In a 1939 New Yorker cartoon, Peter Arno's firefighter bids farewell to a befuddled homeowner:
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| "Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18 |
The cartoon reads left to right, foreground to background. The firefighter is the most prominent and the most illuminated figure. He is leaving the scene, but he leans back into the cartoon panel with a raised arm. You can't miss him. The poor, portly homeowner in his robe is seen next seemingly trying to lean back out of the frame. There is no place for him to go. The smoldering ruins of the home are behind him. The firemen have left behind great reflecting puddles of water in the middle ground. The birdcage is a fine comic detail which may or may not be noticed later. Anyone whose eyes linger over an Arno drawing can expect to be rewarded.
The original art, framed and matted, was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions. It was the useful practice of Barbara Nicholls of the Nicholls Gallery in the 1970s and 1980s to write the caption on the matte in a calligraphic hand. No doubt Irvin Greif, Jr., purchased the artwork from her. Her ink has faded over the years more than Arno's.
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| "Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno Framed original art The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18 |
On the back of the artwork, The New Yorker's founding editor Harold Ross approved the drawing with his customary R.
The work sold for $5,000 plus a 25% buyer's premium of $1,250. In other words, the final buyer's premium was the same as the amount of the opening bid.
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| Verso with Ross's R |
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| Peter Arno Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration listing of February 6, 2026 |
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| Peter Arno Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration item description |
The work sold for $5,000 plus a 25% buyer's premium of $1,250. In other words, the final buyer's premium was the same as the amount of the opening bid.
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| "Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18 |
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| "Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18 |
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| With a cartoon by Peter Arno and a spot drawing by Victor de Pauw |
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On the page opposite, Victor de Pauw's spot drawing of a railway station is as unassuming as Arno's cartoon is bold.
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| Spot drawing of a railway station Victor de Pauw The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 19 |
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