Peter Arno: "I Refuse, Madam!"

What better way to welcome in the summer than with a seasonally appropriate vintage Peter Arno cartoon original? The work of the American New Yorker cartoonist was offered for sale Wednesday at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh, of all places, with a presale estimate of 500 to 800 GBP ($636 to $1017). Bidding online started at 240 GBP.

"I refuse, madam! It's too hot to pull down the shades!"
Peter Arno
Original art
The Peter Arno Pocket Book (1945)

"I refuse, madam! It's too hot to pull down the shades!"
Peter Arno
Framed original art
The Peter Arno Pocket Book (1945)

Peter Arno
Lyon & Turnbull listing accessed June 18, 2023

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Peter-Arno-1904-1968-I-refuse-madam-It-s-to-163-c-C6343C4AF1?utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=artistalerts&utm_content=199624

The Arno art sold for 900 GBP (or $1145), which was above the high estimate, plus the 31% buyer's premium.

The drawing appears, at the very least, in The Peter Arno Pocket Book (1945).

"I refuse, madam! It's too hot to pull down the shades!"
Peter Arno
The Peter Arno Pocket Book (1945)

https://flashbak.com/18-great-cartoons-peter-arno-pocket-book-1945-61156/

Perhaps you've seen the book:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/155655730841641447/

Note:  Today marks the twelfth anniversary of Attempted Bloggery. It has received more than two and a half million page views over its 4,359 posts. See, you're not alone.

04359

Ronald Searle: Dolce Vita

Ronald Searle took his lazy, hazy, crazy New Yorker cover of the summer of 1975 and made it into a lithograph that same year in an edition of 99. The strap required by the magazine along the left side of the cover had to be eliminated, of course, and the muted details of the tree that were behind the New Yorker logo were brought into sharper focus. The tree goes slightly higher here and the horizon line has been lowered to balance out the composition in the absence of the logo. Searle's linear style looks great in watercolor and it translates very well to lithography too. He gave the print the Felliniesque title Dolce Vita.

Ronald Searle
The New Yorker, June 30, 1975

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1975-06-30/flipbook/CV1/

Ronald Searle
Dolce Vita
Edition of 99, 1975

https://www.art-of-illustration.co.uk/Ronald_Searle/Dolce_Vita/2026/100/default.aspx

03128

Cape Cod 2019: Peter de Sève's Summer Getaway

"Summer Getaway" is the title of Peter de Sève's New Yorker cover of July 28, 2008. Titles add little if anything to the magazine's covers, but at least this one has a clever double meaning. 

Peter de Sève
"Summer Getaway"
The New Yorker, July 28, 2008

https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Puzzle-Company-Getaway/dp/B00B9HY1US

No surprise here:  "Summer Getaway" is also the title of the New York Puzzle Company's 500 piece jigsaw puzzle of the New Yorker cover. 

Peter de Sève
"Summer Getaway"The New Yorker, July 28, 2008
New York Puzzle Company

https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Puzzle-Company-Getaway/dp/B00B9HY1US

It's available for purchase on Amazon. It was also available as entertainment last week in our rental home on Cape Cod, where we traveled for what was a little too early to call a summer getaway.

Peter de Sève
"Summer Getaway"
The New Yorker, July 28, 2008
New York Puzzle Company

https://www.amazon.com/New-York-Puzzle-Company-Getaway/dp/B00B9HY1US

This puzzle as a work in progress may be seen here. Spoiler alert:  the full solution is about to be revealed below.

The puzzle solved:

Note:  Credit for the completion of this puzzle goes to my family and especially to my wife. I had nothing whatever to do with the days-long effort except for the photography.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Peter de Sève

The New Yorker

Cape Cod

Attempted Bloggery's Puzzling Index

02952

Robert Day: The Coolest Horses

Not everyone gets to have air conditioning. A cartoon by Robert Day published in Sports Illustrated during the summer of 1957 explains which horses get to be the coolest.

