Ralph Steadman: A Letter to George Newson

Illustrator Ralph Steadman's typed letter to composer and photographer George Newson (1932-2024) is dated February 22, 1991. In just a couple of lines, he seemingly confirms a forthcoming art show and reassures Newson that "Of course we can find work to exhibit." It is rare for any commercial artist, even one of Steadman's stature, not to have a reasonable quantity of unsold work on hand.

Newson passed away on March 8 of this year and items from his estate are now on the market. At the time of this posting, the letter, embellished with a face and typed on Steadman's stationery, is available from Wool House Autographic.

Ralph Steadman
AbeBooks listing accessed July 5, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/paper-collectibles/letter-drawing-Ralph-Steadman-na/31917244972/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

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Cartoons by Roz Chast: Original Poster Art

I suppose I should try to be less critical of eBay sellers who can't take decent photographs. When Roz Chast's original exhibition poster art for Cartoons by Roz Chast was offered on eBay last year, you could actually see the shadow of arms holding a camera. That's no way to sell a watercolor for $850. The sales pitch wasn't any better: "Painted by the artist of her now-famous characters." The artwork ended up selling for a Best Offer of $500. Some collector got lucky, right?

Cartoons by Roz Chast
Original poster art

Detail

Roz Chast's signature

Roz Chast
eBay Listing Ended January 28, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Roz-Chast-Poster-/223341128114?hash=item34002b29b2%3Ag%3AC7UAAOSwj0BcNl9f&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Roz Chast
eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History
Best Offer (of $500) Accepted

Not exactly. Schubertiade Music has acquired the poster original and for the past year or so has been offering it again on eBay, this time for $2500, a 400% markup over the $500 accepted Best Offer. The new seller did manage to obtain a good scan of the original and the text is certainly reasonable. Oh, best offers are not being entertained.

Cartoons by Roz ChastOriginal poster art

Roz Chast
eBay Listing Accessed May 2, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Roz-CHAST-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-Cartoons-by-Roz-Chast-Hand-Painted-Poster/123761881847?hash=item1cd0c872f7:g:a2YAAOSwyZhc1FuL

Note:  This post feels somewhat incomplete without an image of the original poster. Readers who can identify the referenced exhibition are urged to do so.

Attempted Bloggery welcomes reader submissions depicting original works by Roz Chast. No shadows, please.

The original art remains available on eBay at the time of this posting.

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Roz Chast

Posters

Attempted Bloggery's Now-Famous Index

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A Jean-Jacques Sempé Poster for Galerie Seder 1970

It is computed, that eleven thousand persons have, at several times, suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end.

—Jonathan Swift

Gulliver's Travels, 1726

Part 1 "A Voyage to Lilliput," Chapter 4

J. J. Grandville, 1838

http://classics-illustrated.com/gulliver/lillone.html

Jonathan Swift's deft satire, with Big-Endians and Little-Endians caught up in an insurmountable political conflict over at which end one should break an egg, reflects the real-world polarization between Roman Catholics and Protestants. The passage from Gulliver's Travels was unexpectedly brought to mind recently by consideration of Jean-Jacques Sempé's 1970 poster for an exhibition at Galerie Seder. The cartoon image therein presents an allegory of our tendency to inflate minor conflicts into total warfare. The two different variations on the French tricolor, one vertical and one horizontal, are a nice touch, seemingly trivial differences in banners for people to rally behind.

It's baffling that a Sempé exhibition even in 1970 would last only 15 days. It's difficult to fathom as well that at auction last month the hard-to-find poster would fail to find a buyer. But it's coming back to the auction block later this month for another try.

Jean-Jacques Sempé
Exhibition Poster for Galerie Seder, November 5-20, 1970

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/sempe-galerie-seder-1970-7b440b7806

A direct cultural descendent of Swift, if not of Sempé, is Dr. Seuss's Butter Battle Book published in 1984. Thank goodness we Americans also had a way to learn of the dangers of polarization. Now if only we had paid attention.

Then my grandfather said,
“It’s high time that you knew
of the terribly horrible thing that Zooks do.
In every Zook house and in every Zook town
every Zook eats his bread
with the butter side down![”]

—Dr. Seuss

The Butter Battle Book, 1984

Dr. Seuss
The Butter Battle Book (1984)

http://www.mrtredinnick.com/uploads/7/2/1/5/7215292/butter_battle_show_pptx.pdf

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Jean-Jacques Sempé

Dr. Seuss

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George Booth—A Cartoonist's Life

This week George Booth is coming to the Society of Illustrators! Curated by animator J. J. Sedelmaier, the show "George Booth—A Cartoonist's Life" opens on October 24 with an opening reception on the 27th. "This is the first exhibit exclusively dedicated to George Booth's work," according to the Society's website. That represents a tremendous oversight on the part of the art world, even though technically it isn't true. In 1978, Mr. Booth had a monthlong solo exhibit at the Nicholls Gallery.

"George Booth—A Cartoonist's Life"

George Booth, 1996
Absolutely No Pets

Three issues of Leatherneck with contributions by George Booth

George Booth
"Mister Berghwin is not himself lately. And the cat hasn't been acting right, either."

"George Booth—A Cartoonist's Life" at the Society of Illustrators
"This is the first exhibit exclusively dedicated to George Booth's work."

https://www.societyillustrators.org/exhibits/george-booth-cartoonists-life

Meanwhile, forty years earlier...

Art
The New Yorker, February 13, 1978, page 8

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1978-02-13#folio=008

Booth exhibition ad
The New Yorker, February 13, 1978, page 126

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1978-02-13#folio=126

What do you suppose became of those $20 signed posters? As a matter of fact, there's one available on eBay right now!

George Booth, signed exhibition poster for the Nicholls Gallery, 1978

George Booth's signature

George Booth
eBay Listing as of October 21, 2017

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CARTOONIST-GEORGE-BOOTH-SIGNED-FRAMED-PRINT-NICHOLLS-GALLERY-1978-NEW-YORKER-/311853083463?hash=item489be46b47:g:JzwAAOSwBOtY-njH

George Booth
eBay Item Description
"Reframing wouldn't be a terrible idea." Yup.

* * *

George Booth
"Very good, Leon."

https://www.societyillustrators.org/events/opening-reception-george-booth-cartoonists-life

Note:  All original artwork shown here is from the George Booth Collection via the Society of Illustrators website.

It's George Booth's moment. As always, I'm looking for scans or photos of original art by the cartoonist. Published rarities are also welcome.

I hope to be in attendance at the opening reception Friday. Don't be shy about saying hello.


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George Booth

The Society of Illustrators

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