Edward Koren: A Bucket for a Giant Frog

Some original illustrations make no sense without the context of their original purpose. One can enjoy, surely, Edward Koren's undated illustration of a man in a checkered suit presenting the contents of a bucket to a giant frog and still not understand what it signifies. Heritage Auctions, which sold this artwork in 2016, said the man in the picture was feeding the frog. He could also plausibly be offering hydration or a chance to wash up. Whatever the case, we are unlikely to know without seeing how the illustration was used in print. It does look a bit like a TV Guide drawing, but really it could have appeared almost anywhere.

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions listing of October 9, 2016

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/edward-koren-man-feeding-a-giant-frog-illustration-original-art-undated-/a/121641-12080.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115#

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions item description

Note:  Any reader who can shed some light on the intended use of this illustration and where it may have been published is encouraged to come forward.

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Edward Koren: The Need for Entertainment

Heritage Auctions initially described Edward Koren's The Need for Entertainment (1986) as original illustration art.

It is a signed print, of course, an artist's proof. Furthermore, the listing had stated, "It's been said of the various cartoons published in the New Yorker over the years that they seem to be whimsically obtuse, and this illustration by Ed Koren is no exception. Produced in ink on paper . . . " When it was sold yesterday in the Wednesday Comic Art & Illustration Select Auction, the item description had been substantially corrected, although not the part about New Yorker cartoons being "whimsically obtuse."

Again, the art was originally described as an illustration:

By the time of the sale, the updated description correctly identified the piece as an artist's proof aside from the numbered print edition:

Still, the revised description maintained the odd implication that this print is somehow a New Yorker cartoon. It isn't, of course. The new description did correct the notion that what we have is an original illustration in ink on paper. And the description continues to suggest that New Yorker cartoons have been described as "whimsically obtuse." By whom? All of the cartoons, or just some?

Four days before the sale, bidding was at only $25 despite the incorrect description. Very likely then, no one was fooled. 

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions Wednesday Comic Art & Illustration Select Auction #322603 listing accessed 1/17/2026

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/edward-koren-the-need-for-entertainment-illustration-original-art-1986-/a/322603-48143.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515#

The sale price:

Note:  Feel free to share original art by Edward Koren here whether cartoon, illustration, or original print. Whimsicality and obtuseness are always welcome.

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Jean-Jacques Sempé's Copy of the Japanese Edition of Teenage Romance: Or, How to Die of Embarrassment by Delia Ephron and Edward Koren

AbeBooks seller Librairie de pas sage in Paris informs us that Jean-Jacques Sempé and Edward Koren were cycling companions in their New York days and that Koren provided Sempé with the use of his office when the latter was in town. There must have been any number of opportunities, then, for Koren to present Sempé with a copy of Teenage Romance: Or, How to Die of Embarrassment (1983) by Delia Ephron with drawings by Koren. That it was the Japanese edition must have been quite the novelty, no doubt. Koren added a drawing of a bicyclist and a Japanese-style inscription that is, probably, nonsense.

Edward Koren
AbeBooks listing accessed December 27, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Dokidoki-Ephron-Delia-Shobunsha-Tokyo/32358248820/bd

Edward Koren
AbeBooks item description

The English translation:

Note:  Cartoon books with original drawings from one New Yorker cartoonist, such as Edward Koren, to another, say, Jean-Jacques Sempé, are of enduring interest to this blogger. Readers in possession of such books are asked to send scans or photographs, and to provide the story behind them, if possible.

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Sight Unseen: Ben Raeburn's Copy of Are You Happy? by Edward Koren

On June 19 of this year, Sleuth Books listed a copy of Are You Happy?:  And Other Questions Lovers Ask (1978) by Edward Koren containing some original art. The price, $90, is a lot to spend for a signed Koren book sight unseen, but just marvel at how enticingly it was described: "Personally inscribed by the author to Ben Raeburn, the publisher of Horizon Books, on the front endpapers, complete with two sketches of book characters. A spectacular copy!" The listing shows only a stock photo, but I am a sucker for "spectacular." I paid my money.

Stock image

Edward Koren
AbeBooks listing accessed October 18, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Happy-Questions-Lovers-Ask-Edward-Koren/32227245922/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Edward Koren
AbeBooks item description

The drawing, we learn, was of the get-well-soon variety. I, for one, feel better already.

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Blog Post No. 5,100: Anne and Sergio's Copy of Edward Koren's Are You Happy?

Edward Koren's drawing in Anne and Sergio's copy of Are You Happy?, his 1978 cartoon collection, fills the inside cover and the facing front free endpaper. It depicts a couple playing a duet for violin and piano. They make such beautiful music together. How could they not be happy?

Edward Koren
AbeBooks listing accessed December 26, 2023

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Happy-Questions-Lovers-Ask-Koren-Edward/31731196066/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Edward Koren
AbeBooks item description

This sale ended long ago and the price was increased back to $500. The book has since been sold.

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Sight Unseen: Lore's Copy of Edward Koren's Do You Want to Talk About It?

