Notre-Dame de Paris with Tourists: Anatol Kovarsky Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Anatol Kovarsky's cover study for The New Yorker issue of August 17, 1966 was created in New York. It depicts the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris from a high angle while the finished cover art showed a different top-down view. The original art for the study is available from Honey & Wax Booksellers while the published cover art, we learn, resides in the Morgan Library.

Anatol Kovarsky
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, August 17, 1966

Detail of buses

Detail with gargoyles

Detail of facade

Anatol Kovarsky
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, August 17, 1966

Anatol Kovarsky's signature

Anatol Kovarsky
Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed May 29, 2023

https://www.honeyandwaxbooks.com/pages/books/1003384/anatol-kovarsky/notre-dame-with-tourists

Anatol Kovarsky
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, August 17, 1966

Anatol Kovarsky
The New Yorker, August 17, 1966

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1966-08-13/flipbook/CV1/

The Morgan Library has not posted an online image of the original art and their issue date is off by a few days. "Title supplied by cataloger."

Anatol Kovarsky
The Morgan Library & Museum catalogue listing accessed May 31, 2023

https://www.themorgan.org/literary-historical/282674

June 29, 2023 Update:  Sold (on or before June 20)!

04336

The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 167

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest #167, the jars do not contain pickles. To review the rules of the monthly cash prize contest: Five bucks buys no more than three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $60 into the first dozen pay-to-play contests and this one brings my cash outlay up to $65. I was lucky enough to win $200 along the way but as some very talented caption writers play I don't expect to be able to keep it up. My three new entries are shown below, above the break. Below the break are my also-rans. The drawing of the closet you don't want to be in is by Amy Kurzweil.

"What can I get you, Sybil?"
"It all began with stamp collecting."
"Give me a minute to put myself together."
* * *
"Trust me, I have plenty in the way of brains."
"He loves me for my brains."
"There's been a local brain drain."
"I try to be more mindful."
"You've got to own those bad memories."
"Any thoughts?"

June 11, 2023 Update:  The Winners

The judges deliberate:

The artist comments:

Videos added July 4, 2023

04335

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #851

I completely lost my way in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #851 from the issue of May 29, 2023. My caption, in iambic pentameter, is shown below. The drawing is by Kaamran Hafeez.

"It seems you're not the subject after all."

These captions didn't meet scientific rigor:

"Could you at least give me a hint?"
"There have been some unforeseen developments."
"I'd like to leave the study."
"Which way to the bathroom?"
"Well, did you bring a stopwatch?"
"This was not my original hypothesis."
"Apparently, they've changed the study protocol."
"I've been demoted."
"When did YOU take over the study?"
"What happened to all the paintings?"
"NOW do you think I have empathy?"

June 10, 2023 Update:  The Finalists

 

June 12, 2023 Update:  I voted with Burlington.

June 25, 2023 Update:  The Winner

04334 

My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for Spring 2023

Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Spring 2023 issue has an observant Jewish genie in a bottle. My captions are shown below. The first is just a throwaway. I feel the second is the best of these. The entry below the divider was not submitted because I didn't like it as much as the others. The drawing of the Aladdin story is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"I can't make anyone fall in love or win a caption contest."
"You never had a mensch like me."
"Don't wish for anything you'll have to atone for."
"Actually, you get just one wish. We don't go with a Trinity."
* * *
"I'm afraid we genies don't know from Bitcoin."

July 14, 2023 Update:  The Finalists

September 17, 2023 Update:  The Winner

04333

Charles Addams Authenticates Charles Addams

Where does one go to authenticate a sketch of Wednesday by cartoonist Charles Addams? Today, that might not be so easy to answer. But in 1981 when Addams was alive, why not just go right to the source? That's what autograph collector A. Lovell Elliott did. He sent a photocopy of a purported Addams sketch on a 3x5 index card to Addams at his New Yorker office. Addams, fine fellow that he was, sent Elliott his answer—in the affirmative.

I'm assuming this is the handwriting of A. Lovell Elliott.

