Michael Maslin: Traffic Stop

An original New Yorker drawing by Michael Maslin was on the auction block yesterday in Rockville, Maryland. The cartoon shows a traffic stop in which a police officer has pulled over a produce truck driver. 

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
Original art
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company:  Cartoons by Michael Maslin. Fireside, 1990, p. 3

The artwork comes to be nicely framed and glazed:

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
Framed original art
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company:  Cartoons by Michael Maslin. Fireside, 1990, p. 3

Michael Maslin's signature

Weschler's, the auction house, has misidentified the artist as Eric Maskin. Maskin, born in 1950, is really a Nobel Prize winning economist and mathematician who teaches at Harvard. His accomplishments are considerable but, in the last analysis, he does not draw cartoons for The New Yorker. There's always a chance, when the artist is incorrectly identified, that interested bidders might never be able to find the piece. Twelve hours before the sale, it seemed this might be the case. With an estimate of $50 to $100 the bidding was at an anemic $35:

Michael Maslin
Weschler's listing accessed May 19, 2025, twelve hours before the auction

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Eric-Maskin-American-b.-1950-,-Sorry,-But-I-m-G-154-c-3E644ED861?utm_term=new%20yorker&utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalerts&utm_content=341704&utm_term=341704

Michael Maslin
Weschler's item description

Sold!

[End of Weschler's listing]

The art first appeared in the magazine in 1987 and subsequently has been reproduced on a number of products. It also appeared in Maslin's collection Mixed Company (Fireside, 1990).

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company:  Cartoons by Michael Maslin. Fireside, 1990, p. 3

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
Original art
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company:  Cartoons by Michael Maslin. Fireside, 1990, p. 3

With a spot drawing by Judith Shahn and a cartoon by Michael Maslin

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1987-09-07/flipbook/036/

* * *

Spot of table and chair
Judith Shahn
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 36

Two New Yorker cartoons were sold in the auction, no doubt from the same consignor:

Note:  This blogger would be happy to post other examples of original art by Michael Maslin. Or, better still, Eric Maskin.

04947

W. B. Park: Outside the Movie House

A 1994 New Yorker cartoon by W. B. Park takes us out to the cinema—if there's any doubt, its name is The Cinema. But more important is what's currently showing at the movie house and who's going to see it. Park's original art was sold on eBay in February.

Health Plan:  The Movie
W. B. Park
Original art
The New Yorker, February 21, 1994, p. 114

The drawing needs no caption. At first it looks as if the movie marquee is the joke. Then we see the people standing in the ticket line, and one in particular. This serves as a one-two punch: setup and payoff.

Detail of moviegoers

Detail of motor vehicles with W. B. Park's signature

Wrapper

Verso

p h W. B. Park eBay listing ended February 15, 2025 https://www.ebay.com/itm/196479711123?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01JSNF235573MCRCFXAEN63A24&hash=item2dbf1a7793:g:G2cAAOSwG6lmhI0F&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dJTtWTViH0iqUnN%2Bq5c86pQLz7weYx5VaXbtlSi5L0WDc5wUoxrihJnRWVkNbbSZJfEslDPEe7EdhsB5DbYnzPVTfkdARSvmH1JLDmAbN8xp4YfqeRV%2FFHq4uwEMbOtBzc QEBQs0%2Ff0VRyKP5gRe92jFKX9NEtuw2a3Dwa2YwsNX1E40mtZqpgSdhGOvdeMCLtbftNqYXuIruS%2FpA4AYBR4xaCfCdCBR%2BXLMAS0%2B5GdQI%2BBI4EyzmXOKC6QWmKm9Vm2bY639Spg%2BpTV1wJbW3MqPl0qwUO8jtrKaNSbI35HQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR96yiK_NZQ

W. B. Park
eBay item description

[End of eBay listing]

Here it is in the magazine:

Health Plan:  The Movie
W. B. Park
The New Yorker, February 21, 1994, p. 114

Health Plan:  The Movie W. B. Park Original art The New Yorker, February 21, 1994, p. 114

With a cartoon by W. B. Park and an illustration by Jonathan Rosen https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1994-02-21/flipbook/114/

* * * 

And, for those who may not be interested in health plans, let me just go off on a visual tangent from book review on the facing page: 

Louis Althusser
Jonathan Rosen
The New Yorker, February 21, 1994, p. 115

04946

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #944

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #944 appeared in the issue of May 12 & 19, 2025. A psychotherapist administers a Rorschach test to a patient while a butterfly flies off the paper. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Drew Dernavich.

"Don't worry—we're on a locked ward."

These captions lacked insight:

 

"What's Bluesky?"
"They migrate."
"And that's why we used to carry nets."

