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| Peter de Sève AbeBooks listing accessed September 29, 2023 |
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Saturday, September 30, 2023
Peter de Sève: Who's on Top?
A copy of A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève (2009) currently listed on AbeBooks by Doodletown Farm Books—how can anyone not love that name?—contains an original sketch by the artist. There's an inscription, apparently not photographed for the listing. Peter de Sève's sketch reflects the cover illustration . . . with one key difference.
Friday, September 29, 2023
David's Copy of Local Fauna by Peter de Sève (with Preliminary and Original "To the Sea!" New Yorker Cover Art)
Sorry about that ungainly title. Today blog contributor David from Manhattan shares a scan of a book page graced with an original drawing by the illustrator Peter de Sève. This appears in David's fabulous personalized copy of the artist's new retrospective collection Local Fauna: The Art of Peter de Sève (2023).
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Perhaps you recognize the character—it's Scrat from the "Ice Age" movies—but do you recognize the context of his jump? How does one obtain such a desirable copy of this book anyway? David explains all:
So there you have it. Here's the original New Yorker's cover art "To the Sea!" as currently displayed at the Philippe Labaune Gallery:
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| "To the Sea!" Peter de Sève Original art The New Yorker, July 24, 2023 Photo by Claude Haber |
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| "To the Sea!" Peter de Sève The New Yorker, July 24, 2023 |
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| Image added September 30, 2023 |
From the gallery catalogue:
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| https://www.philippelabaune.com/show/philippe-labaune-gallery-peter-de-seve---local-fauna |
Scrat, of course, is a popular character from the "Ice Age" franchise. For the sake of comparison, and to get an idea of contemporary book dealer pricing, here's a copy of A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève (2009) from Borg Antiquarian of Lake Forest with another original drawing of the world's favorite acorn-collecting saber-toothed squirrel:
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| A self-portrait |
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| Peter de Sève AbeBooks listing accessed September 28, 2023 |
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| Peter de Sève AbeBooks item description |
Note: Once again, my thanks go to David from Manhattan for his wonderful scan and for providing the story behind it. This is the fifty-eighth Attempted Bloggery post he has contributed to. That's dedication for you.
Thanks also to Claude Haber for the gallery photograph. This is Claude's fourth contribution to the blog.
Just a reminder: You too can share your original art and sketches by Peter de Sève with the readers of this blog. Just send me a scan or two.
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Thursday, September 28, 2023
The Art of the Redraw: George Booth Drops the Other Shoe
A curious six-panel original drawing by New Yorker cartoonist George Booth looks very much like a cartoon published in the issue of June 30, 1975. Indeed, a notation on the verso in the artist's hand cites this issue as if the work were actually published there, although it gets the page numbers wrong (if only by one). But there are no publisher's markings on the art and it deviates slightly but significantly from the published cartoon. This is clearly a finished drawing, not a rough. It is executed in felt tip pen, now a bit faded, over pencil. Apparently, then, it must be a redraw created by Booth for someone who wished to have the original art but for one reason or another was not able to obtain it.
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| George Booth's signature |
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| George Booth eBay listing ended June 30, 2023 |
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| George Booth eBay item description |
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| [End of eBay listing] |
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| George Booth The New Yorker, June 30, 1975, pp. 40-41 |
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| George Booth Redraw The New Yorker, June 30, 1975, pp. 40-41 |
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| A six-panel cartoon by George Booth |
Note: My thanks go to Steve Stoliar for first bringing this auction to my attention. Steve is the author of Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House, which I highly recommend.
Before you get to the reading assignments, I could use some new content for the old blog. Redraws and other variations on original New Yorker cartoon art by George Booth and others are sought after here as the potential subject matter of future posts.
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Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Saul Steinberg: Pitcher
Saul Steinberg (1914-1999) followed the Milwaukee Braves on assignment for Life magazine in May and June of 1954, his first exposure to baseball. A selection of his drawings were published the following year as "Steinberg at the Bat" in the July 11, 1955 issue. An unpublished work from this series of a pitcher was given to New Yorker baseball writer Roger Angell (1920-2022). It was sold at auction yesterday.
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| Saul Steinberg Heritage Auctions listing accessed September 9, 2023 |
Note: For more on Saul Steinberg's 1954 timeline, see the Saul Steinberg Foundation's website here.
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Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Milton Glaser: Figures in the Flowers
Collector William Friedlander of grain merchandiser Bartlett and Company purchased an original work by designer Milton Glaser in 1980 from the Carl Solway Gallery in Cincinnati. The invoice identifies it only as a watercolor and pencil piece with the title Figures in the Flowers. There is no date and no information about publication. Its aspect suggests it might have been intended as a record album cover or perhaps a magazine spread. Its gallery price in 1980 was $2,400. This illustration was offered at auction by Caza Sikes in Cincinnati on September 14 in a sale titled The Friedlander Collection. Bidding started at $1,000 with a presale estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.
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| Detail |
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| Milton Glaser's signature |
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| Detail |
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| Detail of Figures in the Flowers with a fish |
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| Milton Glaser Caza Sikes auction listing accessed September 9, 2023 |
Note: It should go without saying that I would like to hear from anyone who knows more about Figures in the Flowers.
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