Ilonka Karasz: Spots of Two Couples

Two original spot drawings in ink by Ilonka Karasz were offered by Swann Auction Galleries in the December 4 sale of Illustration Art. Both, we are told, were published in The New Yorker circa 1925, its first year of publication. One depicts a couple floor dancing and the second shows a different couple outdoors walking. The lot, estimated at $800 to $1,200, did not find a buyer.

Ilonka Karasz
Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art Sale of December 4, 2025

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/_7264AE42E2

Ilonka Karasz
Swann Auction Galleries item description

Note:  The publication history has yet to be verified. Please get in touch if you have seen one or both of these spots by Ilonka Karasz in print.

05184

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.

05058

Ilonka Karasz at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration"

Ilonka Karasz was making beautiful covers for The New Yorker within a few weeks of its founding, and she is making beautiful covers for The New Yorker today.

—Brendan Gill

Here at The New Yorker (1975)

Ilonka Karasz is represented by one of these "beautiful covers" in the retrospective "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration" currently on view at the Society of Illustrators. Now it's off to the races.

Ilonka Karasz
Original art
The New Yorker, June 9, 1956

Ilonka Karasz
The New Yorker, June 9, 1956

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1956-06-09/flipbook/CV1/

04883

Donald Duck to the Max

On Independence Day ten years ago, I posted a serigraph by Peter Max of the Statue of Liberty. The eBay seller had come to my attention after selling the original art to Ilonka Karasz's 1955 poison ivy cover for The New Yorker. I was perplexed that the 1994 Max serigraph had a 2005 copyright stamp on the verso. It could have been a listing error by the seller, I suppose, or a stamp that was added after the fact to

 unsold inventory. Whatever the case, I was unable to resolve the issue which I noted on another Max serigraph from the same seller.

Of all the colors in which Max depicted Walt Disney's Donald Duck, the variant with the red beak is my least favorite. Like the Statue of Liberty print, it is numbered 18 in its respective series, here out of 500. It is also dated 1994 with a later 2005 copyright stamp. Like the other Max serigraph, the seller guaranteed its authenticity provided returns were made in 14 days.

Peter Max
eBay listing ended August 27, 2013

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peter-Max-Disney-Donald-Duck-Serigraph-Limited-Edition-Hand-Signed-/140987205669?pt=UK_art_prints_GL&hash=item20d37e0825

Peter Max
eBay item description 

Note:  My thanks to David from Manhattan for suggesting the artist for today's post.

The eBay seller fast-fox-art of 2013 today goes by the name finefoxart. The seller has 100% positive feedback.

04207

Ilonka Karasz: The Fall of Icarus

An etching by the artist Ilonka Karasz bears the inscription "For Jean with love." It is dated Christmas 1964 and signed Ilonka. It comes from the estate of author and editor Jean Sulzberger (1922-2016) and showed up on eBay about seven months after her passing. The eBay seller identified the subject as an angel, perhaps a fallen angel, which makes some sense given the obvious shedding of feathers from the wings and the recipient's interest in religion and spirituality. Artistically, though, the subject matter seems more to be in the tradition of the fall of Icarus.

Inscribed "For Jean with Love   Christmas 1964, Ilonka"

Ilonka Karasz
eBay Listing Ended September 18, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ilonka-Karasz-1896-1981-Etching-of-an-Angel-/222249393594?hash=item33bf189dba%3Ag%3A8NgAAOSwInxXMLWy&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ilonka Karasz
eBay Item Description

Ilonka Karasz
eBay Bid History
Purchased with Buy It Now

Note:  Jean Sulzberger's paid death notice may be viewed in the Times.

I would be eager to hear from anyone with more information about this etching by Ilonka Karasz or of any like prints she created.

04059

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?

 

 03457

The New Yorker Bound: Thirty-Six Early Volumes

A hard-to-find set of thirty-six bound volumes of The New Yorker was recently offered on eBay. The volumes date from November 1925 to February 1946 and are not sequential. The magazine was founded in February of 1925, so many of the volumes from early years are especially rare. Photographs by the eBay seller show that the spines of several of the volumes are quite frail and in some cases absent. The set was initially offered at a very low opening bid of $360, or $10 a volume, but did not receive any offers, possibly because the seller did not offer shipping. A second listing resulted in a sale price of $888.63, or about $25 a volume, still a very good price for such early bound issues. The eBay seller's photos of the bound pages of the magazine demonstrate a proclivity to photograph close-up details of New Yorker covers, often omitting signatures or issue dates. Therefore these covers are shown here in full after the listing.

Helen E. Hokinson
The New Yorker, April 22, 1933

Ilonka Karasz
The New Yorker, October 7, 1939

Susanne Suba
The New Yorker, October 21, 1939

Mary Petty
The New Yorker, July 18, 1942

Mary Petty
The New Yorker, July 18, 1942

The New Yorker Bound:  Thirty-Six Volumes
eBay Listing Ended June 13, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-The-New-Yorker-Magazines-bound-1925-1946-/164234884632?hash=item263d297618%3Ag%3AglYAAOSwzINez9zx&nma=true&si=0VRLNXcwB1AfKyLn9IovVbXUwvE%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The New Yorker Bound:  Thirty-Six Volumes
eBay Item Description

The New Yorker Bound:  Thirty-Six Volumes
eBay Bid History
One bidder leaves three bids twelve hours before the close, then three other bidders place bids in the last minute.

[End of eBay Listing]

Adolph K. Kronengold
The New Yorker, March 2, 1929

Helen E. Hokinson
The New Yorker, April 22, 1933

Ilonka Karasz
The New Yorker, October 7, 1939

Susanne Suba
The New Yorker, October 21, 1939

Mary Petty
The New Yorker, July 18, 1942

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Helen E. Hokinson

Ilonka Karasz

Adolph K. Kronengold

Mary Petty

Henry Martin (1925-2020)

Attempted Bloggery's Voluminous Index

03314