George Price: A Wartime Letter

Original New Yorker art by cartoonist George Price is prized by collectors for its depiction of an assortment of characters—sometimes eccentric, often of limited means—living out their lives among the bric-a-brac they have accumulated. This sort of humor, mingling as it does personalities, settings, and objects, requires a deft touch. A drawing of his from early 1943 shows Price in great form, delivering equal parts humor and poignancy, capturing some of the true emotions experienced on the home front during World War II.  

"He's homesick."
George Price
Original art
The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 19

He wrote the two-word caption at the upper left; it was to be printed underneath on the wife's side of the drawing. The economy of words among the proliferation of lines is striking. The blue coloring indicates where the Ben Day process would produce shading in the printed cartoon.

Detail with caption

The signature in black india ink remains bold, but the inscription to John, the original giftee, has faded considerably over eight decades.

"All best wishes
to John —
George"

One might very well ask why, on December 10, this exceptional framed and matted drawing sold at auction in Philadelphia for only $100. To be fair, the auction house Barry S. Slosberg's estimate started out low, $100 to $200, and it proved accurate. The piece, which so well reflected the mood of the country during the Great War, may not resonate so strongly with many today, although any parent should understand. Finally, the market is inefficient, and some collectors who love this kind of art may not have seen this piece come to auction. For them, they may just have to wait eighty-three more years for another chance.

George Price
Barry S. Slosberg, Inc., listing of December 10, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Framed-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Signed-1651-c-7ECAE3D607?utm_term=new%20yorker&utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalerts&utm_content=365084&utm_term=365084

George Price
Barry S. Slosberg, Inc., item description

For all its complexity, the drawing looks very clean on the printed page. Price knows how to tell a story visually: the couple seated apart but sharing the news from overseas, the photograph of the son in uniform on the wall, the peeling plaster, the hungry cat, the nailed floorboards, and . . . everything else.

"He's homesick."
George Price
The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 19

"He's homesick."
George Price
Original art
The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 19

With cartoons by Leonard Dove and George Price

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1943-02-06/flipbook/018/

* * *

On the page opposite, Leonard Dove's cartoon about obtaining credit in time of war provides an interesting contrast with Price's. The shading is heavier, the setting is less surprising, and the caption is, of course, a lot wordier. 

"Frankly, Mr. Courtney, it isn't only the government regulations—we like prompt payment also."
Leonard Dove
The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 18

In one of those quirky mistakes that pop up from time to time in the database, The Complete Cartoon of The New Yorker (2004) erroneously attributes the Price cartoon to Dove as well. The confusion persists to this day in the Condé Nast Store's online listing of "He's homesick."

https://condenaststore.com/featured/hes-homesick-leonard-dove.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqAEp6OdKoOp33ltwKx4lrtL49yjtqFAxLPfgJ6MLemwS6zPlyM

Newsbreak Q&A:

Whenever I enjoy a given snappy rejoinder such as this one, I wonder if it was perhaps written by E. B. White.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #976

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #976 from the issue of January 26, 2026, two waiters sit holding covered serving trays and two others walk by with trays holding champagne and beer. The sitting waiter with the bow tie makes a wisecrack. The drawing is by E. S. Glenn.

A similar image, reversed and with some basketball gear on two of the trays, was put forth by Glenn in late 2020 for the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #107. Here are the three winning entries from that iteration of this cartoon:

https://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2020/12/cartoon-collections-caption-contest-106.html

My entry in the current contest is shown below:

"Whatever it is, I hear it's best served cold."

This caption went down a little too easily:

"Who the hell decided drinks go first?"

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Sidney Harris: A Signed Copy of Kafka Does Stand-Up

At a local bookstore earlier this month, I found a signed copy of Kafka Does Stand-Up: Cartoons on Books and Writers (2023) by Sidney Harris. It's a little scuffed but at $9, I figured why not? It's fairly new and, truthfully, I had not heard of it. The book lists twenty-five other cartoon collections by Harris, so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised that I haven't kept up.

The book is signed by Harris, not perfectly, mind you—there's some overwriting on that final s.

A copy listed on Amazon at $14.95 gives a publication date of May 12, 2023. My copy's very specific date is May 27, 2023. No publisher is listed other than ScienceCartoonsPlus.com, the author's website. So now we know what we have: a self-published book that is printed on demand. 

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Edward Koren: The Need for Entertainment

Heritage Auctions initially described Edward Koren's The Need for Entertainment (1986) as original illustration art.

