Roger K.'s Copy of Quelques artistes et gens de lettres by Jean-Jacques Sempé

In 1992, Éditions Denoël published Quelques artistes et gens de lettres by Jean-Jacques Sempé, himself a cartoon artist and a man of letters. I don't think this book was ever printed in an English language edition. A superb copy is offered for sale by the Paris bookseller Librairie Le Feu Folet [Will-o'-the-Wisp, if you will]. It is reportedly inscribed to one Roger Karenvent although I don't believe that is the actual surname Sempé wrote. Nevertheless, the original recipient, Roger K., whoever he was, received a very nice drawing in his book of an artist at work on a still life. 

05307

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #984

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #984 from the issue of March 30, 2026, a rabbit artist is working on a large painting while another rabbit is, it seems, criticizing it. The critical bunny speaks. My submission is below. The drawing is by Mike Twohy.

"For this we stopped reproducing?"

These captions weren't masterpieces:

"It doesn't hop."
"You forgot to use a dropcloth."
"It needs a caption."
"Well, I think it sucks."
"Too many colors."
"I don't look like that."
"Eggs again?"
"Chocolate again?"
"Your struggles are boring."

April 12, 2026 Update:  The Finalist

April 19, 2026 Update:  If I had only gotten around to it, I would have voted for the caption from East Providence.

April 26, 2026 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #933

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #933 from the centennial issue of February 17 & 24, 2025, an artist in Central Park prepares to sketch a pigeon. He appears angry as he speaks. The drawing is by Avi Steinberg.

"Smile, dammit."

These captions didn't soar:

"When is one of you going to pay me?"

"Will you be the first to keep still?"

"You ALL say you'll bring me bread."

"They're ALL good likenesses."

"When do I get to spread MY wings?"

"Are you sure you have a good side?"

"Just don't crumple it up in your beak and fly away."

March 8, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

March 16, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from San Francisco.

March 19, 2025 Update:  The Winner

 04888

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #925

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #925 from the issue of December 9, 2024, we see a museum gallery tour coming upon an artist painting a picture hanging on the wall. The tour leader speaks. The drawing is by Liam Francis Walsh.

"And here we have our local art critic."

These captions were strictly color by number:

"The collection is getting modernized."
"At least we got him to stop using a roller."
"He paints what he sees."
"This is the new, calmer climate change activism."
"He's a good artist but has no imagination."
"He donated it in perpetuity."

December 23, 2024 Update:  The Finalists

January 11, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from Joplin.

January 19, 2025 Update:  The Winner

04819

Barbara Shermund: Flirting at Sea

Let's begin with two very different captions appended to the same 1926 New Yorker cartoon by Barbara Shermund. The drawing is set on the deck of an ocean liner where a young flapper is flirting with a member of the crew. Here are the two captions, presented in alphabetical order. Which of these is the better caption?

"I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"

"Oh, I don't know.  It's changed so lately."

Or:

"Now tell me all about the engines!"

That first one is the somewhat cumbersome two-speaker type of caption that predominated American cartoons at the time of The New Yorker's founding in 1925. It's essentially two lines of dialogue where the first serves as the setup and the second is the punch line. The second caption is the more modern single-speaker caption that was just starting to come into its own. It was soon to be championed by Peter Arno and eventually every cartoonist at this magazine and others.

Both of these distinct captions are authentic period creations. The curious thing is that the shorter, punchier caption is Shermund's own, handwritten on her original drawing. The longer, more antiquated, and somewhat stilted caption somehow replaced it between the drawing's submission and its publication in The New Yorker. Who wrote it and why was it deemed superior to the artist's original caption? What was the editorial reasoning here? Ninety-eight years have passed. It's likely we'll never know.

"Now tell me all about the engines!"
Published as "I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"
"Oh, I don't know.  It's changed so lately."
Barbara Shermund
Original art
The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 21

The original art was sold on eBay just last month.

Detail of the two speakers

Barbara Shermund's signature

Detail with another couple

"Now tell me all about the engines!"