"Only when their earnings top the half million mark."
Robert Day
Sports Illustrated, July 8, 1957, page 28

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/42710/29

Note:  Sports Illustrated now has an online archive.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Robert Day

Horses

Sports Illustrated

Attempted Bloggery's Horsedrawn Index

02930

Skipping Rocks: Arthur Getz Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

It's so interesting to see the process by which Arthur Getz transformed his painting of a boy skipping rocks on the water into a New Yorker cover. The preliminary version sold in 2012 at Nadeau's Auction Gallery was originally offered for sale at the Hammer Gallery in 1966, the very year of the magazine cover. It is a gorgeous painting set in a lush wooded area near a pond. The reflections in the water help to give the image a great depth. The boy is shown following through on his toss as the stone he has thrown leaves three distinct sets of ripples, getting progressively larger toward the viewer. That makes the perspective work convincingly, even if it might not be strictly correct. Shouldn't the ripples closer to the boy have had more time to expand? Perhaps, but then to the viewer's eye it probably wouldn't look right.

The published cover illustration has introduced a number of changes to the composition, at least some quite possibly editorial in nature. There are four sets of ripples now, less regular in their expansion, yet the boy is closer to the viewer, making him more immediate to the image at the expense of both depth and perspective. The wooded area is treated more abstractly and most of the reflected light on the water is eliminated. The end-result is a more intimate view of an idle summer moment, now with a slightly greater emphasis on the boy and his carefree activity than on the magnificent setting.

Arthur Getz
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, August 27, 1966

Detail

Detail

Arthur Getz
Nadeau's Auction Gallery Item Description

Arthur Getz
The New Yorker, August 27, 1966

Arthur Getz
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, August 27, 1966

Note:  Phew! “The Art of Arthur Getz: City & Country” is still on view at the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, CT. It was set to close yesterday, but the show has been reprieved until mid-August. 
www.hotchkisslibrary.org

There's yet more Getz to see at “Covering New York: New Yorker Magazine Covers by Arthur Getz.” The show is now on view at the Moviehouse Studio Gallery located at the Moviehouse in Millerton, NY. Through August 28.

www.themoviehouse.net

My thanks to Sarah Getz for her thoughtful feedback during the preparation of this post.

02592

Country Cottage by Arthur Getz

Country Cottage is a small oil painting on board by New Yorker cover artist Arthur Getz. It depicts a cottage and its yard in the summer months, as seen from above. Apparently an example of art for art's sake, it was not intended for publication. I asked the artist's daughter Sarah Getz whether she could identify the location of this cottage.

She writes, "As for the cottage, that’s probably from Arthur’s Truro days, or some other summer visit situation. I don’t believe the scene is of Sharon / Cornwall; I think the piece is older than that. No special significance … I’m actually concerned about the integrity of that roof!"

Truro? Why, that's the Cape Cod town where New Yorker writer E. J. Kahn, Jr., kept his own summer place, complete with tennis court! Did the artist and the writer spend time together there? I had to ask.

Ms. Getz writes back, "So as for your question … I’m not positive about Kahn, but they must have hobnobbed. I think there were quite a few NYKR parties in Truro that Arthur begrudgingly attended, not being a party person himself. But I’ve no record of Arthur mentioning him, though I’m sure Arthur read his pieces on WW II, in which they both served."

So, there you have it. And it all started with an eBay listing:

Arthur Getz

Country Cottage

Arthur Getz
Country Cottage

Detail

Detail

Detail

Artist's notation

Artist's notation

Arthur Getz
Country Cottage

Arthur Getz
eBay Listing Ended April 23, 2018

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ARTHUR-GETZ-listed-original-small-painting-art-illustrator-for-The-New-Yorker-/112890471703?hash=item1a48cbe517%3Ag%3A-H8AAOSwaB5Xn9oB&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Arthur Getz
eBay Item Description

Note:  Extended! “The Art of Arthur Getz: City & Country” is currently on view at the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, CT. It was to close today, but has been extended to mid-August. 
www.hotchkisslibrary.org

There's even more to see at “Covering New York: New Yorker Magazine Covers by Arthur Getz” now being exhibited at the Moviehouse Studio Gallery located in the Moviehouse, Millerton, NY, through August 28.

www.themoviehouse.net

02591

"Tennis, Anyone?"—Arthur Getz "Killed" New Yorker Cover Art

"Killed" New Yorker cover art refers specifically to any cover purchased by the magazine but never published. Typically it is paid for, stored, and eventually returned to the artist unused.

A fine seasonal example by Arthur Getz is currently being exhibited at the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, Connecticut. It takes a confident artist to place the foreground in shade. On a bright summer morning a young man sits outdoors reading on a chaise longue. He has brought with him two books, the Sunday paper, and an inviting pitcher of lemonade. He may think he has found the ideal way to enjoy a summer's day, but his friends show up with a different idea.

