The New Yorker Book of New York Cartoons is a 2004 collection published by Bloomberg Press. Its subject matter, cartoons about the City of New York from a magazine that celebrates that city and is named for its prototypical denizen, should qualify it as one of the least improbable books to be put together by the Cartoon Bank. The cover illustration by Michael Witte shows the magazine's mascot Eustace Tilley doing his perennial butterfly-gazing into a snow globe of Manhattan.
Tina Marie's copy, sold earlier this month on eBay, is something of a rarity. It is signed by cartoonist Leo Cullum (1942–2010), not an easy find, and embellished with a drawing of a cat in a collar, no doubt an apartment dweller in a certain vibrant metropolis.
The New Yorker Book of New York Cartoons eBay listing accessed December 13, 2022
Last week reader jmodonoghue left a comment on the blog directing me to an auction of an original drawing by Donald Trump. I had chronicled a few of these drawings done for charity back in 2017 around the time of his Presidential Inauguration but I was unaware of this resale, which occurred in December of 2017. Back before his run for the Presidency, Donald Trump was in demand to provide original drawings to be offered at charity auctions and he often complied with the requests. From the sporadic examples I've seen, the artwork he contributed frequently became top sellers at these auctions. I would estimate his drawings generated well over $100,000 for various charities, perhaps quite more. The drawing that was sold by Nate D. Sanders Auctions in December 2017 was created for Wisconsin Honors in 2014. The auction listing dutifully notes that it is a sketch of the New York skyline in winter. No doubt the absence of foliage suggested winter to whoever described this drawing. Sanders also notes the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. Long-time New Yorkers may wish to identify this bridge instead as the Queensboro Bridge (or the 59th Street Bridge) which connects Trump's native Queens to Manhattan. Trump, who is not an artist, produced drawings for charity auctions that often outsold work contributed by more skilled draftsmen. It is obvious that he did not delegate these to anyone else. One reason for their success, no doubt was his celebrity, long-established in New York but made national by "The Apprentice." The other reason, I think, is that Trump's drawings are an excellent example of his uncanny skill at branding. By focusing on New York's skyline, he creates images that reinforce his reputation as a major real estate developer.
Donald Trump Nate D. Sanders Auction Listing December 14, 2017
A 1933 ink and wash drawing by Mischa Richter depicts New York's "Jewish District," clearly the Lower East Side. Still an art student, Richter is here being influenced by the Ashcan School. At this early date, Richter is still writing his initials in the Cyrillic alphabet. He was to be graduated from the Yale School of Fine Arts in the following year.
Mischa Richter Jewish District, New York, 1933
Mischa Richter Skinner, Discovery—April 9, 2014, Lot 88
On the eve of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a turkey balloon sits perched on the 34th Street entrance of Macy's Herald Square.
Macy's flagship New York store November 22, 2017
Photograph courtesy of my wife
The 91st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade poster
Image added November 24, 2017
Note: Happy Thanksgiving. I will not personally be taking any pictures of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons this year, but I probably could be persuaded to accept photographs submitted by readers of the balloon inflation or of the parade. Try me.
An original 2005 sketch by Donald Trump features Trump Tower as a prominent landmark in the New York City skyline. The boldly-signed drawing's sale last week was picked up the news media and helped to create some buzz for Nate D. Sanders Auctions. For years, Mr. Trump's sketches for charity auctions were a win-win for both the then–real estate developer and the various charities he supported. The charities were only too pleased to have Trump's participation. A press release from Pitney Bowes, the sponsor of the "Pushing the Envelope" campaign to support literacy, listed Donald Trump first among the celebrities contributing drawings. Bidders, in turn, responded enthusiastically to his sketches.
Trump, for his part, did well too. He was able to participate in charity events at no financial cost to himself; he donated signed drawings that took a few minutes at most to create. Despite lacking any drawing skills to speak of, he was able to create signature works that effectively promoted both himself and his brand, not an easy thing for anyone. As might be expected, his election as President of the United States has increased interest in Trump memorabilia including drawings that are out there. This one had a minimum bid of $9,000 and sold on July 27th for $29,184.
Donald Trump Nate D. Sanders Auction Listing July 27, 2017
The auction house listing states this piece was "Originally drawn by Trump for a charity event, and very rare, with only a handful of such drawings known." That "handful," so far as I can tell, was identified through research done here on this very blog. In the blog archives there are three other drawings of the New York skyline by Mr. Trump, two on paper and one on a ceramic mask. There is also a tracing done by Trump of his own hand. Not that you asked, but it's quite large.
Note: Look in the blog archives here for what may well be the most complete record of Donald Trump's drawings for charity events.
In 1973, Cullen Rapp, Inc., as agent for cartoonist Lou Myers, send art directors a mailer that folded out into a poster of Times Square. Such mailers were used to inform potential advertisers of the talents who were available for hire and to provide a showcase for them. Times Square in 1973 wasn't the sparkling, tourist-friendly haven it is today; it was teeming with seedy hotels, peep shows, sex shops, and X-rated movie houses. Myers shows us not only the bustling streets; he gives us cutaway views into the hotels and other businesses, treating each room as a freestanding cartoon panel. The result is overwhelming, a comic compendium of impossibly bizarre practices. Myers's 2005 obituary in the Times by Steven Heller makes note both of his risk-taking and of his success with corporate clients. This image of Times Square shows paradoxically that his talent was not only provocative, it was marketable.
We caught Wednesday night's performance of "Julius Caesar" in Central Park. The smart-looking production was intensely comic, then tragic—although I'm not sure those two elements meshed seamlessly in this particular case. Nevertheless, it was thought-provoking and well worth an evening.
The obelisk
The empty stage
Playbill
"Julius Caesar"
The company
Members of the audience went up on stage before the show.
On a trail that crosses private property, the owner of the land may grant permission to allow passage. This easement may be revoked at will by the property owner. Sidewalks in Manhattan are, of course, public rights of way, so it is unexpected, to say the least, to find a plaque declaring a patch of heavily-traveled sidewalk on Seventh Avenue to be private property. Yet such a plaque can be found directly across the street from the entrance to Penn Station. Is this a prank? Who would go to the trouble to cement it into the sidewalk?
"PRIVATE PROPERTY PERMISSION TO CROSS REVOKED AT WILL"
Aerosolized ink spatter on the wall is officially acknowledged to be collateral damage from last year's visit by Ralph Steadman to the Society of Illustrators in New York.
