Showing posts with label Mark Birley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Birley. Show all posts

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Blog Post No. 2400: Sizzling Platter Chatter

It is now time for us to take up the sizzling platter situation. Just imagining what might very well be the specialty of the house can make one’s mouth water. Yet New Yorker cartoonists very deliberately have avoided drawing sizzling platters for... well, decades. Three cartoons in the magazine's storied history specifically mention sizzling platters, but do we ever actually get to visualize the real deal? In 1937, cartoonist Barbara Shermund comes awfully close to drawing one, but there is so much steam there’s just nothing left to see. In other words, it's all sizzle and no platter.

Barbara Shermund
The New Yorker, March 13, 1937


 Likewise, very early in 1949 cartoonist Robert Day does not delineate for us a sizzling platter either, only a couple discussing the fancy menu item. This time it's all talk and no sizzle.
Robert Day, The New Yorker, January 29, 1949


 Thankfully, the subject finds its way to Peter Arno later in 1949, via gag writer Richard McCallister. In Arno's hands, the sizzling platter is no longer really a menu item at all; instead it's an unseen but potently-suggestive double entendre. Note how the provocatively-posed line of showgirls allows the viewer to imagine the comically-horrific incident described. And what a wonderful look of abject concern on the diner’s face! Yet there is paradoxically a complete absence of food anywhere in the drawing; there's not even a dish in sight. Now it's all innuendo and no platter.

Peter Arno, The New Yorker, May 7, 1949

Arno’s midcentury masterpiece put an understandable end to the small run of New Yorker cartoons on the subject of sizzling platters; there is simply no way to top it. So, do we ever actually get to see our talked-about sizzling platter? We certainly do, but it isn't to be found in the pages of The New Yorker. Rather, the long-awaited sizzling platter is finally depicted on the front cover dust jacket illustration for the collection Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949). (You know a cartoon is iconic when it lends a published collection its title!) Arno's self-restraint has finally exhausted itself and it is only now that we get to feast our eyes on a hot sizzling platter...and the food doesn’t look so bad either.
Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949)



Note:  I am grateful to New Yorker cartoonist and Peter Arno biographer Michael Maslin for identifying Richard McCallister as the gag writer of the Arno cartoon. Mr. Maslin's 2016 biography, Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of the New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist, is available on Amazon and elsewhere at a mad, mad discount no Arno fan should pass up. Incidentally, if any reader can identify the gag writer for the two other sizzling platter cartoons by Shermund and Day, or whether they indeed used a gag writer at all, please come forward and tell the epicurean world what we need to know.

Surely Peter Arno produced far more than his share of unsurpassed work throughout his career and Attempted Bloggery humbly begs to bring you more of it. I seek scans or photographs of original cartoon art by Arno as well as examples of rare and obscure published work from outside of the well-thumbed pages of The New Yorker. Please send me something that sizzles.
December 31, 2017 Update:  Peter Arno's original book cover illustration is in Harry's Bar, London. It's in the center on the back wall.
Harry's Bar in London by Mark Birley
Image added May 7, 2020

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Sunday, May 29, 2016

Frank Modell (1917-2016)

New Yorker cartoonist Frank Modell died Friday at age 98. In a tribute published on Ink Spill yesterday, cartoonist Michael Maslin called him "a cartoonist's cartoonist." He was also a collector's cartoonist, happy to provide the art market with work that was sometimes more delightful than even his published cartoons.

For example, an original cartoon of his was shown at the Westport Historical Society on April 25, 2014. It looks for all the world like a New Yorker cartoon, but it is actually a close variant of one. The topic, as it happens, is the reading of a will.
"The will reads as follows: 'Being of sound mind and disposition, I blew it all.'"
Frank Modell, Variant cartoon art, The New Yorker, February 5, 1972, page 31


Now a similar drawing of his was sold back in 2013 from the Mark Birley collection at Sotheby's London. It went for the astonishing sum of 4000 GBP, although it too is not the published New Yorker drawing, but another variant.
"His will reads as follows.  'Being of sound mind and disposition, I blew it all.'"
Frank Modell, Variant cartoon art, The New Yorker, February 5, 1972, page 31


Sotheby's London, March 21, 2013, Lot 491


After seeing and admiring these two versions of the drawing, the actual published cartoon looks more like a rough sketch. It's hard to imagine either of the other versions being preliminary to this. They most likely are redraws of the published cartoon created to meet the demand of eager collectors.

"His will reads as follows.  'Being of sound mind and disposition, I blew it all.'"
Frank Modell, The New Yorker, February 5, 1972, page 31


Frank Modell leaves a legacy which includes much joy. His website features a print of his clown signature...
Modell's Dancing Clown print


...and on eBay there is an example of his dog signature:
Frank Modell's dog signature


 Note:  Ink Spill's tribute to Frank Modell mentioned above and older posts can be found here.

Attempted Bloggery's previous posts about Frank Modell are here.

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Sunday, January 26, 2014

George Price: The Best Revenge

Two drawings by George Price from the Mark Birley collection were sold at Sotheby's London last year. Neither is captioned, but they both make use of the written word.

