Arranging Flowers Helen E. Hokinson Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

From an auction house in Woodbury, Connecticut comes a rough watercolor illustration attributed to The New Yorker's Helen E. Hokinson (1893-1949). The interior scene shows two women, a matron and her domestic servant, using cuttings from the garden to create a floral arrangement. Though unsigned, the art is in Hokinson's characteristic style and it depicts her typical subject matter. The strap along the left edge of the artwork indicates that this piece was conceived as a potential New Yorker cover. A notation on the backing documents a plausible and exceptional provenance: it originally belonged to James Reid Parker (1909-1984), Hokinson's longtime gag writer and collaborator. The artwork was given by his widow Ruth L. Parker to a Betty Greene in 1986. 

The watercolor was offered with an estimate of $50 to $5,000, a broad range. Bidding opened at just $20.

A day and a half before the sale, the bidding had reached only $30.

Helen E. Hokinson
Schwenke Auctioneers listing accessed October 29, 2023

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/163433043_attr-h-hokinson-wc-cartoon

Helen E. Hokinson
Schwenke Auctioneers item description

It sold on October 31 for $200.

Though it was never published, the above artwork possibly could have led to a 1940 New Yorker cover coinciding with the flower show and showing us the ultimate destination of the floral arrangement:

Helen E. Hokinson
The New Yorker, March 16, 1940

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Ronald Searle: The Thing from Underground

Ronald Searle's lithograph The Thing from Underground was issued in 1969 with two distinct color variants each in a larger edition size than the 99 he usually produced. The variant in black, gold, orange, blue, and green was published in an edition of 120 plus XX and an additional XL reserved copies in Roman numerals. The second variant in black and orange had an edition size of 150 plus II and a further reserved Roman numeral edition of L. Despite the large edition sizes, these prints are seldom encountered today.

Ronald Searle
The Thing from Underground
Variant in black, gold, orange, blue, and green, 1969
Gurlitt 43 (1971)
Hors commerce aside from the edition of 120 + XL reserved Roman numeral copies

Image added February 23, 2020

http://www.ronaldsearle.co.uk/fromunder.htm

Ronald Searle
The Thing from Underground
Variant in black and orange, 1969
Gurlitt 44 (1971)
From the reserved Roman numeral edition of L aside from the edition of 150 + II 

https://www.artprice.com/marketplace/1100334/ronald-searle/print-multiple/the-thing-from-underground-i#!#zoom_image

There was also a spring 1969 exhibition poster variant signed in the stone for Ferdinand Roten Galleries at Brentano's in San Francisco, apparently printed in black and red. This rarity came up for auction early this month in the Netherlands and failed to find a buyer.

Ronald Searle
The Thing from Underground
Exhibition Poster for Ferdinand Roten Galleries at Brentano's, San Francisco
Not in Gurlitt (1971)

Ronald Searle

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/poster-by-ronald-w.f.-searle-ferdinand-roten-ga-e0248b993d

Image added February 22, 2020

Note:  I would like to hear from anyone with access to better images of the original lithographs or to other exhibition poster variants, if there should be any.

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Cape Cod 2019: Spring Foliage

Last week in Cape Cod was a great time to view the foliage of late spring, including rhododendrons and irises.

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Flowers

Irises

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Attempted Bloggery's Flowery Index

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Flower Show: Roger Duvoisin Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Roger Duvoisin's oil on canvas of the flower show at the Grand Central Palace in New York may have been painted at the opening of the 1937 flower show. By the time it was revised and published on the cover of The New Yorker, there were only three days remaining in the show. The composition was revised significantly between the preliminary and the finished art. Most importantly, as observed by the seller on eBay, a strip of brown ceiling was added at the top of the image so that the upper gallery would not be obscured by the magazine's logo. The pagoda in the center of the exhibition space has acquired a brown door, presumably to unify the prominent color in the ceiling and in the columns at the borders of the work.

Roger Duvoisin
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, March 20, 1937

A great many elements were changed between the preliminary and the finished art.

