Attempted Bloggery: Weschler's

Showing posts with label Weschler's. Show all posts

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Bob Mankoff: If a Tree Falls in the Forest

An original cartoon by Bob Mankoff was sold at Wechsler's Tuesday alongside the gem by Michael Maslin we saw here in yesterday's post.

"Dad, if a tree falls in the forest, and the media aren't there
to cover it, has the tree really fallen?"
Bob Mankoff
Original art

"Dad, if a tree falls in the forest, and the media aren't there
to cover it, has the tree really fallen?"
Bob Mankoff
Framed and glazed original art

Bob Mankoff's signature

The auction house states it is a drawing for The New Yorker. Maybe it is; that fussy use of the word media as a plural noun could certainly reflect the magazine's sensibility in, say, the era of editor William Shawn. Or not. But I wasn't able to locate the cartoon in the magazine's archives. Still, it could be hiding from me somewhere.

Bob Mankoff
Weschler's listing of May 20, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/robert-mankoff-american-b-1944-dad-if-a-tree-fall-155-c-71a44ffaa8?objectID=197168329&algInde x=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=f0e8e4c305e81ae1e1cd38eff1073ec1

Bob Mankoff
Weschler's item description

Note: I'd like to hear from anyone who may know where this was published, if indeed it was. Collectors owning original art by Bob Mankoff who would like to share it here on the old blog should contact me before offering it to any new media. Media, singular.

04948

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Michael Maslin: A Traffic Stop

An original New Yorker drawing by Michael Maslin was on the auction block yesterday in Rockville, Maryland. The cartoon brings us to a traffic stop in which a police officer has pulled over a produce truck driver.

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
Original art
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company: Cartoons by Michael Maslin, Fireside, 1990, p. 3

The artwork comes nicely framed and glazed:

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
Framed original art
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company: Cartoons by Michael Maslin, Fireside, 1990, p. 3

Michael Maslin's signature

Weschler's, the auction house, has misidentified the artist as Eric Maskin. Maskin, born in 1950, is really a Nobel Prize winning economist and mathematician who teaches at Harvard. His accomplishments are considerable but, in the last analysis, he does not draw cartoons for The New Yorker. There's always a chance, when the artist is incorrectly identified, that interested bidders might never be able to find the piece. Twelve hours before the sale, it seemed this might be the case. With an estimate of $50 to $100 the bidding was at an anemic $35:

Michael Maslin
Weschler's listing accessed May 19, 2025, twelve hours before the auction

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Eric-Maskin-American-b.-1950-,-Sorry,-But-I-m-G-154-c-3E644ED861?utm_term=new%20yorker&utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalerts&utm_content=341704&utm_term=341704

Michael Maslin
Weschler's item description

Sold!

[End of Weschler's listing]

The art first appeared in the magazine in 1987 and subsequently has been reproduced on a number of products. It also appeared in Maslin's collection Mixed Company (Fireside, 1990).

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to issue you a summons for
reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe."
Michael Maslin
The New Yorker, September 7, 1987, p. 37
Mixed Company: Cartoons by Michael Maslin, Fireside, 1990, p. 3