Ronald Searle: Great Vegetable City

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. Ronald Searle's original lithograph Great Vegetable City predates that by a year. His print of a giant winged insect feeding atop city buildings capped with green sprouts is evidently intended as an environmental statement. We must never live outside of harmony with nature. That's my interpretation; I couldn't tell you what Searle was thinking.

Great Vegetable City (1969)
No. 48/99
Ronald Searle

Ronald Searle's pencil signature and date

Great Vegetable City (1969)
No. 48/99
Ronald Searle

Ronald Searle
eBay listing ended January 6, 2022

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RONALD-SEARLE-1920-2011-ORIGINAL-SIGNED-LTD-ED-LITHO-039-GREEN-VEGTABLE-CITY-039-1969-/275062666944?hash=item400b0336c0%3Ag%3AyQEAAOSwC5lhtoR7&nma=true&si=P%252BhlhmJ7oA9BKODpVaKBBjvCjhQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ronald Searle
eBay item description
The seller has misstated the title of the work.

Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt catalogue (1971) no. 45

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MoCCA Fest 2022: Used/Reused by Felipe Galindo

One of the many exciting things about attending MoCCA Fest is finding new books by favorite artists and having them sign and personalize them. The case in point here is Felipe Galindo's Used/Reused: Artwork on Disposable Materials (2021). Feggo's table had a number of signed copies each with small drawings of a steaming coffee cup, to one of which he added my name. In retrospect, this book, with its timely environmental theme, would have made an excellent post for Earth Day, if I had had my act together on the 22nd.

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Earth Day: Ronald Searle's Oops!

A few months ago when I was surveying a few of Ronald Searle's lithographs in anticipation of his March 3 centenary, I set aside Oops! (1974) for Earth Day, which is April 22. Searle's humor packs a serious environmental message. The image is a bold one with an insistent one-point perspective. I see New York in it although the signage is perhaps more European. The lithograph is printed right out to the edge of the sheet. Seen in person it's impressive, even overwhelming.

Ronald Searle
Oops!
Hors commerce aside from the edition of 99, 1974

https://www.art-of-illustration.co.uk/Ronald_Searle/Oops/2048/100/default.aspx

An unintended consequence of my choosing this particular image for today is that it has a completely different resonance at this moment in time than it did just two months back. The empty cityscape has become a haunting reality all over the world as we shut down our economies and stay at home in an attempt to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. Searle's no-holds-barred riff on grotesque urban overdevelopment remains valid but it may be sending us a mixed message right now: that we'd nevertheless give anything to be out there with the lost rabbit and a few friends to enjoy a night on the town.

Note:  The year 2020 is Ronald Searle's centenary. For now, let's celebrate at home.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

  
Earth Day

Attempted Bloggery's Environmentally-Friendly Index

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Ronald Searle: Traffic

A press photo of a Ronald Searle illustration entitled "Traffic" depicts automobile congestion in Midtown Manhattan. The photo is dated 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, when environmental considerations were on everyone's mind. 

Ronald Searle
Traffic
Press Photo, Sunday, March 1, 1970
Historic Images

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Press-Photo-Traffic-Cartoon...

Verso

Note:  I would like to hear from anyone who knows where this press photo was published, preferably with a scan or photograph of the newspaper page. A copy of this photograph without the watermark or an image of the original artwork would also be appreciated.


May 5, 2018 Update:  A comment left below by Matt Jones, author of Perpetua, the matchless Ronald Searle Tribute blog, indicates that Searle's original color art was published in Venture magazine's 1966 feature "Manhattan on the Rocks."

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Ronald Searle

Earth Day

Press Photos

Attempted Bloggery's Unfiltered Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

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Earth Day: Peter Arno's Fresh Produce

For Earth Day, here's something fresh from cartoonist Peter Arno that's all-natural and 100% organic:

"Young man! You put that celery in a bag, where it belongs!"
Peter Arno
Original art

Skinner, March 7, 2008

http://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2399/lots/626

May 29, 2016 Update:  Another version of this artwork appears in Peter Arno's For Members Only (1935).

Note:  The blog archives have many posts about Earth Day that are less of a stretch than this one.

Posts about Passover may also be found here.

This blog may not have more examples of original cartoon art than every other blog, but it has more examples than most. Check them out.

By now you know that Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist by Michael Maslin is available wherever you buy books. My copy is in a bag, where it belongs.

More Arno links. Stop me if you've seen these already.

Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill.

Peter Arno in Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery.

Peter Arno in April's Vanity Fair.

Peter Arno in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

Peter Arno posts here on Attempted Bloggery.

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Ronald Searle: A Little Something for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! In honor of our planet, here's the final drawing from Ronald Searle's Big Fat Cat Book (1982). There should be no question who's in charge around here.

Ronald Searle, from Big Fat Cat Book

https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenieandthedew/6580622819/in/pool-ronald_searle/

Note:  Just follow the blog links for more about Ronald Searle and more about Earth Day.

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Earth Day with Asterix and Obelix

Happy Earth Day!  Asterix the Gaul and Obelix dominate the Eastern hemisphere in this 1975 painting signed by artist Albert Uderzo and writer René Goscinny. Asterix remains popular around the globe, but Sotheby's Paris may have put a prohibitively high estimate on this piece in their 2012 Bande Dessinée auction. At any rate, it failed to find a buyer.

Albert Uderzo, Astérix et Obélix, 1975

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/bande-dessine-comics/lot.31.html

The awkward English translation is probably state of the art, for what it's worth:

Note:  See how Earth Days past were celebrated on this blog here.

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Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day falls on April 22. Last year, I'm sorry to say, my celebration of Earth Day was marred by the unsolicited appearance of Marvin Martian. Or is it Marvin the Martian? Either way, I'm certainly not going to let that happen again this year. Happy Earth Day, earthlings!

Virgil Ross, Bugs Bunny and Marvin Martian
Profiles in History, July 29, 2012

 http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/11995531_bugs-and-marvin-the-martian-original-virgil-ross

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/11995531_bugs-and-marvin-the-martian-original-virgil-ross

Virgil Ross, Bugs Bunny and Marvin Martian
Profiles in History, July 29, 2012

 http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/11995531_bugs-and-marvin-the-martian-original-virgil-ross

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Today's Earth Day Sponsor

Today's very special Earth Day celebration is brought to you by--oh, no!

Virgil Ross, Marvin Martian

http://bid.profilesinhistory.com/Marvin-Martian-original-Virgil-Ross-drawing_i10498756 

Virgil Ross, Marvin Martian

http://bid.profilesinhistory.com/Marvin-Martian-original-Virgil-Ross-drawing_i10498756 

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Earth Day by Andrea Arroyo

Andrea Arroyo illustrated a New Yorker cover for Earth Day in 1993 featuring, appropriately, the earth.

Andrea Arroyo, Earth Day
The New Yorker, April 26, 1993

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A Ronald Searle Drawing Suitable for Earth Day

For this Earth Day, Ronald Searle's birds just might have something timely to say to us about the environment. Now if only I could figure out what it was.

Ronald Searle, from What! Already? Searle at 90, 2010

http://lucaboschi.nova100.ilsole24ore.com/2012/01/ronald-searle-sul-comics-journal.html

Note:  Another outstanding drawing from What! Already? Searle at 90 can be found here.

My most recent blog post featuring Searle art at auction is here.

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Earth Day 1971 with Walt Kelly's Pogo

Earth Day 1971 as commemorated by Walt Kelly's Pogo:

Walt Kelly, Pogo, Earth Day 1971

http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2674

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