Dali Draws Harpo

Surrealist Salvador Dali made a pencil drawing of comedian Harpo Marx in February of 1937. Harpo did not get to keep the art, but he was rewarded with a signed print inscribed by the artist. The original is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Harpo's print, though, is available from Schubertiade Music.

Harpo Marx
Schubertiade listing accessed June 12, 2023

https://www.schubertiademusic.com/items/details/10076

Collectors who prefer to pay more can get the same item from AbeBooks with an extra commission:

Harpo Marx
AbeBooks listing accessed June 12, 2023

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31333167623&searchurl=kn%3DDisney%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp2-_-image19

If you would rather pay less, get yourself a reliable time machine and go back to the Bonhams auction of November 25, 2013, where it sold for $4,000 including the premium.

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/21427/lot/17/an-inscribed-reproduction-portrait-of-harpo-marx-by-salvador-dali/

04348

Edward Koren: Eight Figures

Schubertiade Music of Brooklyn offers a large-scale, 77 x 56.5 cm, original drawing by The New Yorker's Edward Koren. The eight figures are wearing fanciful tribal or ceremonial gear. The three lower ones exhibit a general symmetry, but this does not carry over into the upper part of the sheet where the figure on the left dominates.

It is interesting to see the directions Koren's art takes when he is not working on single-panel cartoons or commissioned illustration. Here he seems concerned with matters of mass and space, movement and balance—half the creatures have only one foot on the ground. All the while, Koren brings a delightful pageantry into play. Throughout the composition, he maintains both his sense of line and his sense of humor. One surely would not mistake this for his classic work in The New Yorker, yet one also would never mistake this for the work of anyone but Ed Koren.

Edward Koren
AbeBooks listing accessed November 6, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31333167746&searchurl=kn%3DThe%2BNew%2BYorker%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D0&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image18

There's a better deal. The drawing is available from the seller for $225 less on eBay than on AbeBooks, although shipping is $10 more:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374551374302?hash=item57350069de:g:9ZMAAOSwBbNkB-sf&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwIKlxd0VJ01ne%2B%2FQZdryZdprIQDfZfnGYk25ElLI%2FC%2B%2Bvx6r6ZSjyQlVuZr9u7ZVDW6uCWQMsqxO3FWxoVP1S0gPeD3OgO
pexcbb282HkW7FGlm96ImH3d2J1%2FBQ3vSJVILJIaLeAepctnejsvvhiJcDQDrM1pmh9xC1WD5jIiOOfsw1Yt5oEk9ZNHbLYqc94OHmQRIftJR98EUBK%2BvsXEy9Y5gOtEaqE0wOmQtC703cORe7EsoRXZ8udf8h2l%2FU9g%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-DFydndYQ

Edward Koren's signature

04261

Edward Koren: A Fish

A charming sketch of a fish drawn in the unmistakeable hand of New Yorker cartoonist Edward Koren. It has been sold on eBay by Schubertiade Music and Arts. There is a small notch at the left edge that can be hidden with some careful matting and there is also some mild discoloration. The drawing was sold at the Buy It Now price of $230.

Edward Koren
eBay listing ended December 19, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384829335481?hash=item59999da7b9%3Ag%3A4pwAAOSw-K5hMmPL&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwEuZ5loRU1KL3%2FpeqXgJ6UgyJ%2FUlEulpk2ExsvQB7PKmPBUntQaRhaVJ7jvROgkZPOtdZQpxQxmHJeDA7ygJfVupW3bZuddTJ95wM%2FrbWoQ7VQFJzRBUkjI2O5uhH%2FcXXTstY

MHy6QpZLyNP7dn6kas%2F9JDpbVCx%2BSsW88jfTxm47vFy65y6YT5IJW0DGtAiMufcPNAw%2Ftj89Bve5ulyo0lcKkF9%2B%2Bwm4YjjVGRrYPzNXxLs7QnRcQluvumibwU2AA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR97j5K3cYQ&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig

_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Edward Koren
eBay item description

