Ilonka Karasz: Alas, Poor Yorker

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio—a fellow

of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy.

"Hamlet," V.i

The New Yorker artist Ilonka Karasz (1896-1981) created extraordinary covers for the magazine from its first year in 1925 through its forty-eighth in 1973. While her art adorned the magazine's cover one-hundred eighty-six times, it is unusual to find a piece by her that is actually about The New Yorker.

Such a work was offered on eBay in 2017, an illustration that simulated the effect of flipping through the pages of the magazine. Familiar sections are visible: "Profiles," "Goings On About Town," "Tables for Two." Three writers are referenced by surname: Emily Hahn, John O'Hara, and Sally Benson. The cover of the fictitious issue is about the theatre with fancy dress hats, a showgirl, and a pair of eyeglasses. The title of the piece, Alas, Poor Yorker, is also a tongue-in-cheek theatrical reference.

The art is dated May 1947 and appears to have been created for a specific purpose. My conjecture is that it could have been printed as an invitation to a party for the writers or editorial staff of the magazine.

Ilonka Karasz
eBay listing ended May 14, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ilonka-Karasz-Hungarian-American-1896-1981-Project-For-034-New-Yorker-034-1947-/322511118571?hash=item4b172920eb%3Ag%3A--8AAOSwq1JZEh9B&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ilonka Karasz
eBay item description

Ilonka Karasz
eBay bid history
The last bidder gets it, but there's not a lot of enthusiasm here.

Note:  I would appreciate hearing from anyone who knows anything about this original illustration by Ilonka Karasz.

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Peter Arno Illustrates Munro Leaf Condensed Classics in The American Magazine

They're called "streamlined samples of the world's best stories," and they appeared in The American Magazine over twenty-one installments from December 1939 to September 1941. They're humorous rehashings of classic literary works that, because they each appeared on a single magazine page, aren't quite substitutes for reading one's full high school english assignments. The celebrated author of these condensed classics is Munro Leaf, who created Ferdinand the Bull. The celebrated illustrator is Peter Arno, who needs no introduction here.

Two weeks ago I speculated that a couple of original Arno illustrations from, apparently, The American Magazine—they were Ivanhoe and Cyrano de Bergerac—might be related to a page I once posted of an abbreviated version of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I went on to suggest that they might also be related to four Arno illustrations of "Classics" from his 1944 collection Man in the Shower. I figured it might well take ages to track everything down.

Yet I heard on that very day from Jeff Nelson, one of those contributors who somehow provides me with what I need even when I don't know what I need. Once upon a time, it seems, he had scanned what is likely the entire run of this nearly impossible-to-find series and would I care to have a look-see? Yes, please.

And just like that, here they are—all of them, most probably. I have presented Jeff's scans in chronological order adding original art from the archives when available, and including four of the illustrations as they were reproduced in Man in the Shower. Jeff didn't scan the full text of Robinson Crusoe, but fortunately that's the one page I have available in the archives. So here it is, a post I thought could never be done just two weeks ago.

Romeo and Juliet, December 1939

The Classics:  II. Romeo and Juliet
Peter Arno's Man in the Shower (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944, London: Duckworth, 1976)

The Three Musketeers, January 1940

The Classics:  I. The Three Musketeers
Peter Arno's Man in the Shower (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944, London: Duckworth, 1976)

Ivanhoe, February 1940

Ivanhoe
Peter Arno
Original art
The American Magazine
February 1940, p. 80

https://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2024/07/peter-arno-rebecca-and-wounded-ivanhoe.html

Rip Van Winkle, March 1940

Robinson Crusoe, April 1940

"There were some wild goats around, but you can't make a wild goat draw to an inside straight." 

—Munro Leaf

Peter Arno

                             Robinson Crusoe, April 1940, p. 60

https://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2013/03/peter-arnos-robinson-crusoe-condensed.html

Don Quixote, May 1940

The Arabian Nights, June 1940

Macbeth, July 1940

The Classics:  III. Macbeth
Peter Arno's Man in the Shower (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944, London: Duckworth, 1976)

The Count of Monte Cristo, August 1940

Treasure Island, September 1940

Silas Marner, October 1940

Lorna Doone, November 1940

A Tale of Two Cities, January 1941

The Virginian, February 1941

The House of the Seven Gables, March 1941

Hamlet, April 1941

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, May 1941

The Classics:  IV. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Peter Arno's Man in the Shower (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944, London: Duckworth, 1976)

Moby Dick, June 1941

Cyrano de Bergerac, July 1941

Cyrano de Bergerac, 
Peter Arno
Original art
The American Magazine, July 1941, p. 52

https://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2023/12/peter-arno-cyrano-de-bergerac.html

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, August 1941

Captains Courageous, September 1941

Note:  My thanks to Jeff Nelson, without whom Munro Leaf and Peter Arno's collaboration almost eighty-five years ago might have remained lost to posterity.

