David from Manhattan reports on a group of twelve unpublished drawings by New Yorker cartoonist William Steig that were sold at Swann Galleries on September 29, 2016. In keeping with yesterday's subject matter, The Art of the Redraw, we'll start with a variant of a New Yorker cartoon that rivals and quite possibly outshines the published version. Though technically not a redraw done after publication, it is an alternative version very likely intended by the artist to appear in the magazine as the final version. Why didn't it? I believe the magazine's editors requested, somewhat unnecessarily, that Steig make it clearer this man returning home is inebriated, hence the too-obvious bottle of liquor in his pocket. But I'll let David tell the story of all twelve drawings his own way. He writes:
The drunk cartoon with penciled caption has had a chunk of paper torn off at left. Possibly an earlier version of something published, as it is definitely not a rough. Luckily I had some matching paper, and that, plus a matte, makes it quite presentable.
The drawing "Where's the reception committee?" falls into the different, better version category. The final version appeared [in The New Yorker of] Apr. 3 '65. The caption is an improvement, but the drunken husband falls short I think. Of course, Steig I suspect would have been quite content to draw drunken husbands all day long if he was in the mood.
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| Cartoon by William Steig |
Businessman dragging a clock. Scan is on the Swann website. A curious drawing which has grown on me.
Stairway to the stars. Again, scan on website. As a reader, and book buyer, this obviously appeals to me, and looks very nice on the wall. Probably done around the time of the clock drawing.
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| William Steig |
The dog and sleeping master is my favorite.
The satyr drawing is another favorite.
Watercolor: 10 x 10 but my scanner cut it off at the sides. The children are a bit generic for Steig, but the explosion of plants and color is quite nice. Unsigned.
The lovers: similar size to the above, and once again my scanner couldn't quite handle it. Looks like a rejected or preliminary drawing for Male/Female.
Small sketch of a man. Reverse has the handstamp of a Lewis Nichols of West 10th St. struck many times and clearly cut from a larger sheet. Perhaps Steig rescued some free art materials as he was strolling through the Village on garbage day.
Portrait of a woman. One of Steig's "odd ducks" to quote his widow. Signed in pencil.
Bird cage in the garden. Sweet but nothing special.
Medieval king. Unsigned, wear, notes in the same ink on back giving info on a Louise Spillia, including what appears to be a social security #, 2 addresses and 2 phone #s! In spite of the faults I rather like the guy!
Desk on the mountain. Smeared, in anger it seems, with the same pinkish ink as the clock drawing. Utterly without charm. Idea for some dopey ad or commercial? Awful.
I am still hoping to publish a few posts with the heading The Art of the Redraw. The problem is I don't have any further examples of redraws which surpass the published version. Readers are invited to submit examples of redrawn cartoons or other variants that can be said to be superior in some way to the published originals.
Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:
William Steig
Henry Martin (1925-2020)
Alcohol
Redraws
Attempted Bloggery's Index Under the Influence
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