It is a signed print, of course, an artist's proof. Furthermore, the listing had stated, "It's been said of the various cartoons published in the New Yorker over the years that they seem to be whimsically obtuse, and this illustration by Ed Koren is no exception. Produced in ink on paper . . . " When it was sold yesterday in the Wednesday Comic Art & Illustration Select Auction, the item description had been substantially corrected, although not the part about New Yorker cartoons being "whimsically obtuse."

Again, the art was originally described as an illustration:

By the time of the sale, the updated description correctly identified the piece as an artist's proof aside from the numbered print edition:

Still, the revised description maintained the odd implication that this print is somehow a New Yorker cartoon. It isn't, of course. The new description did correct the notion that what we have is an original illustration in ink on paper. And the description continues to suggest that New Yorker cartoons have been described as "whimsically obtuse." By whom? All of the cartoons, or just some?

Four days before the sale, bidding was at only $25 despite the incorrect description. Very likely then, no one was fooled. 

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions Wednesday Comic Art & Illustration Select Auction #322603 listing accessed 1/17/2026

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/edward-koren-the-need-for-entertainment-illustration-original-art-1986-/a/322603-48143.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515#

The sale price:

Note:  Feel free to share original art by Edward Koren here whether cartoon, illustration, or original print. Whimsicality and obtuseness are always welcome.

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A Century of The New Yorker at the New York Public Library

On Sunday I visited the New York Public Library to catch the exhibition "A Century of The New Yorker." The show's banner is behind the library lion known as Patience.

It's always best to start at Beginnings, but I will not be strictly chronological here.

Introduction with some of the magazine's library covers:

Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant started it all in 1925 (with the financial backing of Raoul Fleischmann).

The magazine's prospectus sold the idea of The New Yorker.

Rea Irvin's original artwork of the dandy we call Eustace Tilley is iconic.

A spot drawing of showgirls is by the pioneering cartoonist Barbara Shermund.

Some drawings of the city by Reginald Marsh circa the 1930s adorn the show as well.

What! No Pie Charts? has text by humorist Corey Ford and pictures by Julian de Miskey.

Preliminary art from 1934 is by Reginald Marsh for "It's her first lynching."

Giddap is a 1930 etching by Hale Woodruff.

J. D. Salinger gets his start in the pages of The New Yorker:

 

A spot drawing of a bus stop sign by K. Sterne:

A 1939 photograph of Dorothy Parker:

A lovely 1947 spot drawing by Susan Flint:

A 1946 pony edition of The New Yorker sent to servicemen overseas has a cover by James Thurber featuring several varieties of his dogs.

A 1940 photograph of "Letter from Paris" correspondent Janet Flanner, or Genêt, is by Carl Van Vechten.

A Fact Checking Department banner by Anne Mortimer-Maddox, c. 1970:

A 1948 photograph of New Yorker staff members and a fact checking memo from Frederick Packard to Ross:

An after-hours spot drawing by Garth Williams:

"This is going on all over!" The magazine increases its circulation outside of New York City.

A synchronous spot drawintg by Virginia Snedeker:

Original cartoon art by Helen E. Hokinson:

"I want to report a winking man."

And original art by Charles Addams, c. 1945. You may recognize the witch as Morticia, but this is well before Addams Family members had been given names.

"Oh, I couldn't make it Friday—I've so many things to do. It's the thirteenth, you know."

A full issue in 1946 was dedicated to John Hersey's "Hiroshima."

Copycat!

Cover by Charles Alston:

A dynamic 1948 spot drawing by Esther Pressoir:

Onward!

A 1975 spot drawing by Tom Funk:

A weighty 1982 spot drawing by Margit Steig:

Lillian Ross and William Shawn in an undated photograph:

Office typewriters of Lillian Ross and William Shawn:

Hannah Arendt's draft of "Eichmann in Jerusalem:"

A 1987 letter from Si Newhouse to the New Yorker staff announces William Shawn's resignation as editor.

Subsequently, staff writers at The New Yorker urge Robert Gottlieb not to accept his new post as editor:

Floor plan (2020) by Luci Gutierrez:

Kara Walker develops a cover:

Art by Barry Blitt and Roz Chast from the collection of the current editor David Remnick:

A poster by Bruce McCall for The New Yorker Festival, 2001:

Art Spiegelman:

Saul Steinberg. You may have seen this one.

Edward Koren represents The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest:

A 1973 spot drawing by David Preston:

Don't forget to look up.

Outside the exhibition, there's Rembrand Peale's portrait of George Washington after Gilbert Stuart:

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