Constantin Alajálov: Warning All Wives!

An article called "Warning All Wives!" published in McCall's was reprinted in the Reader's Digest issue of February 1964. Part II of a feature with the same name appeared in a February magazine issue, possibly McCall's, along with Constantin Alajálov's illustration, the original of which is reproduced here. The husband appears exhausted, the wife frustrated. What could possibly have gone wrong in the marriage bed?

Warning All Wives! (Part II)
Constantin Alajálov
McCall's[?], c. February 1964[?], p. 129

Verso

An undated, unsigned inscription on the back of the illustration board lists the price of this work at $1,250. The sale of the art at Stephenson's Auction in Southampton, Pennsylvania, on New Year's Day had the bidding start at $1,500, with an estimate of $3,000 to $6,000. No bids had been received as of two hours prior to the sale.

Constantin Alajálov
Stephenson's Auction listing accessed two hour before the sale

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/195157904_constantin-alajalov-gouache-illustration-on-board

At the drop of the hammer, there was no sale:


Page 48 of the February 1964 Reader's Digest may contain a clue to this piece.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/333964401291

Note:  I'd like to hear from anyone with an image of this illustration in print—or with some advice for this poor woman.

04845

Arnold Roth On Ice

The National Hockey League (NHL) begins its 2017-2018 season today. Some forty years ago, cartoonist Arnold Roth envisioned the sport besieged by an energy crisis limiting the availability of ice. Fortunately, he had a practical solution at the ready.

Arnold Roth, Energy Crisis
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 36
Inscribed "for Peter & Maria Rathbone/June 4th 1977"

Publication information added October 31, 2017

Arnold Roth
eBay Listing Ended May 17, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Watercolor-Art-ICE-HOCKEY-PLAYER-by-ARNOLD-ROTH-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-/121701828243?hash=item1c55fe8693%3Ag%3APEAAAOSwLVZVoX6D&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Arnold Roth
eBay Item Description

An undated Roth drawing for TV Guide depicts the NHL as a number of "cops"—one a giant—policing the sport. This may be a reference to league efforts to curtail the violent fights that threatened the sport's popularity.

Arnold Roth, NHL "Cops"
Original art, TV Guide

Arnold Roth
Chris Beetles Gallery Listing as of October 1, 2017

https://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/sports/american-sports/nhl-national-hockey-league-cops.html

Finally, a December 1999 illustration by Mr. Roth for Sports Illustrated depicts some wildly exaggerated Hockey Cheats with various nefarious implements of game disruption.

Arnold Roth, Hockey Cheats
Original art, Sports Illustrated, December 1999

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/RT/roth/roth2.html

Note:  It's hard to believe, but this is the first appearance of Arnold Roth on this blog. Careful readers may have noted the tantalizing appearance of a numeral 4 in the corner of the Energy Crisis artwork. This strongly suggests that there are at least three other drawings in the series out there somewhere! It also suggests, of course, that Energy Crisis was published as part of a set and not created specifically for the enjoyment of the Rathbones as the eBay seller seems to believe. Cartoon detectives, you know what you have to do.

To my mind, no blog post about illustration art is truly complete without specific and scrupulous publication information. Therefore I invite students of hockey illustration art and members of local Arnold Roth societies to provide this blog with the missing publication history for each of these hockey-themed illustrations. For that matter, I'm always eager to show scans and photos of other original art by Mr. Roth and by other New Yorker artists on just about any subject, hockey or otherwise.

October 31, 2017 Update:  On Twitter, Cary Moy has identified the publication source of the Energy Crisis artwork as Sports Illustrated's issue of December 3, 1973.

Arnold Roth
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, pages 34-35

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43383/40/2

Arnold Roth, Energy Crisis
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 36
Inscribed "for Peter & Maria Rathbone/June 4th 1977"

Arnold Roth
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 36

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43383/42/2

Arnold Roth
"No Fueling, the Crisis is Here" by William Johnson
Sports Illustrated, December 3, 1973, page 39

https://www.si.com/vault/issue/43383/44/2

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Hockey

Attempted Bloggery's Slippery Index

02325

George Price: The Original Amateur Hour

By 1968, Ted Mack had been a television host for 21 years, a run simply unheard of at the time. His television show, "The Original Amateur Hour," then the world's longest-running TV show, brought a wide variety of amateur acts into America's living rooms, including the occasional mishap from "jugglers who can't, and talking dogs who don't." TV Guide covered it with an article called "Ted Mack Reminisces" in which Mr. Mack recounted a few of the more memorable things that had transpired over the decades of putting on the live show. The article is by Lucianne Goldberg, today a stalwart of conservative media, but back in '68 she was crafting such sensitive prose as "One little fatty began to lose a stocking but, being a trouper, kept on tapping."

