For those of us who started off this new year resolving to eat better and stay fit, the New Yorker's former art editor Lee Lorenz has an important reality check. His message is conveyed in a lively color lithograph issued in a signed, limited edition of 300. The title might be Weight Watcher according to a notation on the verso. The date of publication should be 1989 or 1990 based on the issue date of the New Yorker cartoon on which it is based. This lithograph was probably printed by American Atelier for the Circle Fine Art Corporation of Chicago and New York City. I recall seeing it at the Circle Gallery around that time.
The deckle edge suggests a paper stock of good quality.
Grant Zahajko Auctions, LLC, which is to auction this print on January 9, 2020, states that the lithograph is "signed in unverified hand," as if handwriting this bad could belong to anyone other than Mr. Lorenz—or perhaps his physician.
Note: Among its many purposes, this blog serves as an unofficial resource for information about New Yorker cartoonists. Over the years I have tried to preserve numerous examples of cartoon artist's signatures and handwriting. The auction house, which apparently obtained the artist's name from the pencil notation in an unknown hand on the verso, could very easily have verified the signature with a simple Google search. Is that asking too much of an auctioneer?
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Lee Lorenz
Weight Watcher [?]
No. 143/300, c. 1989
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| Lee Lorenz Weight Watcher [?] No. 143/300, c. 1989 |
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| Verso |
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| Lee Lorenz Grant Zahajko Auctions, LLC January 9, 2020 Item Description Accessed January 1, 2019 |
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| Lee Lorenz Grant Zahajko Auctions, LLC January 9, 2020 Item Description Accessed January 1, 2019 |
The color lithograph is redrawn from a black and white 1989 New Yorker cartoon. At the time, Mr. Lorenz was the art editor of the magazine. He was later to be named the cartoon editor.
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| Lee Lorenz The New Yorker, February 20, 1989, page 42 |
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| Cartoons by Lee Lorenz and Jack Ziegler |
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Lee Lorenz
Weight Watcher [?]
No. 143/300, c. 1989
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January 16, 2020 Update: Sold!
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