientific rigor:
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| "Could you at least give me a hint?" "There have been some unforeseen developments." "I'd like to leave the study." "Which way to the bathroom?" "Well, did you bring a stopwatch?" "This was not my original hypothesis." "Apparently, they've changed the study protocol." "I've been demoted." "When did YOU take over the study?" "What happened to all the paintings?" "NOW do you think I have empathy?" |
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Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Winter 2023 issue has an observant Jewish genie in a bottle. My captions are shown below. The first is just a throwaway. I feel the second is the best of these. The entry below the divider was not submitted because I didn't like it as much as the others. The drawing of the Aladdin story is by Benjamin Schwartz.
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| "I can't make anyone fall in love or win a caption contest." "You never had a mensch like me." "Don't wish for anything you'll have to atone for." "Actually, you get just one wish. We don't go with a Trinity." * * * "I'm afraid we genies don't know from Bitcoin." |
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Where does one go to authenticate a sketch of Wednesday by cartoonist Charles Addams? Today, that might not be so easy to answer. But in 1981 when Addams was alive, why not just go right to the source? That's what autograph collector A. Lovell Elliott did. He sent a photocopy of a purported Addams sketch on a 3x5 index card to Addams at his New Yorker office. Addams, fine fellow that he was, sent Elliott his answer—in the affirmative.
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| I'm assuming this is the handwriting of A. Lovell Elliott. |
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| Charles Addams eBay listing ended April 19, 2023 https://www.ebay.com/itm/155508772054?hash=item24350b8cd6%3Ag%3A-T4AAOSwpK9kJTh1&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4ED%2FgYk5FUsWssNgYk23%2FSNVvHBHbtb6MeeNi59ZPv1seJG3dB2CvXeQilTlhRhaNwQ8Z0eHWFnniSE6prKARl7u1XH0nU%2F%2BvgU4iYm32vVmeNw9HprdQOAqcgjVgBmu%2Fb4kDK5Jdg1jhFEILQT1SDgJIjugA32l9yiIeAJyNsPVcMXiCvY4tP2ZA3rwc3 |
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| Charles Addams eBay item description |
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| Charles Addams eBay bid history Over three days, two bidders place three bids and the price rises by $10. The last bid wins it. |
Note: Has anyone seen anything else remotely like this? Do tell.
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Richard Oldden Original art Playboy, March 1991, p. 154 |
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Richard Oldden Original art Playboy, March 1991, p. 154 |
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| Playboy stamps |
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| Richard Oldden's signature |
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| Detail of Venus |
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| "Retail Value $500" |
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| Tear sheet |
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Richard Oldden eBay listing ended May 21, 2023 |
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Richard Oldden eBay item description |
