I was pleased to run into New Yorker cartoonist Dan Misdea at the Princeton Children's Book Festival on October 7. Several of his caption contest cartoons have appeared here on the blog. His new book is The Light Inside, a beautifully conceived and illustrated book for children ages 3 to 7 and for bloggers of all ages.
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| Princeton Children's Book Festival October 7, 2023 Mika Song |
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| Princeton Children's Book Festival October 7, 2023 Mika Song |
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Two well-dressed Brontosauruses are out at a nice dinner. Or are they two Apatosauruses? Sauropod taxonomists can have a field day withThe New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #872 from the issue of October 30, 2023. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro.
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| "How can we be sure it's plant-based?" |
November 11, 2023 Update: The Finalists
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Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Fall 2023 issue depicts an older Orthodox Jewish man reading the Torah on the subway. The woman sitting next to him is speaking. My seven submitted captions are shown below. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.
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| "Again, you're menschspreading." "Isn't that out yet in paperpack?" "Check if there's a law against what you're doing." "Then your subway map must be in what you call the aron kodesh." "Here we prefer doomscrolling." "If I chant Etz Chaim, will you put that away?" "May I offer you something with vowels?" |
November 24, 2023 Update: The Finalists
January 17, 2024 Update: The Winner
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Ronald Searle's 1950's-era British advertising campaign for Lemon Hart Rum was extremely successful. His illustrations featured Mr. Lemon Hart, easily recognized by his elongated limbs and his lemon-colored suit. Original art of Mr. Lemon Hart conducting an orchestra was offered at Sotheby's London on July 18. The lot was given a presale estimate of 2,000 to 3,000 GBP. It did not find a buyer.
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| Ronald Searle Sotheby's Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern, July 18, 2023, lot 295 |
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| Ronald Searle Sotheby's lot description "Searle contributed to Lemon Hart Rum advertising campaigns for eleven years, between 1955 and 1962." How's that again? The ads started in 1951. |
Note: For information on the long-running ad campaign, the definitive source is Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, right here. At this writing, the artwork and its corresponding print ad is not included in Matt Jones's comprehensive post. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can locate a published version.
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Michel Cassé was illustrator Ronald Searle's lithographer. Cassé's wife Carmen managed a Paris art gallery which showed artist's prints from her husband's press, including Searle's lithographs. When his black-and-white political cartoons created for Le Monde were collected in book form in 1998, it was quite natural for Searle to present the Cassés with a personalized copy. It is signed by the Searles, Monica and Ronald..jpg)
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| Ronald Searle eBay listing accessed October 26, 2023 |
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| Ronald Searle eBay item description |
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| "Ronald Searle Lithographies 1972-1975" Galerie Carmen Cassé |
Note: That Christmas, Monica and Ronald Searle dedicated a very similar copy to Eileen McMahon, Searle's New York agent, and it too enjoys pride of place on the blog here.
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A wordless New Yorker cartoon original by Mischa Richter was sold on eBay in June. The drawing garnered unusually strong bidder interest and fetched a very good price.
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| Mischa Richter Original art The New Yorker, September 21, 1987, p. 113 |
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| Mischa Richter eBay listing ended June 20, 2023 |
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| Mischa Richter eBay item description |
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| Mischa Richter Original art The New Yorker, September 21, 1987, p. 113 |
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| An Air Portugal advertisement and a cartoon by Mischa Richter |
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Sigrid Spaeth (1936-1996) was a German artist and designer who became the mistress of artist Saul Steinberg (1914-1999) from 1960 until her suicide. A Steinberg drawing originally from her estate is dated August 9, 1962. It shows her standing in profile. The work was sold at auction on September 27 with an estimate of $1,500 to $2,500. Bidding opened at $700.
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| Saul Steinberg Rago Arts and Auction Center listing accessed September 16, 2023 |
Sold!
Note: The Saul Steinberg Foundation writes about Saul Steinberg and Sigrid Spaeth in its chronology of the year 1960.
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A copy of The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker (2004) is signed by cartoonistsDanny Shanahan, Liza Donnelly, Peter Steiner, and Michael Maslin. The signing was held at Merritt Books, formerly of Red Hook, New York. The book is not made out to any one recipient and was signed for the book store's inventory. It is now available from Friends of Poughkeepsie Library for $200.
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| The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker AbeBooks listing accessed October 15, 2023 |
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For Halloween we have a scenario with a witch managing both a cauldron and a smart phone. Welcome to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #871 from the issue of October 23, 2023. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by E. S. Glenn.
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| "Just who do you think you're hexting?" |
November 11, 2023 Update: I voted for the caption from Salt Lake City, but I do appreciate the one from Birmingham too.
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Every Loetz art glass piece has a form—its shape—and a decor—its surface decoration. A vase sold on October 15 by ACES Gallery of Stamford reportedly has been the property of a Briarcliff family for the past century and more, dating back very likely to the time of its original purchase. The vase has a characteristic Loetz organic form and art nouveau iridescent decor. That specific decor is almost certainly one of the Phänomen Gre. (for Phenomenon Genre) variety, but which one is apparently not documented.
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| Loetz ACES Gallery listing accessed October 15, 2023 just six and a half minutes before the auction |
Note: My online source for calling the decor an undocumented one is here.
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