Saul Steinberg: Fabric Patterns

Saul Steinberg's fabric designs are, like much of his work, wildly inventive, but that doesn't mean it's easy to find a market for a collection of manufactured articles, specifically three garment bags, seven small pillow cases, and a bolt of silk fabric. These textiles are fine works of design; Swann Galleries chose to include them in the Vintage Posters sale. They are problematic to price: they went unsold last year when offered with an estimate of $3,000 to $4,000. Yesterday, with a more moderate estimate of $2,000 to $3,000, the grouping was sold for $1,500—$1875 with the premium.

Wedding Picture (1950)
Saul Steinberg
Patterson Fabrics, New York, NY

Horses (1951)

Saul Steinberg

Piazza Prints, New York, NY

Saul Steinberg
Swann Galleries
Vintage Posters, August 4, 2022, sale 2612, lot 407

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/SAUL-STEINBERG-(1914-1999)--[FABRIC-PATTERNS--HORSES--THE-WE?saleno=2612&lotNo=407&refNo=788257

Wedding Picture, shown above in pink, was also manufactured with blue, gray, and yellow backgrounds. A taller roll of the yellow version was sold at Swann Galleries in 2020:

Wedding Picture (1950)
642 x 37 inches, 1630 x 94 cm
Saul Steinberg
Patterson Fabrics, New York, NY

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/SAUL-STEINBERG-(1914-1999)-WEDDING-PICTURE-Bolt-of-silk-fabr?saleno=2538&lotNo=227&refNo=770678

A gray version from Patterson's affiliate Piazza Prints, here called Wedding, is in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt:

Wedding (1950)
710 x 770 cm
Saul Steinberg
Piazza Prints, New York, NY

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/wedding-saul-steinberg/oAGCziYwacj7_w?ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.5%2C%22y%22%3A0.5%2C%22z%22%3A9.128901134206092%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A2.1872983818770213%2C%22height%22%3A1.2374999999999992%7D%7D

The Saul Steinberg Foundation's website shows the version with the blue background, also from the Cooper Hewitt:

https://saulsteinbergfoundation.org/search-artwork/page/2/

And it is the Cooper Hewitt, again, that has the full 1951 sidewall of Horses:

http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18391855/

04037

Dr. Seuss: Better Horses

A souvenir drawing by Dr. Seuss was presumably created for someone named Broder, unless that wasn't his name, who may have been a horse breeder, unless that wasn't his trade. It may just be a work of pure fancy, as drawings of two-headed horses often are.

"'When Better Horses are Breeded,
Broder will Brood them.'           
          (an old maxim by Dr. Seuss)"

Dr. Seuss
AbeBooks listing accessed June 4, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30781479825&searchurl=kn%3DDr.%2BSeuss%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image19

Note:  Attention horse breeders and others! I'm always eager to post original art by Dr. Seuss.

04029

At the Horse Show: Garrett Price Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

Garrett Price's New Yorker cover proposal depicts equestrian activities including show jumping and harness racing. The composition resembles a sketchbook page and does not attempt to show a single unified scene. Of note, Price has worked a number of figures into the area of the logo and seems to be planning how horses and people would interact with most every letter. It was an ambitious idea but not one ever to be developed into a published cover.

Garrett Price's signature

Garrett Price
eBay listing ended August 14, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Garrett-Price-New-Yorker-Cover-Sketch-1950-s-Horse-Activities-Ink-ORIGINAL-ART-/143678508800?hash=item2173e80f00%3Ag%3AeHUAAOSw8LBfMAwX&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Garrett Price
eBay item description

Garrett Price
eBay bid history
The last bid gets it.

[End of eBay listing]

Of course, one can never know for sure why a particular cover proposal wasn't accepted by The New Yorker, but it can still be a useful exercise to conjecture. The published New Yorker covers which include show jumping (but not harness riding) are shown below for comparison with the Price rough. They each represent a single unified scene and have a specific artistic point of view. The Price cover seems to lack a central focus; there is just too much going on all at once.

Theodore Haupt's 1928 cover depicts the pageantry of show jumping with an emphasis on the hazards of the sport:

Theodore G. Haupt
The New Yorker, November 10, 1928

Constantin Alajálov's 1939 cover notes a horse show with a bareback distraction:

Constantin Alajálov

The New Yorker, November 11, 1939

Edna Eicke's demonstration derby is just adorable. The activity is held together by the circular track:

Edna Eicke
The New Yorker, June 18, 1949

Ilonka Karasz's 1957 cover contrasts the chaotic parking in the foreground with the strict order inside the arena:

Ilonka Karasz
The New Yorker, May 11, 1957

In many ways, Arthur Getz's 1957 cover takes the exact opposite approach to that of Price, focusing in extreme close-up on a single horse and rider clearing the log fence:

Arthur Getz
The New Yorker, November 9, 1957

Note:  The winning bidder of the eBay auction has gone public here.

I would love to use Attempted Bloggery to post additional original art by Garrett Price. After all, what is an attempted blog for?

 

 03457

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #718

Come take a ride with my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #718 for July 27, 2020. The drawing is by Michael Maslin.

"I thought today we'd just loaf around."

These captions didn't have enough horsepower.

"Which color is supposed to be lucky?"
"Of course they're supposed to match."
"We don't ride together unless we match."

August 10, 2020 Update:  The Finalists

August 17, 2020 Update:  I voted with Santa Barbara, because horses don't have feet and these shoes don't have laces. My caption made clear I believe they're loafers.


August 24, 2020 Update:  The Winner

Note:  Last week in the Caption Contest, cartoonist Lonnie Millsap showed us that apartment life could be something of a zoo. My caption just didn't reach high enough. See what was up with Contest #717.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Michael Maslin

Horses

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

All the Above Cartoon Caption Contests and More

Attempted Bloggery's Mismatched Index

03332

Peter Arno's Copy of Horses and Heroes by Frazier and Robert Hunt

Frazier Hunt (1885-1967) and his son Robert Hunt published their book Horses and Heroes: The Story of the Horse in America for 450 Years early in 1949. New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno (1904-1968) received a personalized copy that is currently listed on eBay, offering a rare chance to purchase a volume from his library. It bears a prepublication inscription from Frazier Hunt, whose nickname was Spike. Hunt was an author and radio commentator who prepared Arno's presentation copy in his home borough of Newtown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Inscribed "For Peter Arno—
   Who knows how closely
most of the human race
 are associated with       
the horse.                   
           Spike
               Frazier Hunt

                                                                  Nov 16 —'48
                                                                  Newtown
                                                                  Bucks Co. Pa  "

Title page

Copyright notice

Horses and Heroes
eBay Listing Accessed May 22, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254598729576?ul_noapp=true

Horses and Heroes
eBay Item Description

Devotees of Peter Arno's work might be curious as to what manner of illustration appears in this book. Fortunately there's another listing of Horses and Heroes on eBay, this copy unsigned, which gives an idea of the sort of pictures within. They consist of historical paintings and engravings as well as modern photographs. To be sure, they are informative while not very Arno-like:

Note:  Surely there's more to the story of this book. Was Frazier Hunt indeed Peter Arno's friend, as the eBay seller states with seeming confidence? Readers with knowledge or evidence of their acquaintance are urged to come forward. Were they racetrack buddies, perhaps?

Could be. Cartoon aficionado Christopher Wheeler provides a photograph of Peter Arno at the races here.

My thanks to Arno biographer Michael Maslin, for confirming that Hunt did not come up in his research.

At the time of my posting, this book is still available for purchase on eBay.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Peter Arno

Horses

Signed Books

Attempted Bloggery's Neighsaying Index

03270

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

03193