The cover, given the title "Tennis, Anyone?" by the artist, was purchased by the New Yorker's founding editor Harold Ross in 1950 or 1951, the year of his passing. For whatever reason, his successor William Shawn never ran it and the original illustration was returned to the artist in 1964. By this date, the car depicted was no longer a current model.

The artist describes the history of the piece in a notation on the back. Sarah Getz, Arthur's daughter, offers a personal perspective on the illustration. She writes, "Of course my dad loathed/never played/made fun of tennis, and much preferred reading peacefully in the shade. So I smile every time I look at this picture!"

Me too, Sarah, but for my own reasons. Happy summer!

Arthur Getz
"Tennis, Anyone?"
Killed New Yorker cover art, c. 1950-1951

Back of frame with the artist's notations

Note:  Thanks to Sarah Getz for providing these images.

This original killed New Yorker cover is currently on display in “The Art of Arthur Getz: City & Country” at the Hotchkiss Library in Sharon, CT, through June 30. www.hotchkisslibrary.org

A second show of original work by Arthur Getz is “Covering New York: New Yorker Magazine Covers by Arthur Getz” at the Moviehouse Studio Gallery located in the Moviehouse, Millerton, NY, through August 28.

www.themoviehouse.net

02583

Gregory d'Alessio: Summer Fishing

The June 11, 1949 cover of Collier's features an illustration by Gregory d'Alessio. The summery image features an overcrowded recreational fishing boat. The illustration is very busy, probably too busy, but its message is clear: the big winners seem to be the seagulls.

Gregory d'Alessio, Collier's, June 11, 1949

https://www.amazon.com/Colliers-Magazine-people-gregory-dalessio/dp/B0066UZI6Y/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1504066503&sr=8-13&keywords=gregory+d%27alessio

Note:  Yesterday marked Gregory d'Alessio's first appearance on Attempted Bloggery. As I noted, Ink Spill has documented his work for the New Yorker appearing between 1934 and 1940. As you might guess, Attempted Bloggery seeks scans or photographs of original cartoon art by Mr. d'Alessio and other New Yorker artists. Clippings of cartoons and illustrations from Collier's and other publications are also needed to round out our appreciation of this artist.

Mr. d'Alessio's informative New York Times obituary may be seen here.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Summer

Collier's

Attempted Bloggery's Fishy Index

02289

Sticking It: Barbara Shermund Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Let's go out on a limb here and suggest that a proposed New Yorker cover by Barbara Shermund is set in Central Park. With so many people enjoying the park in the summertime, somebody's got to keep it clean. Who better than a man in uniform? But is that pipe strictly regulation in the Parks Department?

Barbara Shermund proposed New Yorker cover art

Barbara Shermund
eBay Listing Ended March 5, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BARBARA-SHERMUND-Original-Illustration-PROPOSED-NEW-YORKER-COVER-ART-/332145775214?hash=item4d556e526e%3Ag%3An6kAAOSwB-1YvE0w&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Barbara Shermund proposed New Yorker cover art

Note:  This blog is nothing like your local landfill. I have plenty more room. Send scans or photos of original art by Barbara Shermund or other New Yorker art by other New Yorker artists. I'll see if I can somehow find a place to post it.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Barbara Shermund

Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Central Park

Summer

Attempted Bloggery's Squeaky Clean Index

02251

Harriet Walden's Copy of The Summer Game by Roger Angell

Harriet Walden came to the New Yorker in 1944 as editor Harold Ross's secretary. She later managed the magazine's pool of editorial assistants referred to as Walden Pond. Her 2006 New Yorker obituary by Mary Hawthorne describes her tenure at the magazine.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/01/23/harriet-walden

Harriet Walden's personal copy, we are told, of The Summer Game, Roger Angell's classic 1972 book of baseball essays, is signed and inscribed to her by the author. It is still available on eBay for $150 as of the start of the All-Star break.

Harriet Walden's copy of
The Summer Game by Roger Angell

Inscribed "For Harriet/From her fan,/Roger"

Roger Angell
eBay Listing Ended July 5 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Roger-Angell-The-Summer-Game-Signed-First-Edition-New-Yorker-Magazine-Baseball-/302377946853?

eBay Item Description

Image added July 24, 2017

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The New Yorker

Baseball

Attempted Bloggery's Batty Index

02240