Edward Sorel: A Swarm of Taxicabs

Contributor David from Manhattan writes of illustrator Edward Sorel's take on New York City taxis:

Edward Sorel's appearances in American Heritage have always been welcome. In December 1992 the editors made that clear with a spread of eight pages of drawings, each in pen & ink and watercolor with accompanying text, in addition to an eye-catching front cover, all with a New York City flavor for "Our Checkered Past."

Described as "A fond ride through the bright high noon and on into the sad twilight of the American taxicab," it begins with motorized vehicles in 1896 designed to resemble horse-drawn carriages, and ends in 1982 with the title "Onward and Downward" when the Checker Motor Corporation made its last cab. The artwork for the opening page, however, immediately drops the reader into a maelstrom of taxi traffic.

Perhaps with a photo in mind taken just before the May, 1937 unveiling of the Father Duffy statue in Times Square by Mayor LaGuardia, Sorel added taxis, rich color and a sense of humor. His well-lit vision of a Manhattan rush hour has it all: Mr. Peanut, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, hotels, and best of all a swarm of taxicabs--circling in a frenzy of yellow, orange and red, around Father Duffy and several sidelined pedestrians.

A smaller version of this same scene was given the written title, "Duffy Square, 1937" by the artist, the drawing just as frenzied and colorful but looser in execution. 

Apparently unpublished, it was offered, matted and framed in 2014 at Swann Auction Galleries. I have no information on provenance, but any viewer examining the lot beforehand would have noted a label on the back from Jack's Art Gallery, a reliable walk-in still in business on Broadway in Harlem, and not so coincidentally just a short distance from the artist's apartment.

That said, anyone searching for this issue on eBay or elsewhere may wonder about the drawing on the front cover, which seems to exist in a dreamy world quite separate from the story inside. Titled by the magazine's editors, "Edward Sorel's Christmas Carol to the Lost American Cab," the artist added a sprig of holly to a woman with a haunting stare, which for some collectors may be faintly familiar. 

Fortunately American Heritage and Sorel, having a little holiday fun, provide the  answer at the bottom of the contents' page inside. "Edward Sorel pays homage to a golden age of both taxis and fashion: those eyes first shown from a 1919 Vogue cover by Georges Lepape." 

Lepape, Parisian-born and credited with 114 Vogue covers, would not have minded sharing the spotlight with a gifted, taxi-loving artist from the Bronx.

You can see the rest of Sorel's fabulous illustrations for the American Heritage article here. Tipping is not required.

Edward Sorel
Swann Galleries sale of January 23, 2014

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/edward-sorel-duffy-square-1937_cc92343b9a

Note:  I am exceedingly grateful to David from Manhattan for once again writing of the outstanding work of Edward Sorel. Some might call him Superpen—Sorel, that is.

Superpen (1978)
Edward Sorel

https://www.rarebookcellar.com/pages/books/32790/lidia-ed-sorel-ferrara-edward/superpen-the-cartoons-and-caricatures-of-edward-sorel?srsltid=AfmBOoqGjdLwh7_V1Z_jYGTmfvm3cR2grsDwpjUuVT0oarZf0efN6p-O

If you can recognize Vice President Spiro Agnew patriiotically grasping the American flag in Sorel's 1973 drawing on the back cover, I salute you. I expect everyone can recognize the superhero referenced on the front cover. 

Incidentally, for those keeping score, this is David's seventy-first contribution to this blog. For me, that's seventy-one days off!

05041

Charles Saxon: Losing His Cool

Today our friend David from Manhattan writes of an animated advertising campaign designed by New Yorker cartoonist Charles Saxon (1920-1988):

Charles Saxon, best known for his New Yorker cartoons and covers, displayed a bold, distinctive hand when writing out captions on finished drawings, or adding an inscription to one of his books. But on rare occasions this became a sly sans-serif style that added to the humor of his advertising artwork. Television commercials for the Los Angeles radio station KOST 103.5 FM feature a woman seated by her radio, assaulted by alarmist voices. 

In 2014 Heritage Auctions offered preliminary artwork and hand-painted production cels from this ad project. There were also drawings of a male radio listener, most notably a hand-colored, signed work with an interesting blast of r&b sounds: "Mama Love Ya... Yeah Mama...Hey Hey," etc., and was probably intended to run concurrently with his lady listener. 

An example of a production cel makes a similar point, though it seems far less effective. In addition, a group of 12 drawings and proofs of the same lady listener turned up later that year on eBay and sold for a reasonable $125. In conte crayon on tracing paper, they show the artist trying out various comic expressions.

 

But two drawings, both signed, display before & after reactions to the radio's voices, and like his r&b listener, are in stark contrast to Saxon's usual affluent men and women of the upper middle class who value calm and financial security, or as Edward Sorel put it when he eulogized Saxon in his 1997 essay for American Heritage, "It Was Nice": "His cool, carefully composed drawings never suggest outrage." 

There's also a proof of additional air quotes with an intriguing note by the artist: "'Newsed Out' Billboard," which suggest KOST may have had plans beyond TV ads and might explain an attractive hand-colored drawing from the Heritage offerings, with Saxon's woman no longer "newsed out"—perfect eye-candy for a billboard. 

"Newsed Out"

Described by the auction house as created in the late 70s or early 80s, do these television spots still exist somewhere? Were there ever any billboard displays?

Postscript:  In addition to his work for KOST, Saxon went all out with a full-page ad Christie's Auctions ran years ago in art journals and The New Yorker; I don't know if anyone at Christie's provided ideas, though a line about someone's great-grandfather being outbid by the Duke of Wellington and never forgiving him, would not have been out of place in a Saxon cartoon. But as the page is presented, we get a tour de force of overheard party chatter, mostly revolving around Christie's, with eleven upscale men and women, unaware they were being sketched and recorded by a master.

Christie's advertisement
Charles Saxon
The New Yorker

Note:  I for one could use a billboard to show my appreciation to David from Manhattan for sharing his insights into Charles Saxon with us here. This is, impressively, his sixty-eighth contribution to Attempted Bloggery and I am so grateful for the day off. 

Natually, I would hope to hear from anyone in possession of the Saxon video or print advertising campaign for KOST. Photos of billboards welcome.

04955