Peter Arno: Former Femme Fatale

The life of Mata Hari informs our views of the alluring secret agent as seductress to this day. In 1917, the exotic dancer was convicted as a German spy and killed by firing squad in France.

Come 1940 and a second World War, cartoonist Peter Arno revisited the idea of the femme fatale as spy, giving her a new code name and her story a decidedly different ending.

"That's Q37, in her day one of the most effective secret agents this country ever had."
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, August 24, 1940, p. 17

The original art came to light at Halls in early 2016.

Halls, 16th March 2016

https://issuu.com/jammdesign/docs/h107-085_listing/44

Given a presale estimate of 600-800 GBP, it sold for a healthy 2,100 GBP.

https://www.lotsearch.net/artist/peter-arno/archive?orderBy=dollarBasedPrice-startPrice&order=ASC&perPage=50&page=1

The buyer, in all probability, was London illustration dealer Chris Beetles. The work was included in the catalogue for Beetles's annual The Illustrators sale for 2016:

Chris Beetles The Illustrators 2016 Catalogue

https://issuu.com/chrisbeetles/docs/the_illustrators_2016_cover_text_co

Michael Maslin's biography Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist had just been published, and it was cited by Beetles under Further Reading.

A scanned image shows some of the details. Arno's plaza seems German or Prussian. The two paired men, military and civilian, walk in lock step. That uniform of the man in front is impressive right down to the spurs. As we read left to right, the men lead our eyes to Q37 herself, in widow's garb, looking after her six children. The big joke is not merely the number of progeny but that they represent so many different races. Such racial caricatures were deemed acceptable in the pages of The New Yorker of 1940 by the editorial staff, the readership, and the advertisers. 

"That's Q37, in her day one of the most effective secret agents
this country ever had."
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, August 24, 1940, p. 17

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166922564572?mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&ch=osgood&euid=d2fd7229aaae45b9

163679d70c0ff7d&bu=43186000575&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20240817013610&segname=11021

Here then is how the cartoon appeared in the magazine:

A spot drawing and a cartoon by Peter Arno

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1940-08-24/flipbook/016/

* * *

Horse in a blanket
Spot drawing
Artist Unidentified
The New Yorker, August 24, 1940, p. 1

Note:  I would appreciate hearing from anyone who retains a price list from the Chris Beetles 2016 catalogue for The Illustrators show. The item in question is no. 119. 

Also, the spot artist's initials may be recognizable to someone in the know.

Do I need to keep asking for original art by Peter Arno to display in these pages? Yes, I think I do.

05219

Annals of Censorship: Richard Taylor and Hateful Activities

I generate all sorts of content for this blog, and I share much of it from virtually every new post on various social media platforms. Once I send my curated images out into the world, they may be subjected to varying interpretations of community standards on the respective sites. There could even be some censorship leading to permanent removal of some of the content.

Last year, a Pinterest pin of mine featured proposed New Yorker cover art by Richard Taylor, a favorite cartoonist. It was no doubt from the latter part of World War II. The pin was subsequently "deactivated" from the site for "hateful activities, because it contains support for hate based groups or ideologies." The Taylor art is from a 2022 post, "Richard Taylor Goes to War." The artwork had been sold that year by Swann Galleries in the June Illustration Art sale.

Richard Taylor
Proposed New Yorker cover art

Swann had referred to the work as "Worried Hitler." Taylor's art celebrates the Fuerher's panic as he contemplates a war that is inexorably going against him. His justified paranoia prevents him from trusting his generals, who lurk menacingly in the background. In other words, this is anything but supportive of Nazi ideology. Sure, it does have a prominent swastika on that flag hanging from the wall. Taken out of the context of my original post, could this image really be seen as a violation of Pinterest's Community Guidelines on hateful ideologies?

Well, it was. But I feel certain that in the mid-1940s, when this illustration failed to meet The New Yorker's needs for a cover, no one would have mistaken it for pro-Hitler, pro-Nazi, or containing "support for hate based groups or ideologies." Today, though, corporations may be erring on the side of caution. A PDF explains "This violation was reported to" Pinterest. That certainly sounds as if a human reported it. The complaint may then have been reviewed by algorithm; who knows whether any human input was sought or, indeed, whether the involved human would know any pertinent history.

I had the decision reviewed earlier this year, without any change in the verdict.

Thus the pin was permanently removed from my Attempted Bloggery board on Pinterest. Oddly, though, there is another board of mine, this one about Taylor, where you can still see the image from the pin. It's here, but with absolutely no supporting text. 

Now watch—someone's going to report me.

