George Price: You Are Silent

An original 1966 New Yorker drawing by George Price depicts an older couple at an outdoor art show, probably the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibition in lower Manhattan. They aren't saying anything as they survey some modernist paintings on display. The artist seated by his work has been listening to the public comment all day and he already knows, or thinks he knows, why they are refraining from criticism of his art. This cartoon had a lot to say about the public's perception of the contemporary art scene, and the message still resonates today.

"You are silent. Am I to assume that you do not have a child who can do every bit as well?"
George Price
Original art
The New Yorker, June 4, 1966, p. 31.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
Melly, George and Glaves-Smith, J. R. A Child of Six Could Do It!: Cartoons About Modern Art. London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1973, p. 62.

The couple's heads turn to face the artist who is addressing them, but their bodies are still oriented toward the paintings they were regarding. Price is directing our attention to the speaker, but he is also showing us what was going on just before he began. This is consummate cartoon craftsmanship.

Detail of the potential art patrons

The artist's Bohemian attire and grooming contrast with the conservatively dressed and groomed couple. It's a small detail, but a similar purpose is served by the artist's cigarette.

Detail of the artist

How many cartoonists would render a street grating so precisely? Price carefully maintains the perspective of the scene down to the lower border of the composition. The parallel bars of the grating lead our eyes back to the artist and his avant-garde work.

Caption

George Price's signature

Verso

Verso

The drawing was offered at auction on Sunday in Costa Mesa with a presale estimate of $1,000 to $1,500. Ten hours prior to the sale, online bidding had reached $575.

George Price
Michael's Gallery listing accessed July 9, 2023 ten hours prior to the sale

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/156530628_george-price-you-are-silent-am-i-to-assume-that-you-do-not-have-a-child-who-can-do-every-bit

George Price
Michael's Gallery item description

July 9, 2023, ten hours before the sale

Sold!

"You are silent. Am I to assume that you do not have a child who can do every bit as well?"
George Price
The New Yorker, June 4, 1966, p. 31.

"You are silent. Am I to assume that you do not have a child who can do every bit as well?"
George Price
Original art
The New Yorker, June 4, 1966, p. 31.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
Melly, George and Glaves-Smith, J. R. A Child of Six Could Do It!: Cartoons About Modern Art. London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1973, p. 62.

Drawings by William Steig and George Price

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1966-06-04/flipbook/030/

Meanwhile, William Steig's drawings for the magazine were already going in a more lyrical direction.

William Steig
The New Yorker, June 4, 1966

Note:  I'm curious whether George Price's original art was actually exhibited at the Tate Gallery's May 23 to July 8, 1973 exhibition A Child of Six Could Do It!: Cartoons About Modern Art. It seems quite likely, no? This work might even have influenced the title of the exhibition. Can anyone confirm this?

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Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Class Visit to The Luncheon on the Grass

Edouard Manet's masterpiece Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, or The Luncheon on the Grass, features prominently in a 1957 cartoon by Whitney Darrow, Jr., published in The New Yorker. Darrow's drawing is not about the painting, exactly, although he renders it quite beautifully; rather, it's about us and our discomfort with challenging subject matter. Darrow's splendid original came up for sale this month in Costa Mesa with a reasonable $1,200 to $1,500 estimate. Inexplicably, it took three separate weekend auctions for the cartoon to meet its reserve of, presumably, $800.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.
Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.
Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

Detail

The signature of Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Caption

Verso

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Michael's Gallery auction of June 17, 2023

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/154439738_whitney-darrow-jr-well-it-was-sort-of-like-a-cook-out-signed-original-ink-wash

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Michael's Gallery item description

On June 4, the bidding for lot 648 reached $650. The piece was bought in. 

On June 11, bidding again reached $650 but again the reserve was not met.

Finally, on June 17, the drawing sold for $800, plus $120 for the buyer's premium.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.
Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957.
The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.
The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

"Well, it was sort of like a cook-out."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, May 4, 1957, page 31.

A cartoon by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1957-05-04/flipbook/030/

Darrow, Whitney, Jr. "Stop, Miss!" New York: Random House, 1957
Back cover dust jacket

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134175180532

The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists. Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd., 1970.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265212122238

The New Yorker Album of Drawings 1925-1975. New York: Viking Press, 1975.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/372793381003

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_D%C3%A9jeuner_sur_l%27herbe

Note:  Take this as a friendly reminder that Attempted Bloggery's proprietor is always eager to post original art by Whitney Darrow, Jr. Or by Edouard Manet, for that matter, if that's what you've got on your walls. 

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S. S. Silverman, DDS's Copy of The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists

Carmine Peppe has been head of the editorial make-up department of The New Yorker since 1932.

—Brendan Gill

Here at The New Yorker (1975)

Carmine Peppe came to work for The New Yorker's founding editor Harold Ross in the magazine's first year, 1925. Peppe remained an important staffer fifty years later in Brendan Gill's book, but he may not be remembered by many readers of the magazine today. Nevertheless, he was invaluable in laying out the pages of the magazine for decades, giving them their singular look by relieving columns of often lengthy editorial content with cartoons, spots, and newsbreaks. The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists (Greenwich: New York Graphic Society Ltd, 1970) gives credit where it's due: "Design and layout by Carmine Peppe, of The New Yorker staff." A copy of the book inscribed by Peppe, perhaps to his dentist, is currently listed on AbeBooks.

The New Yorker Album of Art & Artists
AbeBooks listing accessed June 3, 2021

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/New-Yorker-Album-Art-Artists-Staff/30000217310/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook

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