Wednesday, February 28, 2018

E. Simms Campbell: "I Used to Know Her..."

E. Simms Campbell's color cartoon for what is apparently Esquire's September 1936 issue follows some interesting conventions. The bathing beauty at the center of the image is given an attractive body, flowing blonde hair, and a passive, vapid expression. She could certainly be a movie star and indeed she is a accompanied by a handsome leading man. Note how the couple's eyes are barely visible making their expressions somewhat inscrutable. There is nothing funny about how they are depicted in this cartoon. The others, to a man, have bulging cartoonish eyes that comically reveal their evident preoccupation with this woman. These oglers are painted with comically-exaggerated faces that are meant to contrast with the leading couple's earnestness. As for their physiques, just compare the long-legged woman with her robe draped over her bathing suit and the obese speaker who has his robe also draped over his bathing suit. The caption catches us off guard—where we should expect to hear a word like years, we instead get a cynical reference to the expense of keeping a woman like this happy.

E. Simms Campbell
"I used to know her—four checkbooks ago."
Original art
Esquire, September 1936

E. Simms Campbell
"I used to know her—four checkbooks ago."
Matted original art
Esquire, September 1936


E. Simms Campbell
Swann Galleries Sale 2403, Illustration Art, January 28, 2016, Lot 20
Hammer Price



Now where do you suppose such a work of art comes from? How about Bernstein's Auction in Hopkins, MN? Note that this off-the-beaten-path auction house inexpertly describes this piece as a signed print rather than an original back in April of 2015. It sells for just $90. Oops.
E. Simms Campbell
"I used to know her—four checkbooks ago."
Original art
Esquire, September 1936

E. Simms Campbell
Bernstein's Auction, April 9, 2015, Lot 81
Hopkins, MN
Hammer Price
E. Simms Campbell
Bernstein's Auction Item Description
The cartoon as published in Esquire:
E. Simms Campbell
"I used to know her—four checkbooks ago[.]"
Esquire, September 1936


Note:  Was this cartoon truly published in Esquire's September issue of 1936? Don't make a liar of me. I need documentation down to the page number along with a supporting scan or photo. Please help out if you can.

Attempted Bloggery is continuing to explore the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). Motivated readers are encouraged to send high-resolution scans or photographs of original Campbell art—illustrations, cartoons, drawings, maps, ads—or of rarely-seen published works.
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Tuesday, February 27, 2018

My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for January/February 2018

Need some good reading material? Why not curl up with my entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for January/February 2018. The climate-controlled drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"At least tonight it's not a headache."
"This is Miami, dammit!"
"I never knew Fifty Shades had a Zamboni scene."
"What does that mean, 'Winter is coming'?"
"Almost done?"
"Fine. I'll go to couples therapy!"



 March 12, 2018 Update:  The Finalists


If so inclined, you may vote for your favorite caption here. The deadline is April 20, 2018. While you're there, why not enter the current contest yourself? It's organic.


May 14, 2018 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  Benjamin Schwartz is the cartoonist who creates the caption contests for Moment magazine. You may want to read up on all my past entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest. See my take on Jewish humor.

If that's not enough, why not peruse every cartoon caption contest I ever entered? You don't have to repeat my mistakes.
Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality. As should you.
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Monday, February 26, 2018

My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #605

Take a good look at my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #605 for February 26, 2018. The drawing is by Robert Leighton.

"Are you conceptual art or are we?"



These captions did not imitate life:
"Here we see even Van Gogh had off-days."
"By 1901, Picasso had abandoned realism."
"We can't find the exit."
"This never should have been framed."
"This is one budget cut too many."
March 5, 2018 Update:  The Finalists


 March 12, 2018 Update:  I voted for the third caption.
March 24, 2018 Update:  Winning Caption
Note:  Last week, cartoonist Mick Stevens created some prehistoric cave art. My caption was a caption in search of a caption. Take a look back, way back, at Contest #604.

 Don't miss Attempted Bloggery's Robert Leighton gallery.

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Sunday, February 25, 2018

E. Simms Campbell's Map of the 1939 New York World's Fair

Illustrator E. Simms Campbell's humorous map of the 1939 New York World's Fair is painted in watercolor, whereas his more famous A Night-Club Map of Harlem from 1932 was done in ink and wash. The World's Fair map pokes gentle fun at the Fair's indulgence in modern art, dancing showgirls, drinking, and homages to the city's speakeasies and jazz clubs. Grover Whalen, New York's familiar official greeter and the president of the New York World Fair Corporation, is mentioned by figures on the map three separate times. On the lower left, there is a gag about Sally Rand, a fan dancer who famously appeared at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair where she was arrested four times in one day for indecent exposure. She did not perform at the New York Fair.