The first depicts a man in his home surrounded by a clutter of tacky objects. He wears a T-shirt reading "Living Well is the Best Revenge." This is everything one could want in a Price drawing. It plays to all of his strengths. It was originally published in the New Yorker in 1982, but this was not known to Sotheby's.

The second bears a sign that reads "Carry Your Dog." Set on an escalator, it demonstrates the artist's extraordinary skill in drafting and perspective. It too had originally been published in the New Yorker but again Sotheby's missed this. Price's characteristic shading with Ben-Day would seem to have faded over the years. Both drawings also were collected in The World of George Price:  A 55-Year Retrospective (1988).

George Price, Living Well is the Best Revenge
Original artwork for the New Yorker, June 14, 1982, p. 43
The World of George Price:  A 55-Year Retrospective. New York:  Beaufort, 1988

George Price, Carry Your Dog,
Original artwork for the New Yorker, May 24, 1947, p. 40
The World of George Price:  A 55-Year Retrospective. New York:  Beaufort, 1988

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/mark-birley-collection/lot.489.html
George Price, Living Well is the Best Revenge
The New Yorker, June 14, 1982, p. 43

George Price, Living Well is the Best Revenge
The New Yorker, June 14, 1982, p. 43
George Price, Carry Your Dog,
The New Yorker, May 24, 1947, p. 40

George Price, Carry Your Dog,
The New Yorker, May 24, 1947, p. 40


 Note:  Read more on this blog about George Price here.

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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Cartoons from the Mark Birley Collection

Pity Sotheby's London. In selling off the collection of Mark Birley, they had to deal with eight cartoons by various artists, five of them Americans. So how did they categorize lot 452? Why, it's Miscellaneous, of course!
Eight cartoons from the Mark Birley collection

First up, The Greeter at Annabel's strikes me as a bit primitive, particularly in the crude rendering of the hands. Perhaps I detect the influence of David Levine or Ranan Lurie in this caricature by John Springs.
John Springs, The Greeter at Annabel's

Sotheby's didn't recognize that this cartoon by Frank Modell was published in the New Yorker in 1977. Unfortunately, the artwork was executed in felt tip pen. Not even forty years old, it has faded exceedingly. I hope this prolific artist's other drawings have fared better.
Frank Modell, "Look, if I'm boring you, say so."
Original artwork for the New Yorker, June 27, 1977, p. 29
Frank Modell, "Look, if I'm boring you, say so."
The New Yorker, June 27, 1977, p. 29

Frank Modell, "Look, if I'm boring you, say so."
The New Yorker, June 27, 1977, p. 29


Mischa Richter's New Yorker cartoon has fared considerably better. The magazine used to frame some of the less marketable drawings in this manner with published text revealed in windows in the matte. These were given, I believe, as corporate gifts.
Mischa Richter, "It's very gratifying, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with it."
Original artwork for the New Yorker, July 16, 1984, p. 57

Mischa Richter, "It's very gratifying, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with it."
The New Yorker, July 16, 1984, p. 57


Mischa Richter, "It's very gratifying, but there's a lot of responsibility that goes along with it."
The New Yorker, July 16, 1984, p. 57
Gary Larson's "The Far Side" panel strip needs no introduction, I suppose. It's interesting that he inscribed this original right in the middle of the image and added a small, unrelated drawing there.
Gary Larson, "One of the nicest evenings I've ever spent at the Wilson's...and then you had to go and do that on the rug!"
"The Far Side," November 5, 1980
Inscribed with drawing "To Mr. Birley/Happy Birthday!/Gary Larson"

Gary Larson, "One of the nicest evenings I've ever spent at the Wilson's...and then you had to go and do that on the rug!"
"The Far Side," November 5, 1980
As reprinted in the Tufts Daily, February 24, 1989, p. 15

Of course, I'd like to know where and when this Peter Arno cartoon was published. Anybody?
Peter Arno, "Yes, this is the 'A.1. Physical Culture School'!" 1932

This political cartoon by Steve Breen from ten years ago strikes me as an unexceptional idea, although it is reasonably well-drawn. It isn't especially partisan, either.
Steve Breen, Study Finds Owners and Their Pets Look Alike...
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 1, 2004
Inscribed "Best wishes, Steve Breen"
Does anyone know who this cartoonist is?
Artist Unknown (Brewster?) [English School, 20th Century], "If there's one thing I can't stand it's being called a doyen."

Finally, here's some rugby humor from Terence Parkes ("Larry"), for those who can't get by on cricket humor alone.
Terence Parkes ("Larry"), Scrum

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/mark-birley-collection/lot.452.html



Eight cartoons from the Mark Birley collection




Note:  Peter Arno's cartoons have been known to appear in the blog. Here, for example.

Frank Modell's cartoons have also made the rounds here.

Mischa Richter too. See his cartoons on the blog here.

Maybe one day I'll give equal time to Terence Parkes ("Larry"). Meanwhile, there's a nice selection of his artwork at Chris Beetles here.

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