Roger Duvoisin
The New Yorker, March 20, 1937

Roger Duvoisin
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, March 20, 1937

Roger Duvoisin's signature

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Back of frame

Roger Duvoisin
eBay Listing Ended October 16, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ROGER-DUVOISIN-ANTIQUE-THE-NEW-YORKER-COVER-FOLK-ART-MASTERPIECE-OIL-PAINTING-/401011938729?hash=item5d5e2c95a9%3Ag%3AcX0AAOSw3xJVf01m&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Roger Duvoisin
eBay Item Description

Roger Duvoisin
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, March 20, 1937

Roger Duvoisin
The New Yorker, March 20, 1937

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1937-03-20#folio=CV1

The New Yorker, March 20, 1937, page 6

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1937-03-20#folio=006

The Annual Flower Show at the Grand

Central Palace in New York City

Note:  The 44th annual Macy's Flower Show begins today at Macy's Herald Square and runs through April 6. The Grand Central Palace closed in 1953 and was demolished in 1964. Today the site is occupied by 245 Park Avenue.

Attempted Bloggery seeks out the work of artist Roger Duvoisin (1900-1980) as well as other examples of preliminary New Yorker cover art—that is, roughs—by any and all New Yorker artists. Please submit high-resolution scans or photographs to the blog's handy email address. 

I report sales prices when I am able. Posts with the keyword price? are lacking this essential information. To those who know, please fill me in, if you don't mind.

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Ronald Searle: The Interloper

Everyone welcomes the spring, right? Ronald Searle's The Interloper suggests that some of us would rather not have to deal with it, or indeed with nature. The extraordinary original artwork for the cover of Graphis 169 was sold on eBay around 2009 for $4000, and subsequently by a private dealer. Long ago Searle's agent John Locke told me that The New Yorker had rejected this as a cover.

Ronald Searle
The Interloper
Original art
Graphis 169, 1973

http://www.ronaldsearle.co.uk/interloper.htm

Ronald Searle
The Interloper
Graphis 169, 1973

Note:  Happy spring, at least according to the calendar! Attempted Bloggery is always looking for submissions of published and unpublished original book and magazine illustrations by Ronald Searle, a man for all seasons.

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Four Souvenir Sketches by Niculae Asciu

Four souvenir sketches on colored index cards by cartoonist Nicolae Asciu (1942-2013) were offered for sale on eBay in 2015. Two of them are gags about stethoscopes, one is about the violin, and one is about boating. All four sketches are dated September 19, 1982 and since they were sold together they might be inscribed to members of a single family or possibly medical practice. Initially offered at $49 each, one was sold at an undisclosed Best Offer price at which point the other three were reduced to opening bids of $8.99.

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Listing Ended November 11, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICULAE-ASCIU-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-ARTIST-SIGNED-ORIGINAL-SKETCH-3X5-INDEX-CARD-BL-/321911954905?hash=item4af3729dd9%3Ag%3AtNYAAOSwu-BWOo3t&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Item Description

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Listing Ended November 11, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICULAE-ASCIU-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-ARTIST-SIGNED-ORIGINAL-SKETCH-3X5-INDEX-CARD-YW-/371480505430?hash=item567df6ac56%3Ag%3AUR4AAOSwAYtWOo3p&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Item Description

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Bid History
One bid is placed in the final four minutes of the auction.

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Listing Ended November 11, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICULAE-ASCIU-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-ARTIST-SIGNED-ORIGINAL-SKETCH-3X5-INDEX-CARD-PK-/371480509196?hash=item567df6bb0c%3Ag%3ApPYAAOSwhcJWOo3u&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Item Description

Nicolae Asciu
eBay Listing Ended August 18, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NICULAE-ASCIU-NEW-YORKER-CARTOON-ARTIST-SIGNED-ORIGINAL-SKETCH-3X5-INDEX-CARD-GN-/321747027820?hash=item4ae99e076c%3Ag%3AS58AAOSw3ydVsnqN&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Copied November 8, 2015

Note:  Nicolae Asciu is new to Attempted Bloggery. I would love to receive scans or photos of original works by the artist.


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