Last night I ventured downtown to attend a Swann Salon at the auction house of that name.
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I cried for madder music and for stronger wine,
But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire,
Then falls thy shadow, Cynara! the night is thine;
And I am desolate and sick of an old passion,
Yea, hungry for the lips of my desire:
I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.—Ernest DownsonNon sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae
In May 2008 an eBay seller from New Hampshire posted a somewhat blurry image of a Lee Lorenz cartoon, "You the party calling for madder music and stronger wine?" At the time I was interested in New Yorker cartoons with a literary connection, and the gag line, quoting Victorian poet Ernest Downson, seemed perfect.
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| "You the party calling for madder music and stronger wine?" Lee Lorenz Original art The New Yorker, October 26, 1963 p. 44 |
Even if you weren't familiar with Downson, it was pretty funny coming from a waiter doing a fine job of keeping a straight face.
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| Detail of the waiter |
Published in the magazine in the issue of October 26, 1963, it's a nice example of what might be called his in-between style of late 1950s-early 60s with hints of his mature style still to come. I bought it, without competition, for $107, including postage.
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| "For Miss Wood with much affection, Lee" |
The inscription, of course, was intriguing, so I wrote Mr. Lorenz, providing postage, a strong hint that I would like a written or typed note or letter, rather than an email. On May 15, he replied from Eaton, Ct. with a nice hand-written response over two pages:
I moved to Greenwich, Ct. in the middle of my sophomore year in high school. I had the extraordinary good fortune to study with two remarkable teachers over the rest of my high school years--Lucia Cummins, the art teacher who introduced me to both William Steig & Jackson Pollock, and Catherine Wood who introduced me to just about everything else that had ever been written. We remained close friends for many years after I graduated. I think I may have given her the drawing in question as a birthday gift.
It's good to know that it has found a new home with someone who will value it. Thank you for writing. Sincerely, Lee L.
Catherine Wood was also the high school teacher of Truman Capote in 1939-41, and was the first adult to take him seriously as a writer, something that Capote never forgot. As with Lee Lorenz, she and Truman remained friends for years afterward. His letters to her are at the New York Public Library. His earliest work can be found in The Green Witch, the school's literary magazine.
I met Mr. Lorenz only once, at an evening talk at Swann Galleries [on September 26, 2016] that he shared with Edward Sorel, a few days before one of the auction house's Illustration Art sales. Lorenz, who came across as gentle and very cheerful, kindly inscribed my copy of The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995, but the woman with him (possibly his daughter) reminded Lee that they needed to catch a train at Grand Central, so our chat was cut short.
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| "For David, Thanks for sharing such warm memories with me. Lee Lorenz" |
The drawing's dimensions to sight are 11" wide by 10 3/4" high. I've never opened up the frame, so I don't have an image of any New Yorker art department notations and hand stamps, but the original label of the framer is still present, as is a note from Miss Wood: "I have given this picture to Stephen Adams/ Catherine R. Wood/ Sept. 19, 1968."
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| The framer |
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| "I have given this picture to Stephen Adams Catherine R. Wood Sept. 19, 1968" |
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| Detail of the bar patron |
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| Detail of the juke box and sign |
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| "You the party calling for madder music and stronger wine?" Lee Lorenz Original art The New Yorker, October 26, 1963, p. 44 |
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| Cartoons by Lee Lorenz and Robert Weber |
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| "That Krushchev is kind of cute when he wants to be." Robert Weber |
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According to eBay seller dc467 of Paramus, a very nicely signed copy of The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995 by Lee Lorenz that belonged to cartoonist James Stevenson (1929-2017) was obtained from his estate. The seller suggests the volume was "presented to" Stevenson, raising the question of whether he himself attended the book launch party at 70 Lincoln Center Plaza. Stevenson doesn't seem to have signed anybody else's book there, so it's unclear whether he was or was not actually present.
In July, the seller first offered this book for $599.99. It's an unusually high price even for a copy signed by multiple cartoonists, but the volume does come with a great provenance. The truth is, there is no absolute evidence in the book that it belonged to Stevenson, but a lot of the cartoonists addressed him as Jim and seemed familiar enough with him, so there is really no reason to doubt he was the owner. Furthermore, there are apparent inside jokes from Roz Chast, Edward Koren, Victoria Roberts, and Robert Weber, two of them referring to his hair, perhaps his facial hair. A surprising number of the cartoonists signed not on the front endpapers, as seen in several other copies, but on pages in the book alongside their individual printed cartoons. On the downside, there are not enough original drawings here; the two by George Booth and Danny Shanahan are absolute highlights of the book.
The seller, dc467, did not accept sequential offers and counteroffers of $200, $225, and $250. Eventually, though, dc lowered the book's asking price to $350 and in late December, apparently despairing of another opportunity to sell it before Christmas, accepted a best offer of $280.
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| James Stevenson eBay listing ended December 20, 2021 |
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| Robert Weber actually wrote, "To Tom—Jim said that I loved your sculptures, too. Robert Weber." The unidentified signature on the back endpaper belongs to George Plimpton. James Stevenson eBay item description |
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| Sold for best offer of $280 |
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| "To Jim Very best wishes George Plimpton" |
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People fortunate enough to have their work featured as the subject of a New Yorker cartoon just might decide to purchase the original art for themselves. That's precisely what director Joseph L. Manciewicz did when a poster for his movie "Cleopatra," advertising it as "the motion picture the world has been waiting for," appeared in a 1963 cartoon by Rober Weber (1924-2016). Manciewicz passed away in 1993 and his estate held onto the drawing for nearly three more decades, selling the artwork only this past December.
Weber set his scene at a suburban commuter railway platform. Two well-dressed women on their way into the city regard the movie poster by Howard Terpning, which must have been ubiquitous in the summer of 1963. It depicts the stars Rex Harrison (Julius Caesar), Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra), and Richard Burton (Mark Antony). The production of "Cleopatra" experienced widely-publicized delays, but the film was to become the biggest box office draw of the year.
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| "What annoys me is that I know I'm going to see it." Robert Weber Original art The New Yorker, July 20, 1963, page 21 |
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| Robert Weber Bonhams, December 8, 2021 |
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"Cleopatra" (1963) poster Howard Terpning |
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| "What annoys me is that I know I'm going to see it." Robert Weber Original art The New Yorker, July 20, 1963, page 21 |
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| An anonymous spot drawing of a dragonfly over cattails and a cartoon by Robert Weber |
Note: Robert Weber published more than 1,400 cartoons in The New Yorker over the course of his career. Yet this is only the second original New Yorker cartoon art of his to appear on this blog. (There's also a New Yorker magazine ad original for Absolut vodka. But I digress.) Where then is all his original New Yorker art? Have I been subconsciously suppressing it? Or perhaps, dear collectors, have you been deliberately keeping it from me?
By the way, if you should ever pop into Bonhams in Los Angeles, you might let them know that Bruce Weber is a fashion photographer and Robert Weber was a New Yorker cartoonist. Thank you in advance for clearing that up.
I don't really believe the artist who created that spot with the dragonfly and cattails can be identified, but by all means write if you can prove me wrong.
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