I'm so glad I could include two of the original illustrations. Where then are the nineteen Arno originals I did not get to post here? As depictions of well-known literary classics, I'd think they're quite desirable. My guess is they're mostly hidden away in private collections. If there's one of these that happens to be in your collection, why not get in touch with me and share a good photograph? Come on, people, Jeff can't do everything.

The Classics:  I. The Three Musketeers
II. Romeo and Juliet
Peter Arno's Man in the Shower (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944, London: Duckworth, 1976)

The Classics:  III. Macbeth
IV. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Peter Arno's Man in the Shower (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1944, London: Duckworth, 1976)

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Peter Arno: Waiting for the Good News

When sorrows come, they come not single spies
But in battalions.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet IV.5

So says King Claudius to his distraught wife Gertrude. Peter Arno has his butler put it almost as memorably—if somewhat less succinctly—to the lord and master who is already acquainted with the sorrows which come after a night on the town.

"I regret to report, Sir, that Standard Oil of California is off two points, your second wife called about her alimony, Firefly ran last at Belmont, the man from the Internal Revenue is downstairs, and we are all out of aspirin."

Peter Arno, Original artwork

"I regret to report, Sir, that Standard Oil of California is off two points, your second

wife called about her alimony, Firefly ran last at Belmont, the man from the Internal

Revenue is downstairs, and we are all out of aspirin."

Peter Arno, Original artwork

Peter Arno's signature

"I regret to report, Sir, that Standard Oil of California is off two points, your second
wife called about her alimony, Firefly ran last at Belmont, the man from the Internal
Revenue is downstairs, and we are all out of aspirin."
Peter Arno, Original artwork

Susanin's Item Description

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/41132641_peter-arno-american-1904-1968-i-regret-to-report-s

Inspired by the tradition of Shakespeare's many editors, I have taken the liberty of editing what I believe to be obvious errors in the Arno caption, substituting Internal for International and aspirin for asperin. Where and when this color cartoon may have been published are unknown to me, but anyone with relevant information should email me with AB, for Aspirin Bottle, in the subject line.

May 10, 2016 Update:  What do you know? A sharp-eyed reader has pointed out that the Arno drawing from Susanin's is a variant of a cartoon published in the September 25, 1937 New Yorker. It was the presence of color that threw me off the trail. This color version has some minor differences from the published cartoon, most notably a nude hanging above the bed which might have displeased the magazine's editors. As the New Yorker did not publish color cartoons in the 1930's, this may be a redraw created for a friend or a fan, presumably male, rather than a preliminary version. It has the look of having been drawn somewhat hastily. My two corrections to the caption proved correct, but I should not have capitalized sir.

"I regret to report, sir, that Standard Oil of California is off two points, your second
wife called about her alimony, Firefly ran last at Belmont, the man from the Inter-
nal Revenue Department is downstairs, and we're all out of aspirin."
Peter Arno, The New Yorker, September 25, 1937, page 14

Note:  This blog proudly publishes fine examples of original cartoon art.

If you now feel an urgent need to learn everything you can about Peter Arno, you're in luck. Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist by Michael Maslin is hot off the presses. Read the excerpt The Peter Arno Cartoons That Helped Rescue The New Yorker published May 5 in the New Yorker online.

You can also learn quite a bit from the following links:

Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill. 

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

Peter Arno in the April 26 Record.

Peter Arno in April's Vanity Fair. 

Peter Arno in the March 29 Wall Street Journal. 

Peter Arno posts here on Attempted Bloggery. 

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License Plate for Polonius

This above all—to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.

—William Shakespeare, "Hamlet" Act 1, Scene 3

Polonius's sound advice to Laertes has been succinctly enshrined on a license plate.

"BTRU2SLF"
New York State License Plate

Note:  There's a lot more in the blog archives. Will you choose to look up posts about Shakespeare or posts about license plates?

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