Jack Ziegler: In Praise of Mom

Tuesday's Illustration Art auction at Swann Galleries in New York had a generous selection of New Yorker art, including a few pieces by Jack Ziegler. His original cartoon from 1993 is as zany a tribute to motherhood as one could imagine.

"Yessirree, kids, your mother is one heck of a gal!"
Jack Ziegler
Original art
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 85

The drawing, of course, is exaggerated, the caption somehow understated—a potent combination.

Jack Ziegler
Swann Galleries Illustration Art sale of June 17, 2025

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(NEW-YORKER)-JACK-ZIEGLER-(1942---2017)-Yessirree-kids-your-?saleno=2709&lotNo=173&refNo=830507

Here we see it in the pages of The New Yorker:

"Yessirree, kids, your mother is one heck of a gal!"
Jack Ziegler
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 85

"Yessirree, kids, your mother is one heck of a gal!"
Jack Ziegler
Original art
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 85

With cartoons by Dana Fradon and Jack Ziegler

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1993-03-08/flipbook/084/

* * *

Dana Fradon's cartoon uses heavier shading and rougher lines than Ziegler's. I'm convinced that the magazine in those days was very deliberately laid out so that the cartoons on facing pages weren't too similar graphically.

"Good news! We've been selected as a potential
burial site for nuclear waste."
Dana Fradon
The New Yorker, March 8, 1993, p. 84

Note:  Readers are welcome to share images of original Jack Ziegler art on this blog. Yessirree!

04976

William Steig: Mother and Child

Original art by William Steig celebrates that special relationship between mother and child. A woman is shown sleeping in bed with her baby. It is a published piece, with printer's marks, from an unknown publication. The splendid drawing is unsigned; perhaps it is a book illustration. It is available from Argosy Book Store in New York.

William Steig

William Steig
Argosy Book Store item description accessed May 10, 2025

https://www.argosybooks.com/pages/books/288062/william-steig/untitled-original-drawing

Note:  If you know where this drawing by William Steig was published, please let me know. After you've called your mother.

04937

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Mother of the Month

A work of vintage, original cartoon art from The New Yorker is available on Etsy priced at $1,500. The artist, Whitney Darrow, Jr., shows us one make-believe mom without her pedestal. The year was 1956 and New Yorker readers were treated to a different view of the American family than they were seeing on television:

"There's a very interesting story there. She was voted Mother of the Month up in the States a couple of years ago and given a ten-day, all-expense trip down here."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Framed original art
The New Yorker, January 7, 1956, p. 17

Darrow uses light, shade, and perspective to lead our eyes to the former Mother of the Month. The single light bulb illuminates her face and arms with considerable contrast. The perspective lines of the bar lead directly to her. The man at the bar focuses on her, and we follow his gaze. His nose is practically a pointer, but the bold lines of his left thigh, the gentle shading of his midback, and the curve of his shoulders all lead us to her as well.

"There's a very interesting story there. She was voted Mother of the Month up in the States a couple of years ago and given a ten-day, all-expense trip down here."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, January 7, 1956, p. 17

Typewritten caption

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

The signature of Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Etsy listing accessed February 21, 2023

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1185632468/whitney-darrow-jr-original-charcoal-ink?ga_order=price_desc&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=New+Yorker&ref=sr_gallery-1-22&frs=1&sts=1&organic_search_click=1

"There's a very interesting story there. She was voted Mother of the Month up in the States a couple of years ago and given a ten-day, all-expense trip down here."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, January 7, 1956, p. 17

 

A spot drawing by Henry Martin and a cartoon by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1956-01-07/flipbook/016/

Henry Martin

04239