05218

A Signed and Serpentine Copy of Love & Vermin by Will McPhail

I'm no expert on cartoon book titles, but I believe love sells better than vermin—so why mix the two? Are snakes even considered vermin? I would tell Will McPhail probably not, but they don't exactly fall on the love side of the equation either. The context here is Love & Vermin:  A Collection of Cartoons by The New Yorker's Will McPhail, from 2022. A copy on AbeBooks is signed by the artist and includes a drawing of a somnolent—or is it lovelorn?—snake protruding its forked-tongue. 

The U.K. seller is Widney Manor Books. I wonder if they serve high tea.

Will McPhail
AbeBooks listing accessed March 1, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Love-Vermin-Collection-Cartoons-New-Yorkers/32298689834/bd

Will McPhail
AbeBooks item description

Currency exchange rate as of March 1, 2026

https://wise.com/us/currency-converter/usd-to-gbp-rate

The book remains available at the time of posting.

05217

The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 203

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 203, a girl lying in bed looks down from her cellphone at a monster on the floor. The creature is the speaker. The cartoonist is Sofia Warren.

The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed: Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $240 into the first forty-eight pay-to-play contests and this forty-ninth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $245. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, thank you very much. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for less-gifted caption writers. My three entries this round are shown below, above the break.

"There was no room in your closet."
"I can't be as scary as whatever it is you're doing."
"Well, thanks for finally noticing."

05216

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #980

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #980 from the issue of March 2, 2026, a king's robe doubles as a red carpet for the Oscars. The king's attendant speaks. The drawing is by Tyson Cole.

"They don't recognize you without your new clothes."

These captions didn't win any awards:

"I'll make sure the photographers don't cut your head off."
"You can't throw them in the dungeon for being photogenic."
"You can't chain them up for pleasing the crowd."
"Face it, Sire, benevolence just isn't box office."

05215 

Jacques Louis David's Copy of Color and Light by James Gurney

Color and Light:  A Guide for the Realist Painter is Dinotopia author James Gurney's 2010 art instruction book, the follow up volume to Imaginative Realism. Naturally, Gurney brought copies of it with him to the artists's gathering Baby Tattooville's Fifth Anniversary Celebration in 2011 and personalized a number of them. This is the story of one of those books.

Bladesmith (and, let me repeat, not French neoclassical painter) Jacques Louis David is the recipient of this personalized book. Gurney's wonderful drawing of a dinosaur riding a bicycle is just what any devotee of realist painting would want to see. In David's copy of the book, Gurney reassures him that "It's OK to be a dinosaur." Let this blog be a testament to that.

The signed book, with its drawing, was sold last year on AbeBooks.

James Gurney
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/SIGNED-Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/32333976245/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook#&gid=1&pid=2h

James Gurney
AbeBooks item description

05214

Jacques Louis David's Copy of Imaginative Realism by James Gurney

Imaginative Realism:  How to Paint What Doesn't Exist is Dinotopia creator James Gurney's 2009 art instruction manual. Gurney teaches how to ground one's fantasy art in seeming reality, something he himself excels at. It is the first of two volumes. Did he have copies of this book with him at Baby Tattooville in 2011? Why, yes, he did, thanks for asking.

Jacques Louis David, it will be remembered from yesterday's post, is the unhyphenated Hollywood bladesmith and not the hyphenated painter friend of Marat, so don't go accusing me of committing any anachronisms. Gurney's dinosaur drawing in David's copy of the book is full of great lettering and imaginative . . . mischief.

This copy of the book was sold last year by Book_Mob on AbeBooks.

James Gurney
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/SIGNED-Imaginative-Realism-Paint-What-Exist/32333978879/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_low

James Gurney
AbeBooks item description

05213

Jacques Louis David's Copy of Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara by James Gurney

Dinotopia:  Journey to Chandara (2007) is the fourth book in James Gurney's Dinotopia series. An interesting copy was sold last year by Book_Mob of Santa Clarita.

At the artist gathering Baby Tattooville in 2011, Gurney met Jacques Louis David, not the hyphenated 18th century painter of The Death of Marat but a 21st century bladesmith whom he painted in profile. David posed wearing a pair of steampunk goggles made by his employer, Hollywood armorer Tony Swatton, that Gurney then borrowed for his own profile picture. Thus Gurney's drawing in David's copy of Journey to Chandara includes steampunk-inspired fantastical contraptions in the guise of a "cave exploration suit for a T. rex."

James Gurney
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/SIGNED-Dinotopia-Journey-Chandara-Gurney-James/32333979854/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_high

James Gurney
AbeBooks item description

05212