The Poet: Madeline S. Pereny Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Madeline S. Pereny illustrated three New Yorker covers between 1930 and 1932, but she tried for more. A sale last month of works on paper from the estate of Marvin Oleshansky has brought one of her cover proposals to light. Quinn's Auction Galleries of Falls Church calls it The Poet, which seems reasonable enough.

Something is written on the back, but what?

...Again, what?

The lot's presale estimate was $120 to $240. The bidding started at $60.

Madeline S. Pereny
Quinn's Auction Galleries listing accessed before the sale

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/madelaine-pereny-the-poet-c-1930s-watercolor-46-c-84d4f2a937?objectID=176250750&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=93f0e19bebe4a6406db5952b1514df4b#

The lot sold for $90.

Pereny's three published New Yorker covers appeared in three consecutive calendar years. The landscape on her first cover of May 24, 1930 bears a resemblance to the rolling hills of The Poet.

What's in the last box? The gifts on Pereny's cover of December 26, 1931 share a common theme.

Grand Central Palace hosted the annual Flower Show as seen on the New Yorker cover of March 19, 1932, Pereny's last.

Note:  Details of the life of Army psychiatrist and art collector Marvin Oleshansky may be found here.

This is the first original art by Madeline S. Pereny to appear on the blog; indeed it is her very first mention here. Anyone who wishes to send additional examples of her work can probably persuade me to create a second post.

For more on New York's annual flower show—it can't come soon enough—see my report on artist Roger Duvoisin's preliminary and finished cover art from 1937 here.

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