Thomas Nast: The Home Market Fallacy

In 1888, cartoonist Thomas Nast had a lot to say against tariffs. Theys were imposed to generate revenues and ostensibly to protect domestic producers, such as farmers, against inexpensive foreign imports. Nast asks whether Uncle Sam would be able to swallow all the farmers' surplus produce on the home market. He makes the case that "The people must be relieved, not burdened." Who knew?

Thomas Nast
Swann Auction Galleries Illustration Art sale of December 14, 2023

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/thomas-nast-the-home-market-fallacy._AE64541AFB

05047

Ronald Searle: Mr. Lemon Hart Conducts

Ronald Searle's 1950's-era British advertising campaign for Lemon Hart Rum was extremely successful. His illustrations featured Mr. Lemon Hart, easily recognized by his elongated limbs and his lemon-colored suit. Original art of Mr. Lemon Hart conducting an orchestra was offered at Sotheby's London on July 18. The lot was given a presale estimate of 2,000 to 3,000 GBP. It did not find a buyer.

Ronald Searle
Sotheby's Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern, July 18, 2023, lot 295

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2023/books-and-manuscripts-medieval-to-modern/ronald-searle-illustration-for-lemon-hart-rum

Ronald Searle
Sotheby's lot description
"Searle contributed to Lemon Hart Rum advertising campaigns for eleven years, between 1955 and 1962." How's that again? The ads started in 1951.

Note:  For information on the long-running ad campaign, the definitive source is Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, right here. At this writing, the artwork and its corresponding print ad is not included in Matt Jones's comprehensive post. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can locate a published version.

04485

Arthur Rackham: Closeted Up With the Fortune-Teller

Arthur Rackham's original illustration Closeted Up With the Fortune-Teller is available from Heritage Book Shop in Beverly Hills. It was published as color plate 4 in the artist's 1929 edition of Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield and is selling for $12,500.

Arthur Rackham
Heritage Book Shop listing accessed July 30, 2023

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/the-fantasy-world-of-arthur-rackham-rare-original-illustrations-from-the-collection-of-shirley-carter-burden/arthur-rackham-original-illustration-for-the-vicar-4

In December of 2021, Sotheby's offered this work, one of many fine original Rackham illustrations from the collection of Shirley Carter Burden. With an estimate of 7,000 to 9,000 GBP, the lot failed to find a buyer.

Arthur Rackham
Sotheby's, December 1, 2021, lot 25

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/the-fantasy-world-of-arthur-rackham-rare-original-illustrations-from-the-collection-of-shirley-carter-burden/arthur-rackham-original-illustration-for-the-vicar-4

https://www.catawiki.com/en/l/70541029-olivier-goldsmith-arthur-rackham-ill-the-vicar-of-wakefield-1929

04396

Saul Steinberg: Pont Royal Table

Saul Steinberg's Pont Royal Table is a 1981 mixed media work on wood. It is currently listed by Los Angeles Modern Auctions with a fixed sale price of $35,000.

Saul Steinberg
LAMA listing accessed June 8, 2023

https://www.lamodern.com/auctions/2023/12/post-war-contemporary-art/116395~

It's nice, but is it $35,000 worth of nice? That offering represents a doubling of the price achieved at Sotheby's in 2022, just a year ago:

Saul Steinberg
Sotheby's auction of May 20, 2022

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/contemporary-day-auction-2/pont-royal-table

Note:  For further background information, see the Saul Steinberg Foundation's page on Drawing Table Reliefs.

04361

Rubber Stamp and Pencil on Paper

The medium is rubber stamp and pencil on paper. That alone might be enough to clue you in that the artist is Saul Steinberg. Executed in 1968, there is no evidence in the current Sotheby's Paris listing that this intriguing image was ever published. Given the practical limitations of the medium (and I suspect there must be some pen and ink in it as well), the composition has a complex geometry and flow. It will go up on the auction block on September 27 with a presale estimate of 4,000-6,000 Euros.

Saul Steinberg
Untitled, 1968

Saul Steinberg
Sotheby's Paris Listing for September 27, 2018

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/cordier-pf1855/lot.158.html?locale=en

September 28, 2018 Update:  Sold!

