Lou Myers in Times Square

In 1973, Cullen Rapp, Inc., as agent for cartoonist Lou Myers, send art directors a mailer that folded out into a poster of Times Square. Such mailers were used to inform potential advertisers of the talents who were available for hire and to provide a showcase for them. Times Square in 1973 wasn't the sparkling, tourist-friendly haven it is today; it was teeming with seedy hotels, peep shows, sex shops, and X-rated movie houses. Myers shows us not only the bustling streets; he gives us cutaway views into the hotels and other businesses, treating each room as a freestanding cartoon panel. The result is overwhelming, a comic compendium of impossibly bizarre practices. Myers's 2005 obituary in the Times by Steven Heller makes note both of his risk-taking and of his success with corporate clients. This image of Times Square shows paradoxically that his talent was not only provocative, it was marketable.

Lou Myers
eBay Listing as of June 11, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1973-LOU-MYERS-New-Yorker-Illustrator-Promotion-Poster-Mailing-Ephemera-/302344221635?hash=item46651eb3c3:g:YdcAAOSwopRYY0pE

Lou Myers
eBay Item Description

Note:  Today Rapp Art represents Brian Ajhar, Seth, and Michael Witte, among many others.


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Alice in Wonderland Signed by Ralph Steadman, Part 2

A copy of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland with Ralph Steadman's outstanding1967 illustrations is signed and inscribed by the artist. It is also dated 2 July 1980, the numbers of which have been transformed into on extremely minimalist drawing. The book is being offered on eBay for $650, a price which may or may not have ingested the wrong end of a mushroom.

Ralph Steadman, Alice in Wonderland (1973) by Lewis Carroll

Inscribed "Just a Signature/from[?]/Ralph Steadman/2-7-80," the date transformed into a cartoon face

eBay Listing as of October 4, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALICE-IN-WONDERLAND-1967-1st-ed-UK-DJ-SIGNED-by-Steadman-w-drawing-Super-Copy-/112154467991?hash=item1a1ced5e97:g:uR0AAOSw8w1X77W0

Note:  Alice fans take note! "A Retrospective:  Ralph Steadman" is now showing at the Society of Illustrators in Manhattan where it will remain through October 22 only. See it before it disappears like the Cheshire Cat.

Psst! Got any vintage Ralph Steadman art in your rabbit hole? Share your twisted treasures right here on Attempted Bloggery. The world will thank you. Someday.


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01994

Alice in Wonderland Signed by Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman's 1967 illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland are almost fifty years old now, but they were modern classics from day one. A personalized copy of the 2006 paperback edition includes a quick sketch of Alice. She's looking rather angular and a bit crude here, more so than in the fantastical illustrations. This copy of the book was sold on eBay August 16, 2008 for $55.54 plus shipping and insurance.

Ralph Steadman, Alice in Wonderland (1973) by Lewis Carroll

Inscribed with a portrait sketch of Alice "For Stephen Parr from Ralph Steadman 2006."

Note:  This blog's author welcomes photos or scans of signed books by Ralph Steadman, particularly those containing original drawings. Got a Snark to share?

"A Retrospective:  Ralph Steadman" is now on view in New York at the Society of Illustrators through October 22. O frabjous day!

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I'm late!

01974

Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 Signed by Ralph Steadman

Hunter S. Thompson's uniquely incisive coverage of the 1972 Presidential election (Nixon vs. McGovern) was published in installments in Rolling Stone in 1972 and collected in book form in 1973. It is illustrated by the formidable Ralph Steadman. The artist has signed a copy to Stephen Parr and taken Thomas W. Benton's Vietnam War-era image of the helmeted American GI skull whose eyeglasses reflect a rising swastika—nothing tame here—and amended it by adding a rudimentary pair of horns. While this barely qualifies as a drawing, it does manage to make the book's central image look even more sinister.

Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing:  On the Campaign Trail '72, 1973

Inscribed at a signing in 2006 with a drawing of horns on the Benton skull "For Stephen Parr~/Ralph Steadman"

Note:  "A Retrospective:  Ralph Steadman" is now on view at the Society of Illustrators. It will remain in New York through October 22 only. Don't miss it.

I'm always on the lookout for original art by Ralph Steadman that escaped the clutches of the artist, or for original scribblings and spatterings in books, letters, and such. If you've got something to share with the world here on the old blog, please don't treat me with fear and loathing.


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01964

Ronald Searle: Bloomsday

Ronald Searle's 1973 lithograph Bloomsday is Joycean in name only. It is an urban parable featuring an unruly horde of men in business suits fleeing madly at the appearance of a perfect rose over the business district. Searle wants us to remember how to appreciate nature, beauty, and simplicity, things that don't necessarily have a monetary value.

Ronald Searle
Bloomsday, 1973, edition of 99

http://www.art-of-illustration.co.uk/Ronald_Searle/Bloomsday/2039/100/default.aspx

In Blog Post 1400, I chose Bloomsday 2016 as the day I would endeavor to attain my goal of reaching 1,000,000 page views. It didn't happen. Instead I'm at about 769,000, which is more or less where I really expected to be by now. That's just fine with me. I suppose I could reset the million-view goal for a later date, but I no longer see the point. The blog is pretty much what I want it to be already, and whether I entice viewers here en masse through social media seems relatively unimportant. Put another way, it's time to stop and smell the roses.

Note:  Click the aqua link for more posts about Ronald Searle and then ask yourself how I don't have a million page views yet.

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