Annals of Censorship: Richard Taylor and Hateful Activities

I generate all sorts of content for this blog, and I share much of it from virtually every new post on various social media platforms. Once I send my curated images out into the world, they may be subjected to varying interpretations of community standards on the respective sites. There could even be some censorship leading to permanent removal of some of the content.

Last year, a Pinterest pin of mine featured proposed New Yorker cover art by Richard Taylor, a favorite cartoonist. It was no doubt from the latter part of World War II. The pin was subsequently "deactivated" from the site for "hateful activities, because it contains support for hate based groups or ideologies." The Taylor art is from a 2022 post, "Richard Taylor Goes to War." The artwork had been sold that year by Swann Galleries in the June Illustration Art sale.

Richard Taylor
Proposed New Yorker cover art

Swann had referred to the work as "Worried Hitler." Taylor's art celebrates the Fuerher's panic as he contemplates a war that is inexorably going against him. His justified paranoia prevents him from trusting his generals, who lurk menacingly in the background. In other words, this is anything but supportive of Nazi ideology. Sure, it does have a prominent swastika on that flag hanging from the wall. Taken out of the context of my original post, could this image really be seen as a violation of Pinterest's Community Guidelines on hateful ideologies?

Well, it was. But I feel certain that in the mid-1940s, when this illustration failed to meet The New Yorker's needs for a cover, no one would have mistaken it for pro-Hitler, pro-Nazi, or containing "support for hate based groups or ideologies." Today, though, corporations may be erring on the side of caution. A PDF explains "This violation was reported to" Pinterest. That certainly sounds as if a human reported it. The complaint may then have been reviewed by algorithm; who knows whether any human input was sought or, indeed, whether the involved human would know any pertinent history.

I had the decision reviewed earlier this year, without any change in the verdict.

Thus the pin was permanently removed from my Attempted Bloggery board on Pinterest. Oddly, though, there is another board of mine, this one about Taylor, where you can still see the image from the pin. It's here, but with absolutely no supporting text. 

Now watch—someone's going to report me.

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Five Housepets and a Globe: Ronald Searle Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Five concerned housepets ponder the state of the world in a New Yorker cover proposal by Ronald Searle. The globe sitting on what is evidently a scholar's desk is surrounded by a dog, three cats—one a small kitten—and a parrot. The magazine's ubiquitous strap is rendered in heavy black ink along the left border intersecting with the perpendicular line of the desk top. Ample room is set aside at the top for the magazine's logo. But The New Yorker rejected this design.

Searle, working in the south of France, submitted finished artwork for his proposed covers. Even without a sale to the magazine, the art could be used in some future book (this one wasn't) or sold to a collector. The year of creation would be handwritten on the studio stamp on the verso of the art. Doyle New York did not disclose any such date in its sale of this piece on December 9, 2021 but it looks to be from around 1989, give or take.

Ronald Searle
Doyle New York sale of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, December 9, 2021

https://www.doyle.com/auction/lot/lot-222---searle-ronald-pets--a-dog-cats-and-a-parrot-/?lot=1310521&so=4&st=Ronald%20Searle&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

In the catalogue's description of the lot, Doyle speculates that these animals are "perhaps planning global domination." I would further speculate that the author of those words is from the generation that grew up with "Pinky and the Brain."

Note:  See yesterday's post for James Thurber's much simpler approach to a similar idea.

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The Doorman Whistles: Ed Arno Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

A watercolor and ink drawing by cartoonist Ed Arno changed hands on eBay nearly ten years ago. Yes, I'm just getting to it.

The art depicts a red-carpeted hotel entrance. The uniformed doorman, umbrella in hand, steps out of doors to whistle for a cab while a man in business attire waits warm and dry inside.

It's snowing in the great city, although you might miss this if you didn't look carefully just to the sides of the awning.

It's hard to imagine this artwork as anything but a proposed New Yorker cover. The eBay seller's description suggests it was used as an actual New Yorker cover, but sometimes we must indulge sellers their delusions of grandeur. If mika-1234 really thought this was a published cover from The New Yorker, I doubt she would have let it go for $53.58.

Large detail of upper portion including where the magazine's logo presumably would go

Large detail of lower portion of art

Detail of doorman blowing his whistle

Ed Arno's signature

Verso

Ed Arno
eBay listing ended January 28, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ed-Arno-Original-New-Yorker-Magazine-Cover-Illustration-Art-Painting-/121869202035hash=item1c5ff87273

%3Ag%3A2cQAAOSwLnlWnX6d&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ed Arno
eBay item description

Note:  Personally, I don't fault The New Yorker's editors for not buying this cover proposal. It seems to not tell us enough about the personalities of the two men who are shown here. I can imagine someone like Charles Saxon doing a lot more with the concept.