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Saul Steinberg

Attempted Bloggery's Repetitive Index

02684

E. H. Shepard: Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Jar

A drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh holding the honey jar was made on camera by E. H. Shepard in the late 1960s for a documentary by Hans Keller. The original art was sold at Sotheby's in December.

E. H. Shepard, Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Jar, 1960s

E. H. Shepard
Sotheby's Item Description

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/english-literature-history-childrens-books-illustrations-l16408/lot.329.html

E. H. Shepard, Winnie-the-Pooh and the Honey Jar, 1960s

Note:  I have not been able to locate the video clip of Shepard making this drawing. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

E. H. Shepard

A. A. Milne

Attempted Bloggery's Honeyed Index

02223

Weighing In: Peter Arno Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Before the introduction of the personal weighing scale in the 1940s, there really wasn't much opportunity to weigh oneself, although public, coin-operated scales were a popular novelty. A vintage Peter Arno watercolor depicts a moving man taking advantage of a rare on-the-job chance to weigh himself free of charge. With the sliding weights balancing all the way to the right the news can't be very good for him, but, given the man's portliness, why is it so unexpected?

Arno might be overplaying his hand here, portraying his stunned mover with comic exaggeration in both facial expression and body language. Fingers are splayed on both the man's hands with the far arm raised awkwardly behind him. The orange strap along the left-hand border indicates that this was designed as a New Yorker cover, although it wasn't published quite in this form.

The actual New Yorker cover of October 1, 1932 is executed in a surer hand and may postdate this preliminary artwork by up to a few years. Arno's signature changed, although he signed only his initials in the published art. That awkward far arm is now out of sight and the mover has been given a proper bowler hat for added comic effect. A second mover, this one with a contrasting muted expression, has been added to the composition.

The artwork is from the estate of cartoonist Frank Modell (1917-2016), who began his New Yorker career as an assistant to cartoon editor James Geraghty. Sotheby's noted that Arno had produced 99 covers for the magazine, but failed to identify this piece as preliminary to one of them. It weighed in at a hammer price of $2,400, which comes to $3,000 including the buyer's premium.

Peter Arno
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, October 1, 1932

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/fine-books-manuscripts-n09588/lot.156.html

Peter Arno
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, October 1, 1932

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/fine-books-manuscripts-n09588/lot.156.html

Peter Arno
The New Yorker, October 1, 1932

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1932-10-01#folio=CV1

Note:  Examples of original Peter Arno art are always welcome here. Step right up and let's see what you've got. I'll even guess your weight!

Attempted Bloggery's Quick Links:

Peter Arno

Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Frank Modell

James Geraghty

Attempted Bloggery's Bottom-Heavy Index

02047

The Camera-Shy Charles Addams

Editor Tina Brown brought photographer Richard Avedon into the pages of the New Yorker with great fanfare in 1992 as the magazine's first staff photographer. When Avedon turned seventy in 1993, she and her husband Sir Harold Evans presented Mr. Avedon with an original drawing by Charles Addams that had appeared in the magazine's pages in 1952. Richard Avedon passed away in 2004 and his estate sale was held at Sotheby's New York a year later. The  piece's sale price seems inexpensive by today's standards, but with the buyer's premium it sold for twice the high estimate in 2005.

Charles Addams, Original art
The New Yorker, June 21, 1952, page 19

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2005/property-from-the-estate-of-richard-avedon-n08091/lot.117.html

Charles Addams, The New Yorker, June 21, 1952, page 19

Charles Addams, The New Yorker, June 21, 1952, page 19

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1952-06-21#folio=018

Charles Addams, The New Yorker, June 21, 1952, page 19

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1952-06-21#folio=018

Note:  Careful readers of Attempted Bloggery may remember a certain Peter Arno original that also was given to Richard Avedon by Tina Brown. Even if you aren't on Tina Brown's gift list, you may have original New Yorker art that you'd like to share here on the blog. Help me show more awesome art on this blog and together we can make a better world! See, I don't ask for much.

