Barbara Shermund: Redefining The Bohemian Life

A group of Barbara Shermund's original cartoons was listed on eBay and promptly sold in May. One of them shows a group of art students sitting around a dinner table drinking and smoking. And, as it happens, talking. 

"Well, Russia's been shot out from under us. Now what?"

Barbara Shermund

Original cartoon art

The eBay seller speculates that this is a World War II-era cartoon. Whatever the case, the students may soon be in the market for a new ideology.

Barbara Shermund's signature

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended May 10, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/147303767676?_skw=signed+Barbara+Shermund&itmmeta=01KWTHRV3FFT7FYS556YKTA5MB&hash=item224bfd1e7c:g:H88AAeSwYudqAHV~&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDB2IBAw2PkATz90UE0A%2BgJukkuKNdOO3ta%2FRWVr%2BElLIFZtf%2FjzDGVLGDN

J8do2W49cMpR5NSQaS8nLVnK2g7tnVp2XLHZPICjfuYAL3DEnKV01tRZPd5XJiB6xlLbtlaaHz2uW24LA09FNj5zUWAtAJJJcWKJfE73EYlKcWYG0Z4I4ySxcOf1Y902Nd6%2BSY4dNFoazQPTwvzcMUTexTpXJrC3VP1GSZWYrIhIqvJKbdXSftjxNzHH6CF6rJPIVAs%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_Kx49HmZw

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

Note:  Do you have your own Barbara Shermund originals? Why not share them here, now that Russia's got nothing to offer?

05294

Chon Day: Wartime Communication

An original cartoon by Chon Day was sold on eBay in early April. It has a military theme, but recalls some details from stateside.

"Please limit your call to three minutes—"
Chon Day
Original cartoon art

The eBay seller writes, "this is an old original Chon Day New Yorker editorial cartoon. Maybe it's from World War II or something? it very well could be, his work was being published in the 30s 40s 50s, all them decades." I'll buy that it's "from World War II or something." I'll go further and suggest that it's set in the Pacific Theater.

The back of the art isn't as helpful as it might be. There is certainly nothing here to suggest publication in The New Yorker, which the seller so wishes to believe. The date is written as a Monday, May 1—I can't make out the rest—but where and what year? The first of May did fall on a a Monday in 1944—that year would have to be my first guess.

Chon Day
eBay listing ended April 1, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/236723752267?_skw=signed+New+Yorker&itmmeta=01KQXEWY4Q6SQR2MGBAP04TC77&hash=item371dd5cd4b:g:pYsAAeSwX1Zprxlu&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDJVNuOpi7dNbPINFSp3a%2Brt%2FzsgnpbtOeWJIdCEWVPPKdbbcKdERS3a4eDYy%2BBrB8%2F69a7xdaSARNDAElNWfDX1EWX%2BohnjA06Lr7vIKMGXAlQ2yOqhgHM%2F2%2Bg%2B1Qaqb6pwsuRxtncdfUurzs225XA3Gq9GlPp0Qbl2G2pnmnocNpeB5%2BD0%2FO2HXHp1bJivzAcmg7vxs12Zp4uM7a6mZZOsF50wIZzwh7VCzM%2BN1GeZFgPjO6g9CiwG4qq%2BKnd2dI%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8ji866_Zw

Chon Day
eBay item description

Note:  Please be a good soldier and get in touch if you know just where and when this Chon Day cartoon was published. Just have the operator ring me. And don't talk all day.

05259

Ronald Searle: Strength Through Joy

Strength through joy?

I suppose Ronald Searle did indeed give his drawing of a wicked St. Trinian's girl flipping over her teacher the title of Unarmed Combat—twice, it seems—and that certainly describes the action well enough. But that is not how it appeared in print.

The titles of Searle drawings were generally afterthoughts. In his classic collection Souls in Torment, as promising a name for a cartoon book as one could hope to find in 1953, the present work is one of three drawings under the alternative heading Strength Through Joy.

The term "unarmed combat" actually appears as part of a caption on the page opposite. Thus, grouping these three drawings under an Unarmed Combat heading would have detracted from the caption on the following page. At least, that's a conjecture of what went on, and why Searle abandoned his presumptive title for this drawing when it was published in a book even though it fit perfectly.

The signature appears to be later than 1953 by more than a decade. Searle must have signed it whenever the drawing eventually left his studio.

