Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Class Visit to The Luncheon on the Grass

Edouard Manet's masterpiece Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, or The Luncheon on the Grass, features prominently in a 1957 cartoon by Whitney Darrow, Jr., published in The New Yorker. Darrow's drawing is not about the painting, exactly, although he renders it quite beautifully; rather, it's about us and our discomfort with challenging subject matter. Darrow's splendid original came up for sale this month in Costa Mesa with a reasonable $1,200 to $1,500 estimate. Inexplicably, it took three separate weekend auctions for the cartoon to meet its reserve of, presumably, $800.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.
Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.
Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

Detail

The signature of Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Caption

Verso

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Michael's Gallery auction of June 17, 2023

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/154439738_whitney-darrow-jr-well-it-was-sort-of-like-a-cook-out-signed-original-ink-wash

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Michael's Gallery item description

On June 4, the bidding for lot 648 reached $650. The piece was bought in. 

On June 11, bidding again reached $650 but again the reserve was not met.

Finally, on June 17, the drawing sold for $800, plus $120 for the buyer's premium.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.
Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.

A cartoon by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1957-05-04/flipbook/030/

Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957
Back cover dust jacket

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134175180532

The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265212122238

The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/372793381003

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_D%C3%A9jeuner_sur_l%27herbe

Note:  Take this as a friendly reminder that Attempted Bloggery's proprietor is always eager to post original art by Whitney Darrow, Jr. Or by Edouard Manet, for that matter, if that's what you've got on your walls. 

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