Gloria's Copy of The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995

On September 15, 1995, editor Tina Brown threw a launch party for Lee Lorenz's book The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995. Gloria (glorbrue on eBay), then an employee of the magazine, took the opportunity to purchase a copy and have it signed and personalized by a group of artists at the Lincoln Center event.

A minor scorch mark on the book prompted fire-related drawings from cartoonists Jack Ziegler, Danny Shanahan, and Lee Lorenz, plus a fire-quenching comment from Ed Fisher. Roz Chast contributed her own admonitory drawing to the page, while Gretchen Dow Simpson added a wistful inscription.

Meanwhile, Victoria Roberts left a disarmingly poignant emendation to the book's title. Her fanciful bird drawing prompted a mock-angry reaction from Bob Mankoff, who depicted himself packing heat and prepared to shoot. George Booth, positioning himself on the page above the fray, reacted to the gun play and the bird by having a bullet ricochet between his chickens.

Let's take a closer look. The following detail gives a better view of the drawings by Chast and Ziegler, both of which have faded over the intervening years.

Mankoff's enraged gunman has some rudimentary stippling, a hallmark of his style.

Is it a flamingo? A detail of Roberts's bird shows the somewhat meandering neck.

Booth's chickens seem unperturbed by all the action.

Shanahan and Lorenz address the burning issues of the day.

Bidding started on eBay at $250 with a buy-it-now price of $500. One low bid was all it took to seal the deal:

The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995
eBay listing ended February 7, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156036847523?epid=494627&itmmeta=01HV5JC18VPP170KGD6R6Q7PTC&hash=item24548557a3:g:3qUAAOSwMQZlunoq&itmprp

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CjwaSwdB9b2%2BDSDmyzRyQHK5jEJwWeNszrswu4wVDpAeFhEQ9Agx0mE74qIDzX7G1E8jCriIuO8AzT%2BCrd5RsPYvhLo3qHsUeAUraZCGdGBLV5bNqA5tx%2FV5B

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The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995
eBay item description
". . . and two signatures I can't make out. Ed Koren? Bill Hamilton?" Try Ed Fisher and Bob Mankoff.

Note:  Believe it or not, this is the fourteenth copy of this book to appear here on the blog. Many of these copies are from the signing event at Lincoln Center. I'd be pleased to post additional copies of the book signed by New Yorker cartoonists. I would also love to hear from anyone in possession of photographs taken at the event.

04619

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #834

This week, I sank my teeth into The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #834 from the issue of January 16, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Brian Hawes and Seth Roberts.

"You look like a couple of empty nesters."

These captions just wouldn't fly:

"Don't try this without the napkin."
"I'm trying to branch out."

 

January 27, 2023 Update:  The Finalists

February 4, 2023 Update:  I voted for the caption from Scarborough.

February 12, 2023 Update:  The Winner

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Ronald Searle: Idyll

Ronald Searle's Idyll (1973) is a sweet yet somewhat mystifying evocation of spring. His cats were generally popular and, to his frustration, sold lithographs far better than did his non-feline satirical work. Here one of his delightful cats prances about outdoors piping music. Add to that a few dozen unappreciative birds, many of them nesting, and a single reticent pig, and you have—just what, exactly? You have an idyll without an audience.

Idyll
Ronald Searle
Lithograph in colors
No. 47/99, 1973

Idyll
Ronald Searle
Lithograph in colors
No. 47/99, 1973

Ronald Searle's signature

Ronald Searle
Auktionshaus Mehlis GmbH listing accessed August 9, 2022
August 27, 2022, lot 4075

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ronald-searle-idyll-4075-c-56d491b963

Sold! The sale price, with an English translation:

Idyll was included in More Cats (1975), shown here (but not in the book) alongside They're All Against Me, another lithograph:

https://ecc-cartoonbooksclub.blogspot.com/2012/04/ronald-searle-great-part-6-his-so-human.html

04063

Ronald Searle: The Circus

While Ronald Searle's original artwork has been selling for increasingly high prices, the market for his lithographic work has weakened. An original print of The Circus from the 1967 edition of fifty (plus five artist's proofs) recently sold for just $50. This in all likelihood is less than it originally cost at the time of publication. Admittedly, the print has some problems: matte burn around the edges, some toning, and a pencilled title that appears to be in the hand of someone other than the artist. Yet Searle had the ability to produce delightful, intelligent images and his fans who may not be able to obtain his original drawings today may still want to take advantage of the market's relative neglect of his lithographs.