By the way, do you need some wicked Halloween reading?  Try these links—if you dare:

Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Charles Addams

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Halloween

Attempted Bloggery's Spooky Index

02007

Ambassador Pamela Harriman's Copy of Favorite Haunts by Charles Addams

I must have been aware of it when the estate of Ambassador Pamela Harriman was sold off at Sotheby's in 1997—I still have the catalogue, after all—but I can't say I was paying close attention. I did notice though when the Harrimans' personalized copy of Favorite Haunts was listed on eBay a decade later. It sold for $52 on May 2, 2007, less than one would expect for a signed copy of the book even without the Harriman association.  Favorite Haunts, of course, is the 1976 cartoon collection by Charles Addams. I imagine that at the auction it was a part of a large lot of books, some or all of which subsequently were resold individually. This copy is inscribed to Pamela and W. Averell Harriman and today enjoys a home in my library.

Averell and Pamela Harriman's copy of Favorite Haunts by Charles Addams

Sotheby's proof of provenance

Inscribed "For Pam and Ave/all the best/Chas Addams/1976"

The Estate of Ambassador Pamela Harriman
May 19-21, 1997
Sotheby's

Note:  Attempted Bloggery prefers to travel in the best social circles. If you have a cartoon book signed by or to someone in high society, please consider sharing it here. Remember, even people listed in the Social Register need to get their laughs!

Despite my rather deft Google skills, I wasn't able to discover any photographs of Charles Addams with the Harrimans. I'd love to hear from anyone who can help me with this.


Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Charles Addams

Favorite Haunts

Signed Books

Halloween

Attempted Bloggery's High Class Index

02005

James Thurber's Cucarachas

As a New York City apartment dweller for about half my lifetime, I can think of few subjects less conducive to humor than cockroaches, those ubiquitous and unpleasant critters that negatively impact one's quality of life on every encounter. That said, it's hard to imagine a more amusing gag cartoon on the subject than this little gem by the great James Thurber which was sold at auction five years ago along with four other drawings by the artist.

Thurber's inspired caption was modified slightly for publication in The New Yorker, to its detriment, I believe. That interpolated "you know" of Thurber's conveys the prospective renter's hesitation in voicing her concern far better than the unaccompanied dash. Thankfully, the editors knew enough to keep the Spanish term for cockroaches, which in this context sounds almost euphemistic. Basically, you wouldn't have much of a gag left without that.

Note that the calendar date on the wall is just five days prior to the issue's official date of publication. Today The New Yorker is released one full week before its publication date, but the release may have occurred closer to the publication date back in 1936.

"Are there any—you know—cucarachas?"

James Thurber

Original artwork

The New Yorker, September 5, 1936, page 24

http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2007/fine-books-and-manuscripts-including-americana-n08330#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.N08330.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.N08330.html/143/

 http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2007/fine-books-and-manuscripts-including-americana-n08330#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.N08330.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.N08330.html/143/

"Are there any—cucarachas?"
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 5, 1936, page 24

"Are there any—cucarachas?"
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 5, 1936, page 24

Here is another of the five drawings included in this lot, again with the published caption altered slightly from Thurber's. Sotheby's doesn't provide a picture of the original artwork for this one. Thurber's original caption was "I've found Miss Gish for you, Mr. Blair — no relation to the sisters, I forgot to say." Lillian and Dorothy Gish, of course, were very well known actresses of the silent screen and later, appearing in several films by D. W. Griffith among many others. The minor tweaking of the caption doesn't add anything so far as I can see. Mr. Blair is easily as good a name as Mr. Freeman, maybe better, and do we really need the name Freeman to tell us he is eligible? "I forgot to say" sounds just a little more conversational and fluid than "incidentally," and it relates to the fact that the hostess has already discussed Miss Gish with Mr. Blair. Still, "incidentally" works well enough. Overall, I'd give the slight edge to Thurber's original caption, but the question remains, why on earth would anyone try to improve James Thurber's captions in the first place? I can't see E. B. White, the writer who was often assigned such tasks, tinkering with a caption to so little effect. To me, it sounds more like the work of Harold Ross, the magazine's editor, who generally wanted things to be unambiguously clear.

"Well, I've found Miss Gish for you, Mr. Freeman. 
No relation to the sisters, incidentally."
James Thurber
The New Yorker, May 9, 1936, page 20

"Are there any--you know--cucarachas?"
James Thurber
Original artwork
The New Yorker, September 5, 1936, page 24

http://www.sothebys.com/en/catalogues/ecatalogue.html/2007/fine-books-and-manuscripts-including-americana-n08330#/r=/en/ecat.fhtml.N08330.html+r.m=/en/ecat.lot.N08330.html/143/

0386