Press Photo: Raoul Walsh and Peter Arno on the Set of "Artists and Models"

"Artists and Models" is a 1937 movie starring Jack Benny and Ida Lupino. Raoul Walsh directed the film. Several popular artists made cameo appearances as themselves, including Peter Arno, McClelland Barclay, Rube Goldberg, and Russell Patterson. A press photo stamped Movie Star News shows director Walsh, left, with cartoonist Arno. Hooray for Hollywood!

Raoul Walsh and Peter Arno
eBay listing ended September 22, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186687943085?_skw=Peter+Arno+Press+Photo&itmmeta=01JC9V50M4T51QA25S5YDDCWM5&hash=item2b7777f1ad:g:ZQIAAOSwF2Zm5HiI&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKmOu4txOl9pgtWiTeKffZX6Yse2QnoHcPKEvhh4uiw6o3XJsF%2Fv0j2DGUCa2kxzJ%2FDdVCS56xh1d4w8S6rpRFV5P9O

SWb1X%2Bv4bCt8eOuQLcm4BJovGCoeFDJ%2FeHkLjhXO6Rp9e6ydx3J%2FhPex6naHtuudXm9DTtAxeLunTJM3h0FclEUC7SSQ9jK6YbVBRKvbIV6a8IWwZK0ySo%2F6puMpkm8lrs9AzAANG0Dt0zrAtLNuKIP0OgkUBVRCGy%2FGMXFxa2CMqsP1ZN59rEjFYPwGwyRxpSKkqYFXRqPgzsulmkA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9qKlLviZA

Raoul Walsh and Peter Arno
eBay item description

Raoul Walsh and Peter Arno
eBay bid history
It looks as if a single bid was placed in the last two seconds.

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Helmut Newton: Scene from Pina Bausch's Ballet "The Legend of Virginity"

If memory serves—and it doesn't always—Helmut Newton's 1983 photograph of a scene from Pina Bausch's ballet The Legend of Virginity (Die Keuschheitslegende) was published in the first issue of the revamped Vanity Fair in March of 1983. A signed print of the image came to auction yesterday with an estimate of $5,000 to $7,000, with the bidding opening at $4,000. 

Helmut Newton
Los Angeles Modern Auctions listing accessed June 18, 2023

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/154876132_helmut-newton-scene-from

Helmut Newton
Los Angeles Modern Auctions item description

The sale price was $5,500, not counting the 31% buyer's premium. 

Could it have been the March 1984 issue? No, that's not how I remember it. It turns out I trust my memory more than vanityfair.com.

https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/photos/2010/06/art-director-ruth-ansel-slide-show-201006

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The Wizard of Oz: Following Toto

There is a lot of pleasure to be had in perusing the offerings of Royal Books, a Baltimore bookseller purveying uncommon first editions and Hollywood memorabilia. A vintage black and white photograph taken on the set of "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) had caught my eye back in Catalog 61—the numbering is currently at 70. The Cowardly Lion, the Tin Man, and (largely hidden) the Scarecrow are shown climbing a rocky prominence as Toto leads them to the Witch's castle where Dorothy is being held. A member of the sound crew is seen at lower left. I was not the only one to take a liking to this photo and it sold rather quickly, as I recall.

"The Wizard of Oz"
Royal Books Catalog 61

https://www.royalbooks.com/images/upload/catalog-61-web.pdf

"The Wizard of Oz" (MGM, 1939)

Following Toto

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Irving Penn: S. J. Perelman

Irving Penn's 1962 photograph of humorist S. J. Perelman is a sober portrait of the funnyman. A 1980 print, numbered 14 of 15, was offered Thursday at Swann Auction Galleries in New York with an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000. It sold for $8000 plus a $2000 buyer's premium. 

S. J. Perelman
Swann Auction Galleries, March 11, 2021

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/IRVING-PENN-(1917-2009)-SJ-Perelman?saleno=2561&lotNo=154&refNo=778979

Note:  S. J. Perelman:  Selected Writings is coming from the Library of America this August.

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A Photo of Peter Arno at the Piano

A vintage photograph on eBay shows cartoonist Peter Arno playing the piano at a private home in Harrison, New York. This photo appeared in Michael Maslin's 2016 biography of Arno and dates to the 1950s. The eBay seller, whose father snapped the photo, believes this framed picture to be the only print in existence. It has been available on eBay for the past six weeks during which time its price has been reduced considerably. 

Peter Arno
eBay Listing Retrieved July 14, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223586019382?ul_noapp=true

Peter Arno
eBay Item Description Retrieved July 14, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223586019382?ul_noapp=true

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A Vintage Photo of Barbara Shermund

Amanda Gormley shares a "recently unearthed" photograph of her aunt, the pioneering cartoonist Barbara Shermund (1899-1978). As you can see, she was quite a looker. 

Barbara Shermund

Vintage photo by Lucy Sander Sceery courtesy of Amanda Gormley

Ms. Gormley responds:

Yes, she was quite beautiful and talented. I do wish to have known her…The photo is attributed to Lucy Sander Sceery, an artist in CT who is also the niece of Barbara’s former husband, NY abstract artist, Ludwig Sander. 

