Edna Eicke: Beachfront Sale

Edna Eicke's New Yorker cover of April 2, 1949 marks the rise of a new postwar leisure class, one that can afford a second home by the beach. We see the real estate agent, his woodie parked out front, showing a windswept property to a young couple. The coming storm adds atmosphere without diminishing the appeal of the landscape or of the house.

 

Celebrity gossip columnist Lloyd Shearer, who wrote for Parade magazine under the name Walter Scott, and his wife Marva, also a writer, acquired the original art directly from the artist. Lloyd passed away in 2001 and Marva died in 2019. Over the years, to judge by the published cover, some of the greens and browns have faded but otherwise the artwork remains vibrant and compelling. It was sold yesterday, at Bonhams, at a hammer price of $8,500, or more than the cost of a beach house in 1949.

Edna Eicke
Bonhams sale of May 20, 2021, accessed May 2, 2021

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/edna-eicke-1919-1979-selling-real-estate-by-the-b-38-c-aac4586a04?utm_source=egemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=bonhams_abandonment

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1949-04-02/flipbook/CV1/

The hammer price:

The price with buyer's premium:

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At the Horse Show: Garrett Price Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Garrett Price's New Yorker cover proposal depicts equestrian activities including show jumping and harness racing. The composition resembles a sketchbook page and does not attempt to show a single unified scene. Of note, Price has worked a number of figures into the area of the logo and seems to be planning how horses and people would interact with most every letter. It was an ambitious idea but not one ever to be developed into a published cover.

Garrett Price's signature

Garrett Price
eBay listing ended August 14, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Garrett-Price-New-Yorker-Cover-Sketch-1950-s-Horse-Activities-Ink-ORIGINAL-ART-/143678508800?hash=item2173e80f00%3Ag%3AeHUAAOSw8LBfMAwX&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Garrett Price
eBay item description

Garrett Price
eBay bid history
The last bid gets it.

[End of eBay listing]

Of course, one can never know for sure why a particular cover proposal wasn't accepted by The New Yorker, but it can still be a useful exercise to conjecture. The published New Yorker covers which include show jumping (but not harness riding) are shown below for comparison with the Price rough. They each represent a single unified scene and have a specific artistic point of view. The Price cover seems to lack a central focus; there is just too much going on all at once.

Theodore Haupt's 1928 cover depicts the pageantry of show jumping with an emphasis on the hazards of the sport:

Theodore G. Haupt
The New Yorker, November 10, 1928

Constantin Alajálov's 1939 cover notes a horse show with a bareback distraction:

Constantin Alajálov

The New Yorker, November 11, 1939

Edna Eicke's demonstration derby is just adorable. The activity is held together by the circular track:

Edna Eicke
The New Yorker, June 18, 1949

Ilonka Karasz's 1957 cover contrasts the chaotic parking in the foreground with the strict order inside the arena:

Ilonka Karasz
The New Yorker, May 11, 1957

In many ways, Arthur Getz's 1957 cover takes the exact opposite approach to that of Price, focusing in extreme close-up on a single horse and rider clearing the log fence:

Arthur Getz
The New Yorker, November 9, 1957

Note:  The winning bidder of the eBay auction has gone public here.

I would love to use Attempted Bloggery to post additional original art by Garrett Price. After all, what is an attempted blog for?

 

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Claude's Super Hot Dog

The 1950s saw the rise of both fast food and home baking, although these two distinct culinary trends usually did not come up at the same time. Claude Smith's original New Yorker artwork from the August 13, 1955 issue is the exception to that generality.

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe Duncan Hines doesn't like hot dogs?"
Claude Smith, original artThe New Yorker, August 13, 1955, page 25

Edna Eicke, The New Yorker, August 13, 1955

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe Duncan Hines doesn't like hot dogs?"
Claude Smith, The New Yorker, August 13, 1955, page 25

Verso

Verso, detail

Verso, detail

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe Duncan Hines doesn't like hot dogs?"
Claude Smith, The New Yorker, August 13, 1955, page 25

Verso

Verso, detail

Verso, detail

Claude Smith
eBay Listing Ended August 28, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Yorker-Magazine-SIGNED-ORIGINAL-Art-Work-AUG-13-1955-Orig-Magazine-Too-/262594159975?hash=item3d23d4e567%3Ag%3A69MAAOSw0UdXtbih&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Claude Smith
eBay Item Description

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe
Duncan Hines doesn't like hot dogs?"
Claude Smith, original artThe New Yorker, August 13, 1955, page 25

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe
Duncan Hines doesn't like hot dogs?"
Claude Smith, The New Yorker, August 13, 1955, page 25

Drawings by James Thurber and Claude Smith
The New Yorker, August 13, 1955, pages 24-25

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1955-08-13#folio=024

Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Claude Smith

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Edna Eicke

James Thurber

Attempted Bloggery's Index of Fine Dining

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Edna Eicke's Red Maple Tree in Westport

One of the great things about attending "Cover Story:  The New Yorker in Westport" last year was the local perspective of the exhibition. The Westport Historical Society assembled an impressive array of New Yorker covers created by seventeen area artists. The curators were able to point out some of the familiar scenes depicted on those covers. For example, the show included a photograph of a local red maple tree some seven decades after it was the subject of a New Yorker cover by Edna Eicke. One can hardly recognize it.

Now the Westport Historical Society is once again visiting this rich subject matter. The new show, "Talk of the Town," features sixteen photographs by Michael Goss showing the Westport area today. These images are displayed alongside corresponding New Yorker covers. It opened September 25 and will run through October 26. I hope the elegant red maple tree is again included.

Lawrence S. Untemeyer, The Red Maple Tree
Exhibited in "Cover Story:  The New Yorker in Westport" from January 26 to July 5, 2014
The Westport Historical Society

Edna Eicke, The New Yorker, October 18, 1952

Note:  I reported on "Cover Story:  The New Yorker in Westport" back in 2014.

You can also see my post about Edna Eicke's cover featuring the Lobster Inn in Southampton. What was she doing there?

01643

Lobster Inn: Edna Eicke New Yorker Cover Art

This luminous painting by Edna Eicke for the cover of The New Yorker shows the Lobster Inn on Long Island after sunset. The artwork is captured on a Kodachrome slide believed to have been shot prior to printing at The New Yorker.

Edna Eicke, Artwork for The New Yorker, August 13, 1955

Edna Eicke, The New Yorker, August 13, 1955

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1955-Lobster-Inn-Seafood-Restaurant-8-13-55-New-Yorker-Cover-Edna-Eicke-Art-/151015729896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23293d2ae8&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Note:  The seller reports that the artwork indicates the Lobster Inn was on Long Island. The only Lobster Inn I'm aware of opened in Southampton in 1969 and is today the Lobster Grille Inn under a new owner. Did that restaurant replace an earlier incarnation of the Lobster Inn, or are we talking about two unrelated Long Island restaurants with the same name? Anyone?
 

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