Barney Tobey: Rural Renewal

In March, Hill Auction Gallery of Surnise, Florida, offered a piece by cartoonist Barney Tobey that was published in The New Yorker back in 1980. The original art shows us a small corner of our ever-changing world loosely but convincingly rendered in ink, wash, and correction fluid:

A ten-word caption pulls the whole thing together:

"Ed, remember my barn when it had cows in it?"
Barney Tobey
Framed original art
The New Yorker, July 21, 1980, p. 27

Barney Tobey's signature

Caption

The auction house gave this Tobey piece a broad valuation of $100 to $1,000. As a genuine, published New Yorker cartoon with something relevant to say, one could reasonably expect the art market to support this estimate but, alas, it did not:

Barney Tobey
Hill Auction Gallery listing ended March 26, 2025

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/barney-tobey-1906-1989-farmer-cartoon-illustration-361-c-fdf4814a36?objectID=195608596&algIndex=archive_prod&queryID=07bf770b690d11f324e9e30e123aa83f

The auction house describes the barn as having been "modernized into a living space," but it is more plausibly now a restaurant.

Barney Tobey
Hill Auction Gallery item description

"Ed, remember my barn when it had cows in it?"
Barney Tobey
The New Yorker, July 21, 1980, p. 27

"Ed, remember my barn when it had cows in it?"
Barney Tobey
Original art
The New Yorker, July 21, 1980, p. 27

With a spot drawing by P and a cartoon by Barney Tobey

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1980-07-21/flipbook/026/

* * *

A spot drawing by P

July 13, 2025 Update:  The drawing is now available from Curated Cartoons.

Barney Tobey
Curated Cartoons listing accessed July 13, 2025

https://www.curatedcartoons.com/products/remember-my-barn?_pos=1&_sid=c2018609d&_ss=r

Note:  This old blog still has enough room to post and comment on a barnful of original art by Barney Tobey. Farmers and collectors please take note.

Perhaps some knowledgable reader can inform a curious blogger of the identity of spot artist P?

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Cape Cod 2022: The Cape Cod Lavender Farm

On August 25, we paid a visit to the Cape Cod Lavender Farm.

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Winsor McCay Endorses...FDR

Winsor McCay, acclaimed creator of "Gertie the Dinosaur," Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend, and Little Nemo in Slumberland also distinguished himself as an editorial cartoonist. Here, from the pages of the New York Herald Tribune, is his 1932 endorsement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The ink on board drawing is remarkably detailed, almost like an engraving or etching. FDR is presented as something of a savior, very nearly in religious terms.

Winsor McCay
He Will Make Hay When This Son Shines
New York Herald Tribune, September 18, 1932

Winsor McCay
AbeBooks Listing Accessed March 9, 2020

https://www.abebooks.com/Original-editorial-cartoon-endorsing-Franklin-Roosevelt/30588175371/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=readmore

Note:  Can anyone provide a newspaper image confirming that this cartoon was published in the New York Herald Tribune on September 18, 1932?

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Winsor McCay

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Ex-Collection of Murray A. Harris

Attempted Bloggery's Haymaking Index

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George Booth and Chicken C. Chicken

A man in overalls named Chicken C. Chicken looks on rather sheepishly in an original wash drawing by George Booth found in a copy of his 1976 collection Rehearsal's Off! Wash drawings are more likely to be studio creations than souvenirs made at book signings. The book is offered by History for Sale at $719.

History for Sale Listing Copied June 26, 2016

http://www.historyforsale.com/george-booth-original-art-signed-circa-1976/dc9066

Note:  Signed books with original drawings are one of my favorite topics on this blog. Click on the aqua link to see them all. You might think that after five years of blogging I would have cornered the market on posting drawings by George Booth found in cartoon books, but you would be wrong. There are actually more of them on Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Galleries site than I have to show here. So check out his awesome page about George Booth to get an idea just how varied and interesting the cartoonist's drawings in books are. If you have any original Booth drawings made in cartoon books or elsewhere, please send them to me for inclusion on this blog. I don't like to take a back seat to anyone...

I've been trying to keep this under my hat, but George Booth will turn 90 on Tuesday. Why not celebrate with a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and my collected posts about the art of George Booth? And thou.

Wait, we're not done here. There's still much to see on Michael Maslin's Ink Spill blog about the soon-to-be-nonagenarian George Booth. Check it all out here.

But if you'd like to read the words of the man himself, check out Jane Mattimoe's recent interview with Mr. Booth at A Case for Pencils.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Richard Gehr's 2013 interview with George Booth for the Comics Journal. Semper Fi.

Now can anyone tell me what's so funny about chickens?

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