Showing posts with label Peter de Sève. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter de Sève. Show all posts

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Bird's Nest in the City: Peter de Sève Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Back in 2004, a red-tailed hawk named Pale Male and his mate at the time Lulu made headlines in New York City and beyond when their nest was removed from an upscale Fifth Avenue apartment building. The co-op received a lot of negative press. The board soon reversed itself and made provisions that allowed the birds to build a new nest. That episode was in all likelihood the inspiration for a New Yorker cover proposal by illustrator Peter de Sève. The rough was not accepted by the magazine, although it did appear in the 2009 monograph A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève. The original art was sold on eBay in a charity auction in late 2017.

Peter de Sève
eBay listing ended December 23, 2017

Peter de Sève
eBay item description

Peter de Sève
eBay bid history
It seems the winning bidder left two separate bids high enough to win two days apart.






"The Legend of Pale Male" Trailer




Note:  Readers in possession of original art by Peter de Sève are encouraged to submit images to Attempted Bloggery.








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Saturday, September 30, 2023

Peter de Sève: Who's on Top?

A copy of A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève (2009) currently listed on AbeBooks by Doodletown Farm Books—how can anyone not love that name?—contains an original sketch by the artist. There's an inscription, apparently not photographed for the listing. Peter de Sève's sketch reflects the cover illustration . . . with one key difference.



Peter de Sève
AbeBooks listing accessed September 29, 2023









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Friday, September 29, 2023

David's Copy of Local Fauna by Peter de Sève (with Preliminary and Original "To the Sea!" New Yorker Cover Art)

Sorry about that ungainly title. Today blog contributor David from Manhattan shares a scan of a book page graced with an original drawing by the illustrator Peter de Sève. This appears in David's fabulous personalized copy of the artist's new retrospective collection Local Fauna: The Art of Peter de Sève (2023).



Perhaps you recognize the character—it's Scrat from the "Ice Age" movies—but do you recognize the context of his jump? How does one obtain such a desirable copy of this book anyway? David explains all:

So there you have it. Here's the original New Yorker's cover art "To the Sea!" as currently displayed at the Philippe Labaune Gallery:

"To the Sea!"
Peter de Sève

Original art
The New Yorker, July 24, 2023

Photo by Claude Haber

"To the Sea!"
Peter de Sève

The New Yorker, July 24, 2023

Image added September 30, 2023


From the gallery catalogue:



Side by side:
https://www.philippelabaune.com/show/philippe-labaune-gallery-peter-de-seve---local-fauna





All gone:



Scrat, of course, is a popular character from the "Ice Age" franchise. For the sake of comparison, and to get an idea of contemporary book dealer pricing, here's a copy of A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève (2009) from Borg Antiquarian of Lake Forest with another original drawing of the world's favorite acorn-collecting saber-toothed squirrel:

 






A self-portrait

Peter de Sève
AbeBooks listing accessed September 28, 2023

Peter de Sève
AbeBooks item description


Note:  Once again, my thanks go to David from Manhattan for his wonderful scan and for providing the story behind it. This is the fifty-eighth Attempted Bloggery post he has contributed to. That's dedication for you.


Thanks also to Claude Haber for the gallery photograph. This is Claude's fourth contribution to the blog.


Just a reminder:  You too can share your original art and sketches by Peter de Sève with the readers of this blog. Just send me a scan or two.




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Sunday, July 16, 2023

A Coney Island Balloon Seller: Peter de Sève Original New Yorker Cover Art

This past Tuesday, South Bay Auctions on Long Island sold a work of original New Yorker cover art from the issue of September 6, 1993. The artist is Peter de Sève and the subject is a Coney Island balloon seller. He is shown seated on the boardwalk, shaped a bit like one of his striped balloons. He gazes off to the right, hoping to find more business just as the summer season is coming to an end. The work is framed and glazed, ready to hang on someone's wall.

Peter de Sève
Framed original cover art
The New Yorker, September 6, 1993

Peter de Sève
Original cover art
The New Yorker, September 6, 1993

Detail of the Coney Island balloon seller

Detail

Detail

Peter de Sève's signature


The art was given a presale estimate of $300 to $500, quite low for a New Yorker cover original. Bidding started at $150 and there was one online bid placed some three days or more before the sale.

Online bidding as of July 9, 2023, three days prior to the auction



The actual sale price was more typical of the market value for a New Yorker cover.
Peter de Sève
South Bay Auctions, July 12, 2023

Peter de Sève
Original cover art
The New Yorker, September 6, 1993

Peter de Sève
The New Yorker, September 6, 1993




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Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Cape Cod 2019: Peter de Sève's Summer Getaway

"Summer Getaway" is the title of Peter de Sève's New Yorker cover of July 28, 2008. Titles add little if anything to the magazine's covers, but at least this one has a clever double meaning. 
Peter de Sève
"Summer Getaway"
The New Yorker, July 28, 2008


No surprise here:  "Summer Getaway" is also the title of the New York Puzzle Company's 500 piece jigsaw puzzle of the New Yorker cover. 
Peter de Sève
"Summer Getaway"
The New Yorker, July 28, 2008
New York Puzzle Company



It's available for purchase on Amazon. It was also available as entertainment last week in our rental home on Cape Cod, where we traveled for what was a little too early to call a summer getaway.
Peter de Sève
"Summer Getaway"
The New Yorker, July 28, 2008
New York Puzzle Company



This puzzle as a work in progress may be seen here. Spoiler alert:  the full solution is about to be revealed below.


The puzzle solved:



Note:  Credit for the completion of this puzzle goes to my family and especially to my wife. I had nothing whatever to do with the days-long effort except for the photography.



Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:
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Sunday, March 13, 2016

Something Rotten!

On Tuesday evening we saw the musical "Something Rotten!" (2015) at the St. James Theatre. It was a very enjoyable show. Illustrations for the production are by Peter de Sève. I've collected a few of them here.



http://rottenbroadway.com/offers.php


The Poster:
Poster by Peter de Sève

Originally, the Playbills were in color. They have since been redesigned for black and white. That can't be a good sign.
Playbill

Ten Tony nominations:
Billboard

Christian Borle won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor. He plays Shakespeare.

Alas...
https://twitter.com/peterdeseve/status/580131995386269696

"A Musical"
Brad Oscar as Nostradamus
Brian d'Arcy James as Nick Bottom
Music and Lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
"Something Rotten!"

Brad Oscar and Brian d'Arcy James


January 9, 2016 Update:  Stephen Kroninger has sent an image of his daughter's Playbill signed by the cast on closing night January 1st.
Playbill signed by the cast on closing night.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Kroninger



Note:  Of course this blog covers Broadway. What won't I do for you?

The talented Peter de Sève has been mentioned here in the context of the 1996 production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." I admit it's not much, but then what does your blog have to say about him?

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