04260

William Steig: The Financial Treadmill

A William Steig concept drawing shows a man walking on a treadmill, unhappily writing a check as he pursues riches that at least for the moment are out of his reach. Unsigned, the sheet is numbered 2 in a circle, indicating that it is part of a sequence, very likely for an unknown animated project. It was offered at auction yesterday along with other animation art from other unknown projects. Another drawing depicts a couple returning home from an evening out when they are met by a girl, seen from behind, opening the door. This drawing, also unsigned, is either in the hand of, or else in the manner of, Gahan Wilson. Finally, a red car seems to morph, Transformers-style, into some complex mechanical gizmo. Steig, we know, collaborated with Weston Woods Studios in an animated version of "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" (1993), so it is just possible that this small, disparate collection comes from there. Whatever studio they're from, these pieces failed to find a buyer.

William Steig, Gahan Wilson, et al.

Schubertiade Music & Arts

August 3, 2022, lot 102

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/steig-william-1907-2003-original-drawing-102-c-8174024a65

Note:  Should some observant reader recognize any of these animation projects, please come forward.

04036

Roz Chast: Monoprint of The Four Elements

Roz Chast's cartoon Nature Girl and the Four Elements was published in The New Yorker in 1985.

Nature Girl and the Four Elements
Roz Chast
The New Yorker, February 18, 1985, page 38

The cartoon was redrawn in color for the cover of the collection The Four Elements (1988). The title was simplified and Nature Girl was edited out.

Less familiar is a monoprint of the gag created by the artist in 2013. A monoprint is basically an image created with printmaking techniques, but with an edition size of one. In addition, The Four Elements is hand-colored. This bold image could have been created for a gallery show, although there are other possibilities. It is currently offered for sale at $3,360 by an eBay seller who also has an original Chast watercolor priced at $2,500.

Roz Chast
eBay listing accessed August 12, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124829341081?hash=item1d10689599:g:l9EAAOSwHGthAbCR

Roz Chast
eBay item description

https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?item=124829341081&_ssn=schubertiade_music_and_arts&_osacat=0&hash=item1d10689599%3Ag%3Al9EAAOSwHGthAbCR&_odkw=&_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Chast&_sacat=0

Cartoons by Roz Chast and Lee Lorenz

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1985-02-18/flipbook/038/

03720

Cartoons by Roz Chast: Original Poster Art

I suppose I should try to be less critical of eBay sellers who can't take decent photographs. When Roz Chast's original exhibition poster art for Cartoons by Roz Chast was offered on eBay last year, you could actually see the shadow of arms holding a camera. That's no way to sell a watercolor for $850. The sales pitch wasn't any better: "Painted by the artist of her now-famous characters." The artwork ended up selling for a Best Offer of $500. Some collector got lucky, right?

Cartoons by Roz Chast
Original poster art

Detail

Roz Chast's signature

Roz Chast
eBay Listing Ended January 28, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Roz-Chast-Poster-/223341128114?hash=item34002b29b2%3Ag%3AC7UAAOSwj0BcNl9f&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Roz Chast
eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History
Best Offer (of $500) Accepted

Not exactly. Schubertiade Music has acquired the poster original and for the past year or so has been offering it again on eBay, this time for $2500, a 400% markup over the $500 accepted Best Offer. The new seller did manage to obtain a good scan of the original and the text is certainly reasonable. Oh, best offers are not being entertained.

Cartoons by Roz ChastOriginal poster art

Roz Chast
eBay Listing Accessed May 2, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Roz-CHAST-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-Cartoons-by-Roz-Chast-Hand-Painted-Poster/123761881847?hash=item1cd0c872f7:g:a2YAAOSwyZhc1FuL

Note:  This post feels somewhat incomplete without an image of the original poster. Readers who can identify the referenced exhibition are urged to do so.

Attempted Bloggery welcomes reader submissions depicting original works by Roz Chast. No shadows, please.

The original art remains available on eBay at the time of this posting.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Roz Chast

Posters

Attempted Bloggery's Now-Famous Index

03247