Attempted Bloggery: May 2021

Monday, May 31, 2021

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #757

It seems the weather did not cooperate with The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #757 from the issue of May 31, 2021. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Carolita Johnson.

"I always feared the cloud could be hacked."

I'm saving this caption for a rainy day:

"At least we won't have to deal with ants."

June 13, 2021 Update: The Finalists

June 19, 2021 Update: I voted for the caption from New York.

June 26, 2021 Update: The Winner

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Sunday, May 30, 2021

Ed Fisher: The Skies Over Times Square

Ruth and Nick, apparently relations of cartoonist Ed Fisher, owned at least three original works by the artist as well as two personalized cartoon collections. The artwork included a painting with the title A Revised Map of the Heavens: The Skies Over Times Square. There were also two gag cartoons, one about confronting an armored car and a second about modernizing a church's stained-glass window. An eBay seller reportedly had the set appraised at $3,200 but then went on to sell it in March of 2020 for an anemic $119.

Ed Fisher
eBay Listing Ended March 9. 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ed-Fisher-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-Original-Signed-Cartoon-Artwork-and-Books-/133349934080?hash=item1f0c468400%3Ag%3ACnwAAOSwTs9eB9-h&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ed Fisher
eBay Item Description

Ed Fisher
eBay Bid History
One bid arrives in the last three hours

[End of eBay listing]

The shrewd buyer is a West Virginia bookseller and antiquarian who certainly seems to appreciate the collection for what it is. Described now as a "small archive" and presented with much better photographic images, the items are offered for sale in the October 2020 catalogue of Chancery Hill Books & Antiques. The price of $2,250 may be considered either a 1791% increase above the eBay price or a 30% discount from the appraised value.

Ed Fisher
Chancery Hill Books and Antiques

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lin8B6-6DKoBMzzjl2rxFgNzTjxgbh4W/view

Ed Fisher
Chancery Hill Books and Antiques

https://chanceryhill.blogspot.com/2020/10/mini-catalogue-monday-204-leaves.html

The catalogue notes that one of the original drawings bears New Yorker markings. Here's the first publication history:

Ed Fisher
Original art
The New Yorker, July 24, 1954, page 17

Cartoons by Garrett Price and Ed Fisher

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1954-07-24/flipbook/016/

Note: I haven't a clue where the armored car drawing or A Revised Map of the Heavens: The Skies Over Times Square may have been published. Any reader help will be appreciated.

Other examples of original art by Ed Fisher would be welcome here for use in future blog posts. Please submit accordingly.

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Saturday, May 29, 2021

Ed Fisher: Bedtime Story

Ed Fisher's cartoon for the New Yorker issue of December 4, 1971 pokes fun at the mixed messaging of the day. Aesop's fable of "The Grasshopper and the Ant" is a parable in which the industrious ant embodies the Protestant work ethic. In this cartoon, the father has concocted a bedtime story with a moral that instead reflects, apparently, his own ambivalence about work.

"Sure enough, when winter came, the carefree, hedonistic grasshopper
died. But the ant died, too, without ever really having lived at all."
Ed Fisher
Original art
The New Yorker, December 4, 1971, page 54

The period details are all there: the wide tie, the sideburns, the mod lamp. No one was troubled by a father telling a bedtime story with a lit cigarette in his hand.

Fisher worked hard on the faces, adding paste-ups of both heads to be sure he got the expressions right.

Ed Fisher's signature

The verso seems to lack the usual New Yorker stamps.

Ed Fisher
eBay Listing Ended May 28, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Cartoon-Drawing-c1970-Signed-New-Yorker-Playboy-/221779556365?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33a317780d&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ed Fisher
eBay Item Description

Ed Fisher
eBay Bid History
The winning bidder enters the fray five seconds before the close.

Cartoons by Edward Frascino and Ed Fisher were sold concurrently on eBay. You can read my post on the Frascino rhinoceros cartoon in the archives here.

[End of eBay listing]

Cartoons by Ed Fisher and William Steig

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1971-12-04/flipbook/054/

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Friday, May 28, 2021

Jean-Michel Folon: The Artist in Autumn

Belgian illustrator Jean-Michel Folon (1934-2005) shows off his fall fashion sense in an color photograph, apparently published in a magazine. The image is signed and dedicated to an admirer by the artist. The item has been available from a Brussels autograph dealer at least since last summer, priced at 89.99 Euros.

Jean-Michel Folon
AbeBooks listing accessed June 21, 2020 and translated into English by Google Chrome

https://www.abebooks.com/Jean-Michel-Folon-1934-2005-Rare-grande-photo/30663663340/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

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Thursday, May 27, 2021

Ed Fisher: Passing Fancy

In a 1959 cartoon for The New Yorker,

Ed Fisher (1926-2013) managed to find humor in a funeral procession. The original art was given by the artist to one Ed Rosenthal. Decades later it may have been sold through the New Yorker Store. This past March it was sold on eBay.

It's a good cartoon, better than the $129.99 Buy It Now price might lead one to believe. The artwork has some significant condition issues and is in serious need of reframing. Still, it would be hard to argue that the buyer didn't get a good deal.