A work of original New Yorker art by Sam Cobean was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions:
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| Sam Cobean Original art The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 20 |
A word about golf rules might be helpful here. Tree roots are a part of the golf course so if one's golf ball lands there, one plays it as it lies. In golf terms, there is no free relief.
On February 16, the presale bidding stood at $575, or $718.75 with the buyer's premium.
This is a very strong Cobean cartoon and a good golf cartoon to boot. The market bid it up accordingly. The lot was sold to an internet bidder for twice what the price had been on the 16th.
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| Sam Cobean Heritage Auctions listing of February 18, 2026 |
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| Sam Cobean Heritage Auctions item description |
Heritage erroneously gives the date of the cartoon's publication in The New Yorker as June 7, 1952. This is off by some three years. A Leslie Starke cartoon in the same Heritage sale appeared in that issue instead. Whoops.
Cobean's golf drawing in reproduction looks very much like his original art.
On the page opposite, The New Yorker has placed a drawing with much shading to balance out Cobean's lines. Alan Dunn has some fun showing us an unforeseen attitude toward labor among one of the elite in Communist Russia—one who is permitted to travel abroad.
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| Sam Cobean The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 20 |
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| Sam Cobean Original art The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 20 |
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| With cartoons by Sam Cobean and Alan Dunn |
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| "What a deal out there, what a deal! Houseboys! Coolies! Anything you want, just snap your fingers." Alan Dunn The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 21 |
Note: Sam Cobean's art doesn't get seen on this blog nearly enough, so readers who would like to share their hidden Cobean treasures here should, well, play it as it lies.
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