The idea behind Sight Unseen posts is pretty simple: I select a book that sounds visually appealing even though I actually cannot see what it looks like. In the case of Edward Koren's cartoon collection Do You Want to Talk About It? (1976), there was only a stock photo in the AbeBooks listing I found on September 21, but no image of the actual book being offered. Instead, there was the enticing description "with a drawing by the author on the ffep [front free endpaper]" provided by Dave's Books of Brooklyn. Although there were some condition issues, the price seemed reasonable enough, $45.44 plus $5.50 shipping. Should I buy it without asking to see the Koren drawing? Of course I should.

Edward Koren
AbeBooks listing accessed September 21, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Want-Talk-Koren-Edward-Pantheon/32305436960/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=readmore

Edward Koren
AbeBooks item description

Now, one month later, we have the information we need. The transaction can be reassessed in light of the drawing. Me, I'm going to call this one a win.

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Grok 3 Analyzes @doc_nad

"I wasn't lookin' but somehow you found me"

"Nobody Does It Better" (1977)

Carole Bayer Sager

I maintained my Twitter account even when the site was rebranded as X and I continue to post there regularly. Today I have some 99,100 posts on the site, most of which relate to this blog. They do get read and even generate a few responses as I gingerly approach that big milestone of 100,000.

Not all my readers are people. I was surprised to discover that Grok 3, xAI's chatbot launched almost six months ago, has been keeping tabs on me. I usually try to avoid AI results in my searches, but it is becoming more difficult. Anyway, if I'm the subject, I figure it's worth a look. Here's what I found on my iPhone, inadvertently, on July 27:

I never considered myself a "nostalgic blogger," but I can certainly see the argument. I don't approve of "their" as a singular pronoun, let alone one of my pronouns, but I suppose I don't get a say here. I definitely don't like the construction "celebrating New Yorker cartoonists and covers"—that's just bad writing. Why not write "New Yorker cartoonists and cover artist?" Calling Ronald Searle and Edward Koren icons is not something I would do casually, although not because I disagree. Readers can decide for themselves who is and isn't an icon. Finally, my interest in wrestling is news to me.

I repeated the search the next day with similar, but far from identical, results:

There is a newer iteration of the technology called Grok 4 included with a premium subscription. I have no plans to upgrade.

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Edward Koren?—Italian Bike Race

Cartoonist Edward Koren (1935-2023) applied a loose, fluid line to his sketch titled Italian Bike Race. He quickly conveyed the kinetic energy of helmeted cyclists in a semi-abstract way. Just as quickly, we are told, he tore the drawing from his pad and gave it to someone he'd met at the race, who took it home and had it framed.

Edward Koren
eBay listing accessed August 9, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116656520092?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20220405142716%26meid%3D1e66bf95bb114e7fa0c18f8f2298dfbe%26pid%3D101506%26rk%3D2%26rkt%

3D8%26sd%3D267180491061%26itm%3D116656520092%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4481478%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebWithV11WebTrimmedV3VisualRankerWithKnnV3AndUltBRecallAndCassiniEmbRecall&_trksid=p4481478.c101506.m1851

Note:  At the time of posting, this framed sketch is available on eBay. 

August 13, 2025 Update:  Sasha Koren writes, "I came across your post of a few days ago about the Italian bike race sketch available on eBay. I thought you might want to know that it is almost certainly not a Koren drawing, despite the eBay seller’s description of its origin. The drawing isn’t in his inimitable style, and neither his lettering nor his signature looked like that—not in 1973 nor any time after. I’m his daughter, by the way, so can recognize certain variations in his very early work, but none looked like this!"

August 14, 2025:  Withdrawn, apparently.

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John and Liza Norton's Copy of The Penguin Edward Koren

Our good friend and frequent contributor David From Manhattan writes of a previously unrecorded creature by New Yorker cartoonist Edward Koren:

The Penguin Edward Koren, the only book the cartoonist assembled almost entirely from previous collections of his work, was published in 1982. It's a strong selection, and includes several uncollected but worthy cartoons from his early days that never made the transition from magazine appearance to formal collection, and presented (in soft cover) in the U.K. by Penguin Books.

At some point, an American couple, John and Liza Norton, asked the artist to inscribe the book with a drawing. Their names presented attractively, Koren signed it in full, but the drawing itself is curious, even strange, with a sinister Koren creature in a hooded cloak, admiring itself in a full-length mirror; a scythe would not be out of place. Close by, a plausible sales clerk, hastily drawn, guides his customer with an approving smile. 

A 1980 New York Times wedding announcement from White Stone, Va., may provide a clue or two. When she married John Anthony Norton, Liza Christian Carter was a director of design for N. Erlanger Blumgart Co., a fabric converter in New York. The day Liza and her husband met Koren, was the design director showing off an outfit similar to Koren's hooded figure? Mr. Norton, on the other hand, is described in the Times article as an ad sales rep for The New Yorker, a possible source for that smile, and a job title he would have almost certainly shared with the artist.

Note:  My thanks to David From Manhattan for again sharing one of the treasures of his library with us. This is his sixty-ninth contribution to the blog, not that I'm counting or anything. When we get to seventy, I'll be dressing for a rather strange ritual.

Readers are welcome to share unique gems by Edward Koren from their own collections here. I'd also be happy to entertain any ideas about what's going on in the mysterious drawing above.

 

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