Attempted Bloggery: Dachshund

Showing posts with label Dachshund. Show all posts

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Cape Cod 2021: Harwich Port

What better way to spend an afternoon in the Cape than to take a walk through town? That's what I did on August 11 in Harwich Port. I figured I might as well take a few photographs along the way to remember how the neighborhood looked.

Pilgrim Congregational Church

Scout

Hot Stove Saloon

A narrow strip of public beach at the end of Sea Street

You better believe it.

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Thursday, July 12, 2018

Helen E. Hokinson: Dachshunds at White Sulphur Springs

During the World Wars, dachshunds were caught up in America's anti-German fervor and they became known by the alternate name "liberty hounds." In the postwar era, though, the German dogs could go back to being German again. That seems to be the basic message of a work of original cartoon art by Helen E. Hokinson published in 1947 that was unsuccessfully offered for sale in 2009 at Dargate Auction Galleries of Pittsburgh where it was given a presale estimate of $600 to $900, framed. It was described noncommittally by the auction house as "most likely an original illustration for the New Yorker Magazine." It's actually a freestanding published cartoon and not a story illustration, but we'll let that pass.

The auction listing also notes that it is "titled in pencil (probably by James Reid Parker)." Well, James Reid Parker was indeed the gag writer who collaborated so often and so brilliantly with Hokinson, but that fact certainly doesn't mean that he physically pencilled the captions onto the paper. Anyway, the auction estimate was subsequently lowered to $300 to $500 in 2010 at which time it sold for the low estimate. One final note: the handwritten caption has been altered slightly by the editors for publication, adding the dog name Waldina as a femininely-Teutonic counterweight to the overbearing name of the male dog.

"Why, you remember Baron von Meinhardt-Stellwitz! You met him at White Sulphur."
Helen E. Hokinson
Original art
Published as "Why, Waldina, you remember Baron von Meinhardt-Stellwitz! You met him at White Sulphur."
The New Yorker, May 3, 1947, page 30

Helen E. Hokinson
Dargate Auction Galleries
August 9, 2009

https://www.invaluable.co.uk/auction-lot/helen-e-hokinson-1893-1949-why-you-remember-b-2449-c-6207a3531b#

Helen E. Hokinson
Dargate Auction Galleries
May 14, 2010

https://www.invaluable.co.uk/auction-lot/helen-e-hokinson-1893-1949-why-you-remember-b-512-c-9ec35d8c27

"Most likely an original illustration for the New Yorker Magazine."
Dargate Auction Galleries Item Description

"Why, Waldina, you remember Baron von Meinhardt-Stellwitz! You met him at White Sulphur."
Helen E. Hokinson
The New Yorker, May 3, 1947, page 30

Cartoons by Helen E. Hokinson and Claude Smith

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1947-05-03#folio=030

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Monday, November 16, 2015

Maira Kalman's Beloved Dog

On October 27th, illustrator Maira Kalman appeared at Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side. She spoke of her mother, of her dog Pete who inspired the new book Beloved Dog, and of how she came to acquire Toscanini's pants. Afterwards there was a book signing in which she included a small drawing of a dog.

Maira Kalman at Barnes & Noble

Maira Kalman

Two signed books:

Promotional material from Ms. Kalman's website:

Maira Kalman, Beloved Dog

Signed bookplate

Beloved Dog by Myra Kalman

Note: Promotional images of the book are taken from Maira Kalman's website.

There's more here on this blog about the art of Maira Kalman.

Arf! There's also more here about dogs.

Finally, this blog boasts an extensive virtual collection of signed books with original drawings. Perhaps you'd care to add one to the archive?

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Friday, May 9, 2014

Family Tree: Constantin Alajálov Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Whether you call it a study as Bonhams did or you call it preliminary cover art as I do here, there's something unusual about Constantin Alajálov's drawing of a dog family tree. It is a finished drawing certainly, apparently suitable for publication, yet very closely related to the New Yorker's cover for February 12, 1938. It is rendered in pencil and black ink without color. I have not seen any preliminary cover art for the New Yorker quite like this. My conjecture is that this was intended by the artist to be a drawing inside the magazine—possibly it could even support a caption spoken by the dog standing outside the family tree. Instead, Alajálov must have been asked to recreate it as a color cover. Of note, it sold at auction for a higher price than some original cover art has.

Constantin Alajálov
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, February 12, 1938

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17023/lot/173/

Constantin Alajálov
The New Yorker, February 12, 1938

Constantin Alajálov
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, February 12, 1938

May 10, 2026 Update: Could this possibly be the original cover art and not a rough? I raise this question here.

Note: Read more on this blog about artist Constantin Alajálov.

Read more here about preliminary New Yorker cover art. You know you want to.

The real reason for the high sale price? Cute dogs. Click on the link to see more dogs.

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