Barbara Shermund:

An original color cartoon by Barbara Shermund changed hands on eBay three months ago for $700. It depicts two men, one proudly showing off his fishing trophies to the other. The wall display includes a mounted mermaid. I confess I can't make out a word of the caption, but the keen-eyed seller apparently can.

"And that one, my boy, gave me quite a battle."
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Pictorial Review, November 9, 1947

It's a little dark, no?

Barbara Shermund's signature

Verso
PR indicates Pictorial Review.

My, my. This drawing has seen the auction block before.

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended July 1, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266886852787?_skw=Yorker+signed&itmmeta=01J8GYN4WRJA45XQ2V0HPPNTDG&hash=item3e23b230b3:g:IcYAAOSw6e1mCCbN&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnJJj7Ls5uzbz9NWBywR8NdDRYDq7VwCuPwLZ8y0FdPRdzx1IzR9ujYFwzByWKc2RnF%2B3xs0vfiIH

qRjV5%2FlEcpgNHQVt2FQEMq6Fp1ZtkaV8S8x9LGwFT93DeNYXeH10ubPvfbV8CmphinSRe6m4XvQGAxEc0ShQM%2Bqjg4fJl6MBxw1PotY1SzOhTlGeuzdNtUqpiuUZXuDcR9QYXp5AGD9bzrvAPhWiQuC2jbxAUlPmfeXhpj4CiDeswi61ln%2FmY%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR77O1J7EZA

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

This original was one of five Shermund items related to angling presented by the artist in August 1949 "To Al Mayer, the champ fisherman of Todd's jetty" in Seabright, New Jersey. They were sold together at Doyle in 2002. The present cartoon is here referred to only as The Prize. (The scarcely-readable caption is hidden behind the matte.) The drawing has since lost its frame.

Barbara Shermund
Doyle, European and American Paintings, December 10, 2002, lot 161

https://www.doyle.com/auction/lot/lot-161---barbara-shermund-1910-1978-i-fishermans/?lot=845676&so=4&st=Shermund&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

Note:  I'd love to see how this drawing appeared in print. Please get in touch if you have the corresponding November 1947 issue of Pictorial Review in your archive. I'm fresh out.

It would be so great to get a better look at Barbara Shermund's sketchbook from the Doyle auction. Would the present owner please step forward?

For that matter, all sorts of original art by Shermund are of interest to the readers (and the writer) of this blog. I would be only too happy to post some more images here of Shermund creations. Please send along what you've got, my boy.

04755