Detail of the seafaring man with a big neck

Detail of the flapper

The publication date

Rush

Barbara Shermund 
eBay listing ended January 19, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155557268082?itmmeta=01HQMAJFK3XGTQDR0KVBEH7VMF&hash=item2437ef8a72:g:RT8AAOSw0zVkY6dv&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwLDPUPQFgXaRbkWBObdAZYcF1moxJhmFEiyocwpsVXLR9FDsBjAMoi2uEieVr1xMK21QEOVJoKN7%2B0ly555TsMp%

2B2nLgHw84GQ4C1ZCNu2ayDHjAEBj0VFJnhjcQ06tbooQhq8S6mGtIppNGob5yZ9d9OXTU9vNURWxv62nVo5lEXW7iqsyphL40H7Hj2hb0U6cshVVOvuxBw6dfZMYiyD0yPDgWfUItmluwOYlU%2BilczReYsnCVKpd8lSYVG4vMJw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8z5yYq9Yw

Barbara Shermund 
eBay item description

"I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"

"Oh, I don't know.  It's changed so lately."

Barbara Shermund

The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 21

"Now tell me all about the engines!"
Published as "I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"
"Oh, I don't know.  It's changed so lately."
Barbara Shermund
Original art
The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 21

Cartoons by Eldon Kelley and Barbara Shermund

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1926-08-28/flipbook/020/

* * *

Eldon Kelley's cartoon on the page opposite Shermund's is another plodding example of the two-speaker gag. It would work just as well or better with only the artist's response. That's what a century of hidsight will tell you.

Old Man:  What d'you call that, young woman?
Artist:  That's Love in Spring!  What did ya think it was?
Eldon Kelley
The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 20

March 8, 2025 Update:  Today's Ink Spill by Michael Maslin reports that Barbara Shermund's drawing was reused in the magazine as a spot illustration four years later. This is a rare and possibly unique example of the repurposing of a drawing in The New Yorker.

04595

Richard Oldden: Artist and Dinosaur

Two of the original cartoons by Richard Oldden recently offered for sale on eBay had been published in The New Yorker. They were both included in one lot and generated greater bidder interest than the other groupings of four cartoons from unknown publications. These drawings were published in 1969 and 1971. They depict moments of inspiration as experienced by dinosaur and artist. Neither has a caption but one has an unlikely thought bubble.

Versos with stamps and markings from the artist and from The New Yorker

Richard Oldden
eBay listing ended May 6, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374666199022?hash=item573bd87fee%3Ag%3AkpIAAOSw1XBkTawb&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwD5yWiArlcVN3dhbYucesmqZWQ3Jha95BUI2QBicXZkYn7huY0RPnTIgI5LVdEs93ohVHbjut577qfPkO%2BN8t1aHXfW1gNSg%2B%2FNd4E5gcrikdL8ULmrTAwS8mZmEE9JHbpEKxgYcdcTledKkAtJqBIH

NJhykHNMyMpFZ5fKZEMpbKoajY3A9eHXZrro%2FvCrK6w3G36NK%2FuIlogwDkbMHCSUp2Kt1KpO5W1%2Bt%2Fivb%2FFrPwe74Hb1T22q0a9nGiH9jtg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-KjnKeEYg&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Richard Oldden
eBay item description

Richard Oldden
eBay bid history
Six bidders place a total of ten bids and, as we so often see, the last bid wins.

Richard Oldden
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 203

Richard Oldden
Original art
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 203

A spot drawing by Chon Day and a cartoon by Richard Oldden

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1969-11-08/flipbook/202/

Richard Oldden
The New Yorker, March 20, 1971, p. 44

Richard Oldden
Original art
The New Yorker, March 20, 1971, p. 44

Cartoons by Richard Oldden and Robert Day

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1971-03-20/flipbook/044/

Note:  Over the past six days I've posted twenty-two cartoon originals by Dick Oldden. Most likely all of them were submitted to The New Yorker but only the two in today's post were published there. So how did the magazine do? Did they select the funniest cartoons? The cleverest? Your opinions welcome.

Addendum:  Chon Day's reader wears a bow tie!

Reader spot
Chon Day
The New Yorker, November 8, 1969, p. 203

Robert Day's cartoon isn't quite so funny if what it shows ever happens to you.

"Hey! Isn't that ours?"

Robert Day

The New Yorker, March 20, 1971, p. 45

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