04945

Night Life: Original Lorenzo Mattotti New Yorker Cover Art

In April of 2000, The New Yorker published Lorenzo Mattotti's cover entitled Night Life. The original art was sold on May 9 in Milan: 

The head of the woman of prodigious fashion is positioned towards the outer edge of the image yet her head is turned further outward, an unusual choice which gives the scene a spontaneous feel. Two other faces in profile by the borders direct their gaze outside our field of view. Yet these individuals are not unposed; everyone except the photographer is clearly there to be seen. One woman even looks directly at the viewer, somewhat disconcertingly.

The vibrant colors stand out against the black in the background. The glow of the nightclub lights create a symmetrical shape like a stage curtain above the scene. The shapes and colors of these lights are continued in the curvilinear strap along the left side of the image only to be cut off by the form of the photographer.

The main figure wears striking colors while the other patrons are all in black relieved occasionally by gray. Her fur is nothing if not excessive, but although central to her look it doesn't outshine her and the artist doesn't seem to be critical of her for wearing it. Like everyone else, she is living her own esthetic and is picture perfect.

The art sold for an impressive 12,000 euros plus the customary 23% buyer's premium. In dollars, that's a total of about $16,500 plus whatever shipping and insurance may be required.

Lorenzo Mattotti
Urania & Finarte listing of May 9, 2025

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/203742642_mattotti-lorenzo-the-new-yorker-night-life-2000

Me, I stay home after dark.

04943

Maurice Sendak: Max Arriving at the Island of the Wild Things

Max has arrived! Maurice Sendak's original two-page illustration of Max in his sailboat arriving at the island of the Wild Things is by far the most important work of this artist ever to appear at auction. This is first illustration Sendak made for Where the Wild Things Are (1963) and the first ever to be sold. The remaining illustrations are unlikely ever to be released to the market.

Prior to the sale, online bidders brought the hammer price up to $130,000, or $162,500 with the buyer's premium. The most spirited bidding would have to wait for the live auction.

Maurice Sendak
Heritage Auctions listing of May 16, 2025

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/maurice-sendak-american-1928-2012-max-arriving-at-the-island-of-wild-things-where-the-wild-things-are-first-drawing/a/8200-68021.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116#

Maurice Sendak
Heritage Auctions item description

Maurice Sendak
Heritage Auctions condition report

04943

J. B. Handelsman: Why Mr. Dobkin Is Not Walt Whitman

In yesterday's post on New Yorker cartoonist J. B. "Bud" Handelsman, I asked for additional pieces of original art to share here. Longtime contributor David from Manhattan came through with a fine New Yorker drawing. He writes:

The cartoon, 11" x 8", is from Feb. 2, 1987. I bought this years ago on eBay, with Condé Nast the seller for a client who owned that iconic Sam Gross frogs' legs cartoon that brought $30,000 at auction. The attraction for me was the poetry reference in the caption, though taking the photo I was reminded of the artist's care in making sure each man's clothing was rendered in a different shade, even managing a hint of brown in the prosecutor's suit and gray blue in the stubborn gentleman in the witness chair.

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

Detail of the witness

Detail of the judge and attorney

Here's what we see in print:

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
 The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
 The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

With a spot drawing by Tom Funk and a cartoon by J. B. Handelsman

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1987-02-02/flipbook/074/

* * * 

Spot drawing
Tom Funk

Note:  For those who don't recognize the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman, the relevant lines are:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

My thanks to David from Manhattan for keeping the discussion of J. B. Handelsman going with today's post. This is David's sixty-seventh contribution to Attempted Bloggery and they're all worthwhile.

Let me repeat my call to action since it met with such success yesterday. There is a lot of original art by Bud Handelsman in private collections and very few blogs willing to put it out there for the world to see. Remember, this is a big blog. It can contain multitudes. 

04942

J. B. Handelsman: Gone Fishing

An original New Yorker cartoon by J. B. Handelsman (1922-2007) was sold ealier this month in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The tranquility of the setting is undercut by the caption with not one but two exclamation points. 

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie,
I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
Framed original art
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

The drawing revels in cynicism about the dealings of the business world with its revelation of an unsatisfactory quid pro quo. It was probably a fairly cutting-edge example of humor in its day, although by current standards it seems fairly tame. In 1967, when this cartoon was published, Handelsman was living in England and contributing regularly to Punch, yet maintaining a strong presence in the American market.

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie,
I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

After fifty-eight years, much of probably spent hanging on a wall, the original art has acquired significant toning. 

Caption

J. B. Handelsman's signature

J. B. Handelsman
Tremont Auctions listing ended May 4, 2025

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/204094415_jb-bud-handelsman-original-illustration-for-the-new-yorker-watercolor-and-ink-on-paper-signed

J. B. Handelsman
Tremont Auctions item description

[End of auction listing]

The artwork was quite striking on the printed page:

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie, I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie, I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

With a cartoon by J. B. Handelsman and an ad for Germaine Monteil

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1967-07-29/flipbook/038/

Note:  There's room on this blog for more original art by J. B. Handelsman. As the anglers say, drop me a line.

04941