As you may have already gathered from your reading here, this blog endeavors to showcase New Yorker cover proposals and New Yorker cover originals, from Ed Arno art to Peter Arno art. Not necessarily in that order, and not necessarily in a timely fashion.

Ten years ago, as a younger blogger, I was not in the habit of archiving the eBay bid history. Not seeing it here, I kind of miss it.

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Law 'n Order at Last: W. B. Park Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

W. B. Park's art was never featured on the cover of The New Yorker magazine, but that doesn't mean he didn't try to get it there. My guess is that Park's illustration titled Law 'n Order at Last was a proposal for a New Yorker cover. One big clue is the dark green steel girder running down the left-hand border of the artwork, the strap that The New Yorker famously uses on pretty much all its covers since the very first one. The illustration shows a big city that has been transformed into a police state, with apartment buildings that are now cell blocks.

SWAT teams, FBI agents, the bomb squad, and police are all out in force. The uppermost road sign says No Left Turn. Get it?

W. B. Park's signature and handwritten title

That Cell Block awning address reads suspiciously like a date:  November 30, 2007.

Impassive faces may be seen behind the window bars. Park meant to convey something serious.

Verso

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended April 30, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204871104589?_skw=%22W.+B.+Park%22&itmmeta=01K0ZSKEHQ7DCGV58XAV93GNDW&hash=item2fb344f84d:g:Py4AAOSwstZmh24h&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cbv3d1QpCBg9aXZ%2BilIIv7uimYuNKYTP6LBvNgUcUpfmPwDWDdSxBXyR%2FLLkWQFe9

hkKdj0356zTJmbEgLSaY1liAsZhqa5pLXcOuRZkpYPQUz%2BWYdLo%2BVU%2FF8BYoq4YAoVLqeBq4FUXbXyq9D408IRbxIUvZtZtJNATNVxtj5F6WYzchRdqy2SqBn4hMdkX2OyAGTZReEXmlRlFG3t1CM7Tgpvf5C9oSbHWuT6iu93dC%2FzlhHHet7K2ALPc0XS30%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_rozfmHZg

W. B. Park
eBay eBay item description

Note:  I do love to speculate, but I would never claim to know it all. If this artwork by W. B. Park was indeed published, I wish to hear form readers who can identify the where and when, or else the means, motive, and opportunity.

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Gahan Wilson: Apocalypse on Fifth Avenue

Gahan Wilson's original cartoon for the New Yorker issue of January 19, 1998, shows a city undergoing an calamity of apocalyptic proportions.

"Still, you gotta admit crime is down."
Gahan Wilson
Original art
The New Yorker, January 19, 1998, p. 57

Gahan Wilson's signature

The mockup, right, suggests the artwork was considered as a New Yorker cover, sans caption. The colors are untrue to the original. Note the addition of the Fifth Avenue signpost, probably as an overlay. The date, January 9, 1998, does not correspond to a published issue of the magazine. Nothing about this seems typical.

This intriguing original art was sold at South Bay Auctions, Inc., of Eastern Long Island on June 18. 

Gahan Wilson
South Bay Auctions, Inc., listing accessed June 12, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Gahan-Wilson-American-1930-2019-,-New-Yorker-Car-112-c-11B452BB8E?utm_term=cartoon&utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalerts&utm_content=group-noapp&utm_term=348294

Sold!

When published in The New Yorker as a cartoon, the Fifth Avenue sign seen on the cover mockup was retained.

"Still, you gotta admit crime is down."
Gahan Wilson
The New Yorker, January 19, 1998, p. 57

"Still, you gotta admit crime is down."
Gahan Wilson
Original art
The New Yorker, January 19, 1998, p. 57

With a drawing by Gahan Wilson

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1998-01-19/flipbook/056/

Note:  Original cartoon art by Gahan Wilson is usually a good subject for this blog, whether or not the world as we know it is coming to an end. Please send images of what lies hiddin within your collection.

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Last Night's Swann Salon

Last night I ventured downtown to attend a Swann Salon at the auction house of that name.

There was a short preview of the forthcoming "Women Laughing" film documentary which happily exceeded my expectations. In addition, the gallery was set up for today's sale of Illustration Art: Featuring the Collection of Lee Lorenz. I thought I'd share photographs of a small selection of the art before its dispersal:

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