Comic art and illustration specialist Murray A. Harris of California often annotated the back, or verso, of works in his collection, adding his personal stamp and signature. Here's an example of his markings on the back of a Reamer Keller drawing selected from the blog archives. It is stamped twice indicating two different Harris addresses, signed once, and date stamped, either indicating a date of publication or of acquisition:
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| https://attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2020/06/reamer-keller-no-rest-for-grownups.html |
Many collectors must be familiar with Harris because of such documentary practices. It is gratifying to know something about the provenance of a drawing, particularly if it once resided in a well-regarded collection.
A work on paper from the Zipriani Auction House of Lima raises some questions in this area. It was listed this past March as "Saul Steinberg Drawing on Paper (In The Style Of)." In auction speak, that's tantamount to an admission that it is not an original drawing by Saul Steinberg, or that its authorship cannot be proved, but to my eye it is still fairly impressive. The original $1,200 asking price is a bit of a head-scratcher; too low for a true Steinberg original of this quality but too high for a mere copy.
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| Saul Steinberg Zipriani Auction House listing accessed March 7, 2023 https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/147198975_saul-steinberg-drawing-on-paper-in-the-style-of?from=alert&utm_source=SavedAlert&utm_campaign=SearchAlert_20200423_A&utm_medium=email&utm_content=item |
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| In the style of Saul Steinberg Zipriani Auction House listing accessed March 7, 2023 |
The version of Steinberg's New Yorker drawing from the issue of February 3, 1945 is distinct from that published in his later 1945 collection All In Line. In fact, his New Yorker and his All In Line drawings differ in a great many ways (see, for example, the head at the lower left, left-facing in one and right-facing in the other), something one might readily expect from a series of freehand variations on a theme this complex.
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| Saul Steinberg The New Yorker, February 3, 1945, p. 22 |
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| Saul Steinberg All In Line, 1945 |
The Zipriani drawing is close to the better-known All In Line version, but it is by no means identical. So the question is, would Steinberg do such a slavish redrawing of his own work, certainly not his usual practice, or is it a reasonable good copy by someone else perhaps made with a light box? Then again, could Steinberg himself be closely copying over his own work to try to get everything just right for the book version?
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| In the style of Saul Steinberg |
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| https://twitter.com/richard_littler/status/1290922254654672896 |
A drawing currently for sale on eBay is listed as "Robert Crumb Drawing on paper (Handmade) signed and stamped mixed media vtg art." It is not at all convincing as a Crumb original, particularly when compared with the published HUP panel, and the original is probably a full comic page anyway. The $115 or best offer price should be seen as a tacit acknowledgment of this. The seller, probably not coincidentally, is located in Lima.
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| eBay listing accessed January 5, 2024 |
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| eBay item description |
Peru then may very well have a workshop churning out copies of drawings, some better than others, and decorating the versos with copies of collectors' stamps including Harris's. As always, caveat emptor.
Note: I wish to thank cartoonist Michael Maslin and writer Steve Stoliar for helping me to decipher the Zipriani Auction piece. It's taken me the better part of a year to come to my present understanding of it.
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| Drawings by Saul Steinberg and Otto Soglow |
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| "Will you be my wives?" Otto Soglow The New Yorker, February 3, 1945, p. 23 |
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