Ronald Searle's signature

In 1991, this piece was offered by London dealer Chris Beetles. Despite Beetles noting the publishing history, the title he listed is the one that Searle wrote on the work. After all, it is a better title. 

At auction, many a tempting work seems reasonably priced before the bidding gets underway.

Ronald Searle
Chiswick Auctions listing accessed March 21, 2026, ten days before the sale

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/Ronald-Searle-C.B.E.-British,-1920-2011-Unarm-168-c-BEBFCC408C?utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=artistalerts&utm_content=378696&utm_term=378696

Ronald Searle
Chiswick Auctions item description

And yet it sells on March 31 at Chiswick Auctions for more than twice the high estimate.

Here it is on the printed page as one of a trio of Strength Through Joy drawings. On the opposite page is "Some little girl didn't hear me say 'unarmed combat'." The captioned cartoon shows an earlier version of Searle's signature.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T3RcLoQuSZA/TrHj7rZjIFI/AAAAAAAAX7k/-SmvpXssYq0/s1600/Searle11.jpg

Image added July 5, 2026

05251

William Steig: Laughing at Losses

One has heard the expression laughing all the way to the bank. That is decidedly not what cartoonist William Steig depicted in his drawing of an executive laughing at a business chart showing a significant downturn. The original artwork was offered at auction on December 27. It may well date from the Great Depression. Carnegie's Auction Gallery of Los Angeles estimated its worth at $1,000 to $1,500 and opened the bidding at $700. It did not sell, perhaps owing to a present-day downturn.

The auction house suggested the tantalizing prospect that the illustration once had a caption which was erased. That's possible, but a caption seems a bit unnecessary here, no? The erasures could have been printer's instructions or possibly even a dedication to a giftee.

At any rate, it's hard to understand why there wasn't sufficient bidder interest. Economic downturns are always relevant somewhere, and they're funnier than upturns if one discounts the wide swath of people adversely affected by them. This well-fed fellow in the three-piece suit does not appear to be concerned:

Steig uses judicious highlighting to show the flow of the hair, including on the magnate's mustache.

Indecipherable printer's marks are visible along the top:

More markings are seen below Steig's signature, also unreadable. Signing in the shadow makes it harder for the printer to omit or move the signature.

William Steig's signature

Is prosperity just around the corner?

There is writing on the back along the bottom edge. Tell me something I don't know:

Verso

Verso

Verso

William Steig
Carnegie's Auction Gallery listing of December 27, 2025

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/221986287_william-steig-pen-and-ink-illustration-cartoon-signed-los-angeles-ca

William Steig
Carnegie's Auction Gallery item description

Note:  I would like to hear from entrepreneurs and others who can identify where this William Steig drawing was published.

05238

Bob Mankoff: Against Advice of Counsel

Last year an original drawing by Bob Mankoff, The New Yorker's cartoon editor from 1997 to 2017, was offered for sale on eBay. 

"Your Honor, against advice of council [sic] my client has decided to defend himself."
Bob Mankoff
Original cartoon art

The courtroom cartoon has heavy penciling under the crude ink drawing, suggesting that it's in its rough state. The caption has a misspelling—council instead of counsel—and the humor is a bit unsubtle.

"Your Honor, against advice of counsel my client has decided to defend himself."
Bob Mankoff
Original cartoon art

Bob Mankoff's signature

Bob Mankoff
eBay listing accessed October 20, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286881879844?_skw=mankoff+original&itmmeta=01K81GKJ9YNX8QE4SZVPW6RB0R&hash=item42cb7e1724:g:V5wAAeSww11o8YzG&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eBoAt9DoMysmJFjL%2BtbDxN7i9JUBm1s0z%2BH52MHWTVuBwN%2BLmogoAQuUkX9

L4C5AZV5A9Vl6K5RjjpNhmbKoddVhjph9Jz3W8DXaTdYlcSev8t4dOF4%2BObTK1Yu9HtO9KNQFsYU1eaAtPsLNHuXAqJD8amk3RfnKRjURwFdu%2F7dPqtrwFYlDZfwa5r1TdPG%2BZVD6Ra3at%2BsnPor4j0ks3oWyIANGjMi0PPF4TY5Xy26oabKDK1tV4DrSSNKoIAwRQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6SlzrDAZg

Bob Mankoff
eBay item description

Note:  I don't believe this cartoon was ever published, but please let me know if I'm wrong.

05230