A 1982 cartoon by Eldon Dedini currently on the market depicts a Middle Eastern guide showing a recently unearthed ancient sculpture of a human head to an American tourist couple. The seller calls it a New Yorker illustration, but let's call it a cartoon, and as a color cartoon it seems implausible it appeared in The New Yorker. More likely it was done for Playboy magazine, whose humor it better reflects.
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| "You are very lucky to view it now—it was just dug up and the art critics haven't had a crack at it yet." Eldon Dedini Playboy[?], 1982 |
That swipe at "art critics" seems to be the kind of jab at an easy target that would appeal to Hugh Hefner, the publisher of Playboy who prided himself on his sophisticated if unschooled taste. Priced at $1375, the cartoon is discounted to $850 on 1stDibs, although it remains full-priced on Chairish.
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| Eldon Dedini 1stDibs listing accessed August 28, 2021 |
If money is no object, the same item is listed on Chairish without the discount:
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| Eldon Dedini Chairish listing accessed August 28, 2021 |
Note: I would like to hear from anyone who knows something of the publication history of this piece. Did it appear in An Orgy of Playboy's Eldon Dedini?
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