E. Simms Cambell
New York World's Fair 1939
Original art

E. Simms Campbell
Swann Galleries Sale 2465, Illustration Art, December 14, 2017, Lot 244
Hammer Price



Where was this 1939 World's Fair map of Campbell's published? Swann Galleries doesn't speculate, but it was very likely in Esquire, possibly with a gatefold image by Campbell of Esky, the Esquire mascot he himself created, visiting the World's Fairgrounds in Flushing Meadows. Esky, wearing sport jacket and roller skates, is accompanied by a half dozen of Campbell's soon-to-be-named Cuties, each in swimsuits and also on roller-skates. Perhaps the Fair was too vast to explore on foot alone. Each of the women represent a number of states and tower over the diminutive Esky. The curtain is pulled back to reveal the Trylon and Perisphere, twin symbols of the 1939 fair.

E. Simms Campbell
1939 New York World's Fair gatefold
Esquire


 A tweet with photos from AmericanLit@Beinecke announced the acquisition of the original art by Yale's Beinecke Library, where it joins Campbell's A Night-Club Map of Harlem (1932). Yale students, your tuition is being put to good use.
E. Simms Cambell
New York World's Fair 1939
Original art



E. Simms Cambell
New York World's Fair 1939
Original art detail



E. Simms Cambell
New York World's Fair 1939
Original art detail



Note:  So when and where was this map published?  Was it indeed in Esquire? If you know, please speak up.

 Attempted Bloggery continues to explore the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). This blog requests that readers provide scans or photographs of original Campbell art—illustrations, cartoons, maps, advertisements—or of rarely-seen published works.
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Saturday, February 24, 2018

E. Simms Campbell: A Night-Club Map of Harlem

Manhattan Magazine's first issue of January 18, 1933 is a real rarity, and its centerfold is a gorgeous map of Prohibition Era Harlem created by African-American illustrator E. Simms Campbell. The map was published again in the brand new men's magazine Esquire nine months later. In 2011, Swann Galleries offered a copy of the original centerfold from Manhattan Magazine with a presale estimate of $600-$800. Just look at how well it did in the sale!

E. Simms Cambell
A Night-Club Map of Harlem
Manhattan Magazine, January 18, 1922

E. Simms Campbell
Swann Auction Galleries, Sale 2239, Printed & Manuscript African Americana, Lot 407
Hammer Price, March 10, 2011
Drawn in 1932 and published early in 1933 in the first issue of Manhattan Magazine, E. Simms Campbell's original A Night-Club Map of Harlem is an iconic memento of the Prohibition Era and the Harlem Renaissance. When the original artwork was offered for sale at Swann Galleries in 2016, the auction house noted the incorrect use of the word engraved in the lower right-hand corner. Perhaps this is a nod to John Held, Jr., who used the word frequently in this manner on his imitation woodblock prints in The New Yorker and elsewhere. 
E. Simms Cambell
A Night-Club Map of Harlem, 1932
Original art

E. Simms Cambell
A Night-Club Map of Harlem, 1932
Original framed art


E. Simms Campbell
Swann Auction Galleries, Sale 2408, Printed & Manuscript African Americana, Lot 415
Hammer Price, March 31, 2016




The original 1932 artwork was shown at the Smithsonian in 1996 according to Mike Thibault, whose detailed photograph of the slightly cropped printed map is posted on flickr.
E. Simms Cambell
A Night-Club Map of Harlem
flickr photo by Mike_Thibault
A more complete image of the map from Manhattan Magazine is available from the Library of Congress. It is zoomable on the Library's website:

E. Simms Cambell
A Night-Club Map of Harlem


Note:  Mike Thibault has posted some additional close-ups of the original map artwork from Swann Galleries on facebook here.

The original artwork was acquired by Yale's Beinecke Library. Read the announcement here.

Attempted Bloggery continues to examine the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). I am looking for scans or photographs of original Campbell art or of obscure published works.
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Friday, February 23, 2018

E. Simms Campbell and Abner Dean in Esquire, January 1936

The Dionne quintuplets were born on May 28, 1934 in Canada. Their birth and development became an ongoing news story. E. Simms Campbell's color cartoon for Esquire's January 1936 issue is a rare instance of the African-American artist depicting members of a black family. The cartoon features the mother, surrounded by her own numerous children, commenting on the news item with what is supposed to be  a clever quip. The caption is written in some unfortunately-chosen dialect.
E. Simms Campbell
"All dat fuss ovah jes five babies[.]"
Esquire, January 1936, page 79

Detail

E. Simms Campbell's signature and the printed caption


On the other side of the page is a beautiful but cryptic winter cartoon by Abner Dean. A man standing on a Manhattan balcony during a snowstorm wears a top hat and carries what seems to be a bag. He is saying, "Oh well—I might as well go in and take it!" Take what?
Abner Dean
"Oh well—I might as well go in and take it!"
Esquire, January 1936, page 80

If you have any idea what's going on in the Abner Dean gag, please explain it to me. I just don't get it.
February 28, 2018 Update:  Twitter user Richard Serkey, @aufrichtig40, identifies the activity engaged in by the young man in the Abner Dean cartoon as a panty raid.
Let the record state that this is the first time I've heard the phrase Knicker Nabber. What do readers think of this interpretation?
Note:  Meanwhile Attempted Bloggery will continue to look at the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). I seek scans or photographs of original art or obscure published works that will help to shed light on this artist.
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