Saturday, May 4, 2013

William Steig's Lion Shoot

Back in 1949 The New Yorker took this lovely artwork by William Steig and ran it as a small spot drawing to lead off the "Goings on About Town" section. The drawing shows a caged lion at the zoo proud to have its photo taken. It could certainly have run instead as a fine cartoon in the body of the magazine, but it would look great anywhere.

The drawing came out of a major collection and was sold on eBay in late 2010 by Condé Nast on behalf of a client. It failed to find a buyer at the initial offering price, somewhere in the range of $4,500, but when the asking price was reduced to $2,200, it sold.

William Steig
 Pen, ink, and wash over pencil, 8 1/2 x 11"
Original Artwork for The New Yorker, June 4, 1949, Page 2
 Private Collection (eBay Image Courtesy of David from Manhattan)

William Steig, The New Yorker, June 4, 1949, Page 2

William Steig, The New Yorker, June 4, 1949, Page 2
William Steig
 Pen, ink, and wash over pencil, 8 1/2 x 11"
Original Artwork for The New Yorker, June 4, 1949, Page 2
Private Collection (eBay Image Courtesy of David from Manhattan)














Note:  I'm indebted to this piece's current owner for allowing me to share it here on the blog. If you too have original artwork by William Steig, published or unpublished, and would like to see it right here, drop me a lion. Sorry, line.

I did not keep a record of any of the other artwork from the collection sold on eBay at the same time as this piece in 2010, but I'd be delighted to hear from anyone who might have. The collection also included Sam Gross's famous frogs legs cartoon.

0713

No comments:

Post a Comment