Peter Arno: Cyrano de Bergerac

In the midst of New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno's classic collection Man in the Shower (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1944), he provides an interlude with four full page illustrations of literary Classics: "The Three Musketeers," "Romeo and Juliet," "MacBeth," and "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." They are by no means typical of Arno's best work and I believe they appeared in The American Magazine, and not in The New Yorker,  prior to their appearance in the book. Arno must have felt a fondness for them, but they are far from his most memorable drawings in the volume.

The illustration entitled "Cyrano de Bergerac" depicting an important scene from the 1897 play by Edmund Rostand has to belong to the same series. The piece didn't make the cut for Man in the Shower and probably wasn't reprinted elsewhere.

Peter Arno's signature

Handwritten title

On December 10, the Arno drawing was offered for sale by Clarke Auction Gallery of Larchmont in the lot immediately after his composition Mother's Little Helper. They came to the market together out of an estate in Rye. The presale estimate for each was $1,000 to $1,500.

Peter Arno
Clarke Auction Gallery listing accessed December 5, 2023

https://clarkeny.com/auctions/?a=317&search=lot%2081

The artwork was sold with a hammer price of $700.

May 7, 2024 Update:  I have updated this post to reflect my current belief that this series of literary illustrations were first published in The American Magazine. I base this on a label found on the verso of Arno's illustration of Ivanhoe currently listed on eBay.

Label on the verso of Ivanhoe by Peter Arno

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116167902077itmmeta=01HX8H5EEKW470RDT8YDTDM2MJ&hash=item1b0c25837d:g:yOoAAOSwtipmNFTC&itmprp=enc%

3AAQAJAAAA4AHR5YOPgmABs10S1yMIWZyllLUrzRAYUhJHcwM7pwJIJtutIo7NV95yov607PUiYvz74P5UpgCpvq0TaRAbq%2BC6BszXmDVGrL1Tcs91YL08

N8ewYM9bZZcghjEng2r60NlrS2aNN5VWJREVaW%2B77i%2BD0DkoYAfpmmfSgKvjDXUGKw6%2FCCYA8Ben4IHgfko6VARAkIFoDWiWqxxozbXTYkDPE

xT5mXrv4IqVW9GCappp6ClMYgW2KgBq13SwqtP0SKgoUZlMbfBta67RP1QNFKMHRdcmTI%2B34N9iNKtF79uY%7Ctkp%3ABFBMsueVkepj

Note:  This drawing by Peter Arno was probably published in The American Magazine, but when? Anyone who can provide a good citation should get in touch. Collectors take note: both published and unpublished Arno are always worth a post or two around here.

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