In New York, everyone likes to play to a crowd!
Peter Arno understands this—after all, he does a bit of it himself—and he uses it to good effect in the cartoon
"We were lucky to get the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?" The drawing depicts firefighters and well-dressed bystanders at a raging blaze somewhere in the area of Times square. The gag was originally published as a full page cartoon in the
New Yorker of January 24, 1942. It was subsequently included in the 1944 collection Peter Arno's
Man in the Shower. The original
New Yorker artwork was sold on eBay in December of 2010 after several unsuccessful tries. This eBay listing has not been seen on the internet in over five years.
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"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, Original artwork
The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22
Man in the Shower, 1944 |
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| Peter Arno's signature |
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| Caption |
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"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, Original artwork
The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22
Man in the Shower, 1944 |
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| Two Arno originals! |
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"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22 |
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eBay Q & A
[End of eBay Listing]
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"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22
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From Peter Arno's Man in the Shower, 1944
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Note: Do you know what this blog post needs? If you read the Q & A you do. It needs a photograph showing this original art when it was hanging in the 21 Club. This is a tall order, I know, but if you've got the goods, please don't be shy about it. Usually I ask for much easier stuff and almost no one responds anyway.
For example, something I'd consider far easier would be for you to send me an example or two of
original New Yorker cartoon art. This blog has a nice virtual collection of it and I'm always looking for more. Collectors take note: you can remain anonymous if you wish. Politicians take note: sure you can have some free publicity.
Would you like to know a little more about Peter Arno? Well, this is your lucky day. Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist by Michael Maslin was just published last week. If you're reading this blog, my guess is you should be reading this book.
While you're waiting for the book to arrive from Amazon, why not check out these helpful Arno links?
Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill. It's as if Arno's biographer had written them.
Peter Arno in Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery. It's as if a great cartoon book collector were showing off his holdings.
Peter Arno in April's Vanity Fair. It's as if a leading national magazine that doesn't publish cartoons really cared about this cartoonist.
Peter Arno in the March 29 Wall Street Journal article. It's as if the financial district were a temple of high culture.
Peter Arno posts here on Attempted Bloggery. It's as if I had nothing better to do.
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Were the previous eBay auctions unsuccessful because no one bid, or because no one met the reserve?
ReplyDeleteIn October 2010, the artwork was offered with an asking price of $4500. No bids were placed and over a series of eBay auctions the asking price was gradually lowered to $2750. At this level, two competing bids were placed.
ReplyDelete