The Circus
Ronald Searle
Lithograph in black and white
Gurlitt 10
No. 24/50, 1967

The Circus
Ronald Searle
Lithograph in black and white
Gurlitt 10
No. 24/50, 1967

Ronald Searle's signature

Verso

Before the sale, bidding was set to commence at $100, with an estimate of $200-400. That didn't quite work out as planned.

Ronald Searle
Rachel Davis Fine Arts
August 13, 2022, lot 354

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ronald-searle-lithograph-354-c-ae249d0ad1

The Circus is indeed a lithograph, but it is not correct to call it a "lithograph in colors."

Ronald Searle
Rachel Davis Fine Arts item description

Sold!

Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt catalogue no. 10

Presale estimates
Lots 355 and 354

04056

The CartoonStock Caption Contest #125

I tried not to lose my head over the CartoonStock Caption Contest #125. I wrote four entries this week and submitted three, below. The drawing is by Robert Leighton.

"It beats what became of the four and twenty blackbirds."
"I meant fly to the Sun KING."
"Is it too late to confer with Your Grace's animal trainer?"

This caption didn't make the cut:

"Sire, shall I save time and call for the headsman?"

 03624

Richard and Dorothy Rodgers's Copy of Give Up? by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

A Friend of the Blog writes with photos of Richard and Dorothy Rodgers's personalized copy of the cartoon collection Give Up? Published in 1966, this copy of the book was inscribed by cartoonist Whitney Darrow, Jr., to the composer and his wife in the year of publication. A delightful watercolor sketch on the theme of the title cartoon is included.

Darrow, Whitney Jr. Give Up?:  A New Cartoon Collection. Simon and Schuster, 1966.

Front cover

Photo by A Friend of the Blog

Darrow, Whitney Jr. Give Up?:  A New Cartoon Collection. Simon and Schuster, 1966.

Inscribed "For Dorothy and Dick with love

from Whitney

9/18/66"

Photo by A Friend of the Blog

Note:  My thanks to A Friend of the Blog for this wonderful contribution. Attempted Bloggery would like to publish reader submissions of other original drawings by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Richard Rodgers

Henry Martin (1925-2020)

Books with Original Drawings

Birds

Attempted Bloggery's Unidentified Flying Index

03310

Ronald Searle: The Good Old Days

"Monica told us the bicycle in Searle's work is symbolic of happiness."

—Matt Jones 

"New Year with the Searles"

Ronald Searle's lithograph The Good Old Days was published in 1972. It was followed five years later by The Good Old Days II. Both featured animals on bicycles and both were published in editions of 99.

Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days
Edition of 99, 1972

https://www.art-of-illustration.co.uk/Ronald_Searle/The_Good_Old_Days/2027/100/default.aspx

The Good Old days II is in the collection of children's book author and illustrator Sandra Boynton, for one:

Ronald Searle

The Good Old Days II

Edition of 99, 1977

https://www.amherstbulletin.com/Sandra-Boynton-12960336

Unlike the lithograph, a roughly contemporaneous watercolor of the same subject (seen here published as a postcard) uses the lower left of the image to make an environmental statement. Maybe the good old days weren't quite so good.

Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days (1976)

Image updated December 9, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204095930791?...

Detail:

Ronald Searle

The Good Old Days (1976, detail)

https://theanimalarium.blogspot.com/2011/05/sunday-safari-animals-on-bikes.html

Searle sold a later (but undated) color drawing at Christie's in 2007 depicting a similar scene with a cat warmed by a scarf:

Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days
No date

Ronald Searle
Christie's South Kensington, 3 July 2007

Another print, 42/99, of The Good Old Days II was offered on eBay in 2015. The photos give an idea of the extraordinary detail Searle put into his lithographic works. It sold for just half the price it had retailed for at Brentano's circa the late 1970s—a steal!

Ronald Searle

The Good Old Days II

42/99, 1977

Ronald Searle
The Good Old Days II
42/99, 1977

Ronald Searle's signature and date in pencil

Ronald Searle

The Good Old Days II
42/99, 1977

Ronald Searle
eBay Listing Ended October 25, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-RONALD-SEARLE-LITHOGRAPH-42-99-PENCIL-SIGNED-NEW-YORKER-MAGAZINE-ART-CAT-/171970196117?hash=item280a38f295%3Ag%3ARFwAAOSwI-BWFc-h&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ronald Searle
eBay Item Description

No Q&A

eBay Bid History
Just one bid four days into the ten day auction

Note:  Almost no casual cyclist wore a bicycle helmet in the 1970s.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

Cats

Bicycles

Attempted Bloggery's Index on Training Wheels

03174