Tilting at Windmills: George Booth Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Four New Yorker magazine cover pitches by George Booth are under glass together at the Society of Illustrators, part of the current exhibition "George Booth—A Cartoonist's Life" curated by J. J. Sedelmaier. The first, sketched on a paper dinner napkin, depicts an extreme sporting event. The next shows a friendly, undersea encounter between a dolphin and a scuba diver. It is a simple composition with elegant, flowing lines. A collaged cover proposal goes after an enormous problem in insect control. Finally there is a reworked image of Don Quixote from June of 2004, here redrawn, we are told, with a more dramatic sun and with the suggestion to the art editor that additional windmills could be added to represent the trouble spots of Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea. Yes, George Booth doesn't fear the political scene.

Note:  "George Booth—A Cartoonist's Life" remains on view at the Society of Illustrators in New York through December 30, 2017. On Wednesday evening November 8th the Society will host "An Evening with George Booth." Admission is by ticket. Come by and say hi to Mr. Booth. Say hi to me too. I'll likely be wearing a suit and pestering the cartoonists.

The artwork shown here is from the George Booth Collection. This blog could always use a few more scans or photos of original art by the cartoonist. Published obscurities are welcome too.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

George Booth

Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

The Society of Illustrators

Attempted Bloggery's Dolphin-Safe Index

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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #546

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #546 for November 21, 2016. The drawing is by Michael Maslin.

"Boy, have they got your number!"

Here are the captions that were lost at sea:

"Seriously, do I have a bottle-nose?"
"I'd rather see them do a lifeboat."
"They just love a captive audience, don't they?"
"Does that dolphin make my butt look fat?"
"You call it playful; I say it's smug."

Now cartoon editor Bob Mankoff has chosen ten top entries as informed by the crowdsourced rankings, and we can allow ourselves some amazement at how relatively close my caption is to the first of these (they're actually in random order).

https://www.research.net/r/546MC

November 28,  2016 Update:  The Finalists

December 5, 2016 Update:  I forgot to vote. I like the third caption.

December 12, 2016 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  Last week cartoonist Paul Noth promoted a houseplant to the top corporate job. My caption got stuck in the mailroom. Come meet the Chief Executive Officer in Contest #545.

If you're ever stuck on a desert island, you'll be oh so grateful for this link.

If you stay for more than a three-hour tour, you can also bring along a link to posts about Michael Maslin.

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