Charles Addams
eBay listing ended April 19, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155508772054?hash=item24350b8cd6%3Ag%3A-T4AAOSwpK9kJTh1&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4ED%2FgYk5FUsWssNgYk23%2FSNVvHBHbtb6MeeNi59ZPv1seJG3dB2CvXeQilTlhRhaNwQ8Z0eHWFnniSE6prKARl7u1XH0nU%2F%2BvgU4iYm32vVmeNw9HprdQOAqcgjVgBmu%2Fb4kDK5Jdg1jhFEILQT1SDgJIjugA32l9yiIeAJyNsPVcMXiCvY4tP2ZA3rwc3

5GCeVjiPDOX3To06mpB%2BQNfyNoV2ZWqnyPMMvETLl0SVplIjI1rj1vTcPdEuIKPv2hz%2BQOAGGXahZ8QDjCD8P8TLrROtopbP7CxlGkw2fpyXnw%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4rYwquLYg&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Charles Addams
eBay item description

Charles Addams
eBay bid history
Over three days, two bidders place three bids and the price rises by $10. The last bid wins it.

Note:  Has anyone seen anything else remotely like this? Do tell.

04332

Richard Oldden: Venus on the Half-Shell

For the past month, an eBay seller tried to sell a work of original Playboy cartoon art by Richard Oldden that was published in the issue of March 1991. The drawing, of course, is a modern twist on Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.

Richard Oldden

Original art

Playboy, March 1991, p. 154

Richard Oldden

Original art

Playboy, March 1991, p. 154

Playboy stamps

Richard Oldden's signature

Detail of Venus

At a 1993 auction, Oldden assigned this original Playboy cartoon a "Retail Value" of $500. The eBay seller started the bidding at $300, and did not disclose the actual 1993 sale price.

"Retail Value $500"

Tear sheet

Richard Oldden

eBay listing ended May 21, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166097113841?hash=item26ac28d2f1%3Ag%3ARwsAAOSw7PtkDLcX&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4IFo0UixkWJSAU4aDHxYFsXQNh6DJmhMeyar1qGkKbpoXF+69LW9ip%2BLo%2BnWZyrb%2FZ%2FAsqB%2BzZ5IhIVhEnzx2rq1Y4OCH%2FLc%2Bdqr4OcI5G%2FloKaJtgP22nGv8zN8Y66HkDpj4Fjs%2FgOWBnR%2F6lFTCFBlktZ

IAo29FQYo8H8Wro9%2Faks2z7HZBibUKMM2uSULsh%2FL8t7nJv21sxGBiBSOSnie938aK6YIbzCXEMJeXAiw0sRggh2j6ppU4ZhVtY7bgmciw9PSqfvvEejaUuQ1rCSuTEpOC1Q1ZqIBrlDI%2F8n%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4Tr8NyKYg&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Richard Oldden

eBay item description

At $300, history repeated itself, although a best offer option was added to the most recent listing:

Image added June 24, 2023

Richard Oldden

Original art

Playboy, March 1991, p. 154

Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486)

Tempera on canvas

172.5 cm × 278.9 cm (67.9 in × 109.6 in)

Uffizi, Florence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Venus#/media/File:Sandro_Botticelli_-_La_nascita_di_Venere_-_Google_Art_Project_-_edited.jpg

04331

The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Charles E. Martin Original New Yorker Cover Art

Charles E. Martin's cover for The New Yorker's issue of February 1, 2023 depicts the Metropolitan Museum of Art bathed in early morning sunlight. The original art was sold at auction yesterday by Bonhams Skinner in Marlborough. Carrying a presale estimate of $2,000 to $3,000, it sold for a hammer price of $2,800, which comes to $3,584 with the 28% buyer's premium.

Charles E. Martin
Original art
The New Yorker, February 1, 1969

Charles E. Martin
Framed original art
The New Yorker, February 1, 1969

Charles E. Martin's signature

Charles E. Martin
Bonhams Skinner Marlborough auction of May 24, 2023

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28584/lot/72/charles-e-martin-american-1910-1995-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-cover-art-for-the-new-yorker-february-1-1969-sight-size-20-x-14-in-framed-29-12-x-23-14-x-2-in/

Charles E. Martin
Bonhams Skinner bid history with hammer price

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/152841980_charles-e-martin-american-

1910-1995-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-cover-art-for-the-new-yo

Charles E. Martin
Original art
The New Yorker, February 1, 1969

Charles E. Martin
The New Yorker, February 1, 1969

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31288667497&searchurl=kn%3DThe%2BNew%2BYorker%2BFebruary%2B1%252C%2B1969%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1

04330