W. B. Park: Double Courage

"Courage is grace under pressure."

—Ernest Hemingway

Original artwork by W. B. Park from 1984 portrays two men in business attire walking down a city street. One man name checks Ernest Hemingway. The art changed hands on eBay this past September. It bears the stamp and ID of an original New Yorker finished cartoon, brown paper wrapper and all, yet it did not appear in the magazine in this form, nor was it killed. Rather, it was redrawn prior to publication three years later, making this a very unusual example of preliminary art for the magazine that first had been purchased and prepared as finished art intended for publication.

"Like Hemingway, I believe in grace under pressure—unless, of course, things get too hot."
W. B. Park
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, March 23, 1987, p. 32

Detail, left

Detail, right, with W. B. Park's signature

The New Yorker Editorial Department stamp and layout notations

New Yorker copyright label

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended September 21, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204866893916?_skw=Rare+Original+The+New+Yorker+Illustration+Drawing+Published%2C+signed+%26+Fine&itmmeta=01JFEAMZEVRYHDT5AWD6341NHM&hash=item2fb304b85c:g:SsIAAOSw6qpmhJBa&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAABEHoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKkVj23opHgwpQNXK7V4oIX8zWvWemmzUa3F8V%2BSiRqJwrwxRqrnz%2BcyVl8ZvfF8j0YZulj1N9vJZNSt

A0EQLzY01pMr7E0TJCuFRyBPHLsRKLKKjiFZyHhJb9zxk8CL4cd%2B12SLaAWrOWZt0aAAUiV%2F5q7ijpAcS4ibH6Cazq4HFBamuDQk5rEllN8M2ymXyXDeOP9K5HFE8uOuzDDgTabdNk%2FFLuhjmenTMpBdl0xVn4sNoo6jQXoVe12zpUeTGmxh9%2FLFv0PO2Q74zACk5RR8rfvH76tZZJ1F%2B66ZHgUnu1BIfbIHUDk8bYgsoaubVMm096kIShLJT4DBF9DSoEbf%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8D308r7ZA

W. B. Park
eBay item description

[End of eBay listing]

The problem with the image, evidently, was one of scale. Someone decided that Park's original drawing would be better rendered in a close up, with greater emphasis on the figures rather than on the street.

"Like Hemingway, I believe in grace under pressure—unless, of course, things get too hot."
W. B. Park
The New Yorker, March 23, 1987, p. 32

"Like Hemingway, I believe in grace under pressure—unless, of course, things get too hot."
W. B. Park
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, March 23, 1987, p. 32

With cartoons by W. B. Park and Jack Ziegler

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1987-03-23/flipbook/032/

And opposite the Park drawing, there's a gold record winner from Jack Ziegler:

"Cyndi Lauper on four, sir, with a bullet."
Jack Ziegler
The New Yorker, March 23, 1987, p. 33

Note:  I am not aware of any other New Yorker cartoon which was prepared in two distinct, supposedly finished, versions. I would like to hear about any similar examples.

My thanks to Michael Maslin for walking me through all this and for explaining the Jack Ziegler cartoon which, honestly, I didn't get.

04836