This week I worked remotely on The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #792 from the issue of February 28, 2022. My entry is shown below. The desert island drawing is by P. C. Vey.
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| "We're still in the Song-of-the-Month Club." |
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| "Hey! We finally have Lesson One." |
March 13, 2022 Update: The Finalists
March 14, 2022 Update: I voted for the caption from Mesa.
March 21, 2022 Update: The Winner
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People fortunate enough to have their work featured as the subject of a New Yorker cartoon just might decide to purchase the original art for themselves. That's precisely what director Joseph L. Manciewicz did when a poster for his movie "Cleopatra," advertising it as "the motion picture the world has been waiting for," appeared in a 1963 cartoon by Rober Weber (1924-2016). Manciewicz passed away in 1993 and his estate held onto the drawing for nearly three more decades, selling the artwork only this past December.
Weber set his scene at a suburban commuter railway platform. Two well-dressed women on their way into the city regard the movie poster by Howard Terpning, which must have been ubiquitous in the summer of 1963. It depicts the stars Rex Harrison (Julius Caesar), Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra), and Richard Burton (Mark Antony). The production of "Cleopatra" experienced widely-publicized delays, but the film was to become the biggest box office draw of the year.
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| "What annoys me is that I know I'm going to see it." Robert Weber Original art The New Yorker, July 20, 1963, page 21 |
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| Robert Weber Bonhams, December 8, 2021 |
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"Cleopatra" (1963) poster Howard Terpning |
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| "What annoys me is that I know I'm going to see it." Robert Weber Original art The New Yorker, July 20, 1963, page 21 |
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| An anonymous spot drawing of a dragonfly over cattails and a cartoon by Robert Weber |
Note: Robert Weber published more than 1,400 cartoons in The New Yorker over the course of his career. Yet this is only the second original New Yorker cartoon art of his to appear on this blog. (There's also a New Yorker magazine ad original for Absolut vodka. But I digress.) Where then is all his original New Yorker art? Have I been subconsciously suppressing it? Or perhaps, dear collectors, have you been deliberately keeping it from me?
By the way, if you should ever pop into Bonhams in Los Angeles, you might let them know that Bruce Weber is a fashion photographer and Robert Weber was a New Yorker cartoonist. Thank you in advance for clearing that up.
I don't really believe the artist who created that spot with the dragonfly and cattails can be identified, but by all means write if you can prove me wrong.
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Bob Eckstein published A History of the Snowman in 2007. The updated edition, now dubbed An Illustrated History of the Snowman (2018), was listed last year on eBay accompanied by a print signed in the year of publication. As the seller notes, "It's not the crispest signature." You can't fault simple honesty.
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| Bob Eckstein eBay listing ended November 8, 2021 |
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Freshly arrived his week from Oblong Books of Rhinebeck is a signed and personalized copy of Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Women Cartoonists. This book is Liza Donnelly's brand new update of Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons (2005). The half title page is embellished with a festive drawing.
Note: Copies of Very Funny Ladies signed by Liza Donnelly remain available from Oblong Books here.
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"...and I hear he wears Wings Sports Shirts."
"That settles it. I'm wiring my daughter today to come right up."
Barbara ShermundWings Sportswear Life magazine, 1944 [or 1945?], page 86 |
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"Miss Smith. Can't see anyone, I'm in conference!" Barbara ShermundWings Sportswear 1944 Scan by Warren Bernard |
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"I hope you didn't mind taking pot-luck." Barbara Shermund Original art |
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| Detail of the women and their jewelry |
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| Detail of the men in white tie and the servant in black tie |
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| Barbara Shermund's signature |
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| Detail of the column |
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| Verso with rough drawing |
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| Barbara Shermund eBay listing ended September 22, 2019 |
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| Barbara Shermund eBay item description |
Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Winter 2022 issue recalls many a vivid nightmare. My several captions are shown below. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.
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"This is so embarrassing. I forgot my kippah." "And these are my good-luck briefs." "Well, how do YOU celebrate Tu BiShvat?" "Tell Benjamin Schwartz this isn't as funny as it looks." "Worst of all, I was treed by a rabbit." "My wife got everything in the divorce." “That’s the last time I play strip dreidel.” “Just keep yelling until I wake up.” "Take a hint from Netflix and don't look up." March 28, 2022 Update: The Finalists  July 16, 2022 Update: The Winner  03884 |
This week I had to sleep in the doghouse while puzzling over The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #791 from the issue of February 14 & 21, 2022. My entry is shown below. The drawing is by Lonnie Millsap.
 "It kind of grows on you." |
With these captions I tried a little too doggedly:
"You'll grow into it." |
| "Come in. There's plenty of room." "Sure it costs more, but we got a great deal on the mortgage." "Wait till you see the finished attic." "Next time, bring your stilts." "There's no excuse for slouching." |
March 6, 2022 Update: The Finalists
March 7, 2022 Update: I vote for the caption from Mount Horeb.
March 14, 2022 Update: The Winner
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| Roz Chast: Poster for "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" AbeBooks Listing Accessed June 2, 2020 |
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| Roz Chast: Poster for "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" AbeBooks Listing Accessed February 19, 2022 |
An ink and watercolor drawing on a 4" x 6" postcard was donated by artist Roz Chast to a 2010 fundraiser for the Silvermine Guild Arts Center in New Canaan, Connecticut. Postcards were sold at a fixed price and buyers apparently did not know the identity of the artist whose work they purchased. This, of course, was not the case when the Chast postcard was sold again in a 2021 auction at Bonhams. The work is titled And One Day, When He Least Expected It... Ms. Chast deftly lists the medium as pen, ink, watercolor, and paranoia.
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| Roz Chast Bonhams sale June 17, 2021 |
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