Attempted Bloggery: Bernard Wiseman's Prehistoric Protest

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Bernard Wiseman's Prehistoric Protest

Last year on eBay a small selection of original New Yorker cartoons by Bernard "Bernie" Wiseman were sold directly from the artist's estate. It's possible that more are available, but the prices achieved were not spectacular and to my knowledge no similar offerings have occurred since.

Captionless drawings are the most difficult to research, so I am going to refrain this time from criticizing the seller for not knowing the issue in which this was published. (I will confine my criticism to noting that it is bad practice to misspell simple words in eBay listing titles.) I will point out that many cartoonists and illustrators write publication information directly on the original artwork, some unobtrusively on the front so that it can be read even if framed. In general, I think this is a good practice.

With this cartoon, Mr. Wiseman observes that the limitations of free speech go way, way back.

Bernard Wiseman, Original art, The New Yorker, January 16, 1954, page 93

Detail

Bernard Wiseman's signature

Bernard Wiseman, Sketches

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-BERNARD-WISEMAN-CARTOON-ART-CAVEMAN-LOUSY-SPEACH-THE-NEW-YORKER-/221263176713?pt=Art_Drawings&hash=item3384502409&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Bernard Wiseman, The New Yorker, January 16, 1954, page 93

Note: Not too many blogs out there have multiple posts about Bernard Wiseman. In fact, this may be the only one--and there's more to come.

You know what? Cavemen are always good for a laugh.

Does this qualify as a size gag? I believe it does. See just how much mileage cartoonists get from incongruities of scale.

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