I posted it to my Instagram page…and Caitlin [McGurk] posted the photo in an update to the GoFundMe page.  

We are still trying to date the photo but I would guess it’s in the 1930s or early 1940s. I’m guesstimating only based on how old she appears to me, a highly subjective guess. 

The photo was taken outside the home of Ludwig Sander’s family on Staten Island. Barbara lived in the home while Ludwig Sander served in the US Army during WWII.

More to research…

Note:  More indeed. My thanks to Amanda Gormley for her assistance with this post, by which I mean for doing everything. I'm sure she would like to hear from anyone with photographs, correspondence, documents, artwork, or personal reminiscences relating to Barbara Shermund. There is a lot more to be learned about this important cartoonist.

"Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund" is currently on view at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Sullivant Hall, 1813 N. High St., Columbus OH 43210. Through March 31, 2019.

Posts on Instagram with the hashtag #barbarashermund may be seen here.

Ludwig Sander's page on Modernist West may be seen here.

The website of Lucy Sander Sceery may be seen here.

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A Portrait of Harold Ross

A portrait photograph of New Yorker founding editor Harold Ross from a 1927 sitting is offered on eBay for $122 or a best offer. It was taken less than two years after the the New Yorker was first published and shows Ross at about age 34. The photograph was published on the cover of Letters from the Editor, Thomas Kunkel's 2000 collection of Ross's correspondence. Just when this particular photograph may have been printed is anybody's guess.

eBay Listing Copied September 5, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAROLD-ROSS-PORTRAIT-PHOTOGRAPH-THE-NEW-YORKER-MAGAZINE-FOUNDER-JOURNALIST-/112116372762?

A much later press photo released in 1951 at the time of Ross's death is also available on eBay, but it is readily acknowledged as a modern print. At most 24 years separate the two images of Ross.

Harold Ross 1951 Press Photo (Modern Reproduction)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Photo-Harold-Ross-1951-/291840065540?hash=item43f3060004:g:ZLwAAOSw9NdXp-Hs 

Harold Ross, 1927

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Charles Addams Sits for Bachrach

It must have been around 1983 when celebrated cartoonist Charles Addams sat for a studio portrait at Bachrach. One photograph from the session was used to publicize the studio's work in a black-and-white New Yorker advertisement that appeared in the first issue of 1984. Today a color photograph from this sitting appears in one of Bachrach's online Celebrity Galleries.  Addams is photographed with a piece of artwork depicting his popular Addams Family. On the Bachrach website, the thumbnail of his studio portrait is located between those of Nelson Rockefeller and Julius Erving.

Bachrach, Charles Addams, Cartoonist
The New Yorker, January 2, 1984, page 59

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1984-01-02#folio=058

Bachrach, Charles Addams, Cartoonist

http://www.bachrachportraits.com/html/celebrity_gallery_3_12.html

The artwork from the photo:

Charles Addams, Chartered Bus

Image added August 15, 2015

http://www.geekweek.com/2010/04/burton_addams.html

Both the artwork and the Bachrach photo were used on the cover of The World of Charles Addams:

The World of Charles Addams, 1991

Image added August 16, 2015

http://www.amazon.com/The-World-Of-Charles-Addams/dp/0394588223

Bachrach Famous Faces
Celebrity Gallery 3

Image added December 29, 2015

http://www.bachrachportraits.com/html/celebrity_3.html

Note:  Do you really need a special invitation to seek out more about Charles Addams on this blog? Would you like it engraved?

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Walt Kelly 1966 Press File Photo

Walt Kelly (1913-1973) is the creator of the Pogo comic strip. This Associated Press file photo of Kelly was taken in 1966 and run on the occasion of his death at the age of 60 in 1973. Today is one-hundred years since the date of his birth.

Walt Kelly 1966 file photo from the 1973 AP wire story announcing his death

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Walt-Kelly-Cartoonist-6x8-original-wire-photo-F16415-/400496071055?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item5d3f6d118f&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 

Note:  More of my blog posts about Walt Kelly can be seen here.

Thomas Haller Buchanan's Whirled of Kelly blog can be found here.

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What Jesus Would Never Do

I snapped this photograph on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in September 2007. You never know where you'll run into some new theological insight.

"Jesus would never tailgate"

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Penn Station

New York's original Pennsylvania Station was an architectural masterpiece designed by the firm McKim, Mead, and White. It was completed in 1910, photographed by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) in 1936, and torn down without ceremony in 1963. The destruction of this irreplaceable building gave rise to today's landmark preservation movement. Penn Station, of course, was rebuilt, but the current incarnation is of no architectural significance.

Berenice Abbott's photo gives an idea of the scale and the atmosphere of the vast structure when nearly empty. As architectural elements, the massive metal pillars appear almost like tree trunks under an urban forest canopy, rising majestically toward the middle of the image. This limited edition print, no. 18/100, is available from Chris Beetles Fine Photographs in London.

Berenice Abbott, Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1936, No. 18/100

Berenice Abbott, Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1936, No. 18/100
Chris Beetles Fine Photographs

http://www.chrisbeetlesfinephotographs.com/gallery/architecture/pennsylvania-station-new-york-1936.html

Berenice Abbott, Pennsylvania Station, New York, 1936, No. 18/100

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