TV Guide had a veritable arsenal of illustrative talent at its disposal, but it must have seemed natural that such a story about wayward amateur acts should be quirkily illustrated by George Price, a cartoonist who chronicled all manner of oddballs and misfits for decades in the New Yorker and other publications. The original illustration, hidden away for a half-century, has just been offered for sale on eBay. Take your Geritol and take a look.

The original art is huge compared with the size of the published illustration.

George Price
"Ted Mack Reminisces"
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 44

George Price
Original illustration for "Ted Mack Reminisces"
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 44

George Price
Original illustration for "Ted Mack Reminisces"
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 44

TV Guide, May 4, 1968
"Mission Impossible"

TV Guide, May 4, 1968
"Mission Impossible"

Detail

"Ted Mack Reminisces" by Lucianne Goldberg
Illustration by George Price
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, pages 44-45

"Ted Mack Reminisces" by Lucianne Goldberg
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 45

"Ted Mack Reminisces" by Lucianne Goldberg
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 45

"'We also have the slight distinction of having turned down Elvis Presley.'"
"Ted Mack Reminisces" by Lucianne Goldberg
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 46

"One little fatty began to lose a stocking but, being a trouper, kept on tapping."
"Ted Mack Reminisces" by Lucianne Goldberg
TV Guide, May 4, 1968, page 48

George Price
eBay Listing as of September 4, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CARTOONIST-GEORGE-PRICE-1901-1995-TED-MACK-REMINISCES-1968-CARTOON-ILLUSTRATION-/352157249962?hash=item51fe3531aa:g:A7EAAOSwJb5ZqrZZ

George Price
eBay Item Description

Note:  Attempted Bloggery is eager to publish scans or photographs of original cartoon art by George Price and other New Yorker artists, the well-known and the obscure. Scans of illustrations from TV Guide and other publications are also eagerly sought. As if you didn't know...

If you don't remember who she is, you might want to read author and literary agent Lucianne Goldberg's Wikipedia page and her news forum website.

Get your copy of The American Bystander #5 and see this blog's first classified ad.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

George Price

TV Guide

Attempted Bloggery's Amateur Index

02299

Rea Irvin: Vacationtime in the Virgin Islands

This is a surprise. From eBay, two original illustrations by Rea Irvin were sold for just $200 after failing to find a buyer at $250. Their publication history in the February 1954 issue of Woman's Day is fully known and scrupulously documented in the eBay listing. Both pieces of color artwork are framed together in one matte with two windows and a suitable frame that alone would cost more than $200 to obtain today. It's like getting the art for free.

Rea Irvin, of course, worked for the old Life, The New Yorker, and many other publications. He was The New Yorker's original art editor. He created many innovative covers for the magazine, including its legendary first issue.

Two original side-by-side color illustrations by Rea Irvin of the Virgin Islands are shown alongside pages 18 and 19 from the February 1954 issue of Woman's Day which includes the illustration of Frederiksted, St. Croix.

The title page of the Woman's Day article reproduces the St. Croix illustration in full color. The blurb reveals that Irvin "spends a good part of the year in the islands...."

Rea Irvin, "Frederiksted, St. Croix -- The Rush Hour."

Rea Irvin, "Ninety nine steps, St. Thomas"

Ninety-Nine Steps, St. Thomas today

http://travel.usnews.com/US_Virgin_Islands/Pictures/99_Steps_282/

The famous 99 Steps are reduced to 29 Steps by sloppy copy writers at Woman's Day, who seemingly could have used assistance from some of The New Yorker's legendary fact-checkers.

Page 18 of Woman's Day for February 1954 is the title page of Irvin's article

The illustrations on the title page are reproduced in their original color.

Irvin's color illustration of Ninety-Nine Steps is reproduced only in black-and-white on page 104 of Woman's Day, towards the back of the magazine.

Rea Irvin, "Frederiksted, St. Croix -- The Rush Hour." and "Ninety nine steps, St. Thomas" are framed together.

Woman's Day, February 1954 Cover

The Back of the Frame

The Label

Rea Irvin eBay Listing Ending June 1, 2013

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-REA-IRVIN-Original-Illustrations-Published-In-1954-Womens-Day-Magazine-/151053174922?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item232b78888a&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The Final Sale Price

This artwork failed to find a buyer at $250 on eBay, but sold at $200.

Two original color illustrations by Rea Irvin of the Virgin Islands are shown alongside pages 18 and 19 from the February 1954 Woman's Day which includes the illustration of Frederiksted, St. Croix.

Note:  A photo of Rea Irvin at a fancy costume party some forty years before these illustrations were published can be found here.

0837