Edward Koren: The Need for Entertainment

Heritage Auctions initially described Edward Koren's The Need for Entertainment (1986) as original illustration art.

It is a signed print, of course, an artist's proof. Furthermore, the listing had stated, "It's been said of the various cartoons published in the New Yorker over the years that they seem to be whimsically obtuse, and this illustration by Ed Koren is no exception. Produced in ink on paper . . . " When it was sold yesterday in the Wednesday Comic Art & Illustration Select Auction, the item description had been substantially corrected, although not the part about New Yorker cartoons being "whimsically obtuse."

Again, the art was originally described as an illustration:

By the time of the sale, the updated description correctly identified the piece as an artist's proof aside from the numbered print edition:

Still, the revised description maintained the odd implication that this print is somehow a New Yorker cartoon. It isn't, of course. The new description did correct the notion that what we have is an original illustration in ink on paper. And the description continues to suggest that New Yorker cartoons have been described as "whimsically obtuse." By whom? All of the cartoons, or just some?

Four days before the sale, bidding was at only $25 despite the incorrect description. Very likely then, no one was fooled. 

Edward Koren
Heritage Auctions Wednesday Comic Art & Illustration Select Auction #322603 listing accessed 1/17/2026

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/edward-koren-the-need-for-entertainment-illustration-original-art-1986-/a/322603-48143.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515#

The sale price:

Note:  Feel free to share original art by Edward Koren here whether cartoon, illustration, or original print. Whimsicality and obtuseness are always welcome.

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Toni and Louis Schwartz's Copy of Ronald Searle's Bibliothèque Nationale Catalogue

The catalogue for Ronald Searle's 1973 exhibition at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) is fully illustrated in black and white, not too bad considering there was almost no catalogue at all. The limited edition catalogue numbered 40 of 100 was personalized by the artist for his friends Toni (Searle also spells it Tony) and Louis Schwartz, signed twice with an original drawing of a cat, making this indeed a very special book. It was priced last year at 114 Euros on AbeBooks. 

The catalogue's cover illustration is The Greedy Carpet, a rejected New Yorker cover submission. This original artwork was stolen during the exhibition along with two other pieces.

A lithograph was included in the sale, a 1970 artist's proof from the suite Meilleurs Voeux, the fifth of five small images from the series. Like the catalogue, it is personalized for Dr. and Madame Schwartz.

Meilleurs Voeux, 1970
Epreuve Artiste X/X aside from the edition of 200, Gurlitt (1971) No. 72 (5)
Ronald Searle

Sampson Demolishing the Temple (1969)
Hommage à Toulouse-Lautrec
Ronald Searle

Ronald Searle

AbeBooks listing accessed April 10, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Ronald-Searle/31155949779/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook_low

Note:  For more on the 1973 Searle BnF catalogue, see Matt Jones's Perpetua post "BNF 1973" here.

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Ronald Searle: Bye Bye Blues

Francis Barraud's painting of his late brother Mark's terrier Nipper listening to a phonograph recording of "His Master's Voice" is rather touching. The image, which was to become a well-known commercial trademark, effectively illustrates how our technology at its best can forge an emotional connection.

Francis Barraud
"His Master's Voice"
Victor Gramophone

https://www.posterlounge.com/p/514107.html

Ronald Searle must have had this famous image in the back of his mind, or in the front of it, when he created one of his most memorable lithographs, Bye Bye Blues. It dates from 1974, the year he turned fifty-four. Bye Bye Blues features one of Searle's signature cats sitting enraptured, leaning in towards a gramophone, but it is not just about the cat or about the gramophone. Rather, it is about nothing less than the capacity of art to transport and transform us.

Ronald Searle

Bye Bye Blues

Épreuve d'Artiste aside from the edition of 99, 1974

https://www.art-of-illustration.co.uk/Ronald_Searle/Bye_Bye_Blues/2156/100/default.aspx

Searle, as is his wont, exuberantly defies one of the supposed rules of cartooning, that one should always keep it simple. He gives us a fully-realized interior space with not just a few choice records but with stacks of them, scattered record sleeves, a tiny teacup, a brass bed, and—why not?—even a bicycle. Both the ornate bed and the stark floorboards seem to be perpendicular to the wall, yet paradoxically they each recede to separate vanishing points.

The 1930 version of the song "Bye Bye Blues" recorded in London by Ambrose and His Orchestra may have been the one Searle knew best. Is it really any surprise that this recording was on the "His Master's Voice" label?

"Bye Bye Blues" (1925)

Song by Fred Hamm, Dave Bennett, Bert Lown, and Chauncey Gray

Ambrose and His Orchestra at the May Fair Hotel, London

Recorded in Small Queen's Hall, London on October 13, 1930

Sam Browne—vocals

Note:  Today is the centenary of Ronald Searle's birth on March 3, 1920. 

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ronald Searle

Attempted Bloggery's Bluesy Index

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