April Fool! Roz Chast Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Roz Chast's rough for her New Yorker cover of April 6, 2009 was sold at Heritage Auctions on November 4 in the Signature Illustration Art sale. The subject is right there on the strap: April Fool!

The drawing comes framed:

The published cover has been set in the back of the frame with all its many modifications from the rough. The title April Fool—no exclamation point—is in the magazine's table of contents but the words no longer appear in the art.

The night before the auction, online bidding had reached an impressive $2,100—that comes to $2,625 with the buyer's premium.

Roz Chast
Heritage Auction listing accessed seventeen hours prior to the sale

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/works-on-paper/roz-chast-american-b-1954-april-fools-the-new-yorker-preliminary-cover-april-6-2009watercolor-and-ink-on/a/8224-71271.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116#8224-33001

Sold—for a hammer price of $3,600, more with the premium!

Note:  The artwork comes from the estate of Marlene Meyerson of Dallas, also Heritage's headquarters. Her 2017 obituary was in the Dallas Morning News.

Gallerist Julie Saul, whose name is on the subscription label of the framed cover, passed away in 2022. Her obituary was in the New York Times.

 

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God Creating Autumn: Edward Sorel Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

God Creating Autumn may have been Edward Sorel's original title for what would become The New Yorker's cover of October 13, 1997. This name is being used by London's Chris Beetles Gallery in its listing of the preliminary art, Sorel's satirical take on Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam relocated to the leaf-changing season in New England. The angels have been transformed into tourists with their cameras loaded, no doubt, with color film. Beetles has been offering this one for ten years. It is priced at 1,750 pounds sterling.

Edward Sorel

Chris Beetles listing accessed October 8, 2025

https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artwork/2607/god-creating-autumn

The changes that were made for the final cover are meant, I think, to serve the narrative flow. Sorel flipped the composition around, moving away from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel masterpiece while somehow keeping the familiar Creation imagery. The New Yorker gave the cover the understated title Fall Colors but the art is anything but understated. As we tend to read pictures from left to right and from top to bottom, we can now methodically make our way, following God's finger and Sorel's pen, down to the divine blaze of autumn glory.

Edward Sorel
Fall Colors
The New Yorker, October 13, 1997

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1997-10-13/flipbook/CV1/

In sum, here is the full chronology:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam#/media/File:Michelangelo_-_Creation_of_Adam_(cropped).jpg

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Fireworks on Home Video: Lee Lorenz Preliminary New Yorker Cover Art

Two weeks ago, Swann Auction Galleries sold some artistic gems from the estate of Lee Lorenz, the accomplished cartoonist who served as art editor of The New Yorker from 1973 to 1993, and then as cartoon editor from 1993-1997. Preliminary art for his 1989 Independence Day cover sold for a hammer price of $600 or $750 with the buyer's premium. Given the $1,000 to $1,500 presale estimate, that's not a bad deal. Lorenz shows us an enthusiastic Uncle Sam lighting the fireworks while Lady Liberty captures the moment on video.

Lee Lorenz
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, July 3, 1989

Lee Lorenz
Swann Auction Galleries listing of June 17, 2025

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(NEW-YORKER)-LEE-LORENZ-(1932---2022)-Cover-study-Independen?saleno=2709&lotNo=139&refNo=829875

Lee Lorenz
The New Yorker, July 3, 1989

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1989-07-03/flipbook/CV1/

Lee Lorenz
Preliminary art
The New Yorker, July 3, 1989

Note:  For future posts, this blog seeks original art by Lee Lorenz, original New Yorker Fourth of July art, and original cover studies. I hit the trifecta today.

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Rea Irvin: George Washington's Birthday—and a Peter Arno Cover Rough

George Washington's birthday falls on February 22, a fact that was known to most Americans before the creation of Presidents' Day. An undated and unpublished New Yorker cover by Rea Irvin was intended, no doubt, to celebrate the great general on his day. That might just be Alexander Hamilton on the left side of the image handling his correspondence. The postage stamp, of course, is a deliberate anachronism—and the joke.

Irvin's proposed cover art is on view at L'Alliance New York, part of the show called "Covering The New Yorker" curated by the current art editor Françoise Mouly. It is one of only two original works of art representing the magazine's first seventy years, neither of which was a published cover.

The other work is a preliminary drawing for what was to became the cover of December 20, 1958. The artist, Peter Arno, must have originally intended this to be a drawing inside the magazine. Reworking it into a cover necessitated some changes. He removed the awning and the background wash to accommodate the logo. He also eliminated the doorman, taking the driver out of the car and making him the central, taller figure. Placing the drawing on the cover also allowed Arno to add a striking splash of holiday color. 

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Barbara Shermund at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration"

As one enters the New York townhouse which the Society of Illustrators calls home, one immediately encounters a striking art deco drawing by pioneering cartoonist Barbara Shermund. This looks to have once had a scathingly clever caption, but in the Society's own collection it bears only the descriptive title Formally Dressed Sophisticates With Long Cigarette Holders. Although it did not appear in The New Yorker and is not a part of the current show, "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration," it fits right in and sets the festive mood.

Formally Dressed Sophisticates With Long Cigarette Holders
Barbara Shermund

The exhibition is curated by New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly. Shermund's nine-panel gem is from the collection of Donnelly and her husband, fellow cartoonist Michael Maslin. It was published in 1928 but seems almost contemporary in its point of view.

"You're a very intelligent little woman, my dear!"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
The New Yorker, May 19, 1928, pp. 30-31

The exclamation point pencilled on the original art does not appear in the published cartoon, where less emphasis is generally taken to be more. The magazine's creative layout displays the sequential art to maximal effect.

With a cartoon by Barbara Shermund

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1928-05-19/flipbook/030/

Here's one Shermund original with an unknown publication history:

"Yes, we're going to Europe—Henry's drinking too much"
Barbara Shermund
1930s

Image added February 16, 2025

Finally, a 1939 New Yorker cover shows a woman looking into the oval mirror on her vanity. Long ago the art was framed with a pretend oval vanity mirror, an unfortunate choice.

Barbara Shermund
Original art
The New Yorker, March 18, 1939

I do like the fact that Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, Caitlin McGurk's 2024 monograph on the artist, shows the preliminary art side by side with the published cover. But what I don't like is the way the bottom of the published art was cropped, eliminating an elbow, makeup, and part of the artist's signature.

From Caitlin McGurk's Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins:  The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, 2024, p. 49

https://issuu.com/fantagraphics/docs/tell_me_a_story_barbara_shermund_caitlin_mcgurk_pr

So here's the full magazine cover, including the strap on the left, as published. Really, am I asking too much? Don't answer that.

Barbara Shermund
The New Yorker, March 18,1939

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1939-03-18/flipbook/CV1/

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Charles E. Martin: Two New Yorker Covers and a Variant

Three fine examples of New Yorker cover art by Charles E. Martin (C.E.M.) were shown at the Westport Historical Society on the evening of April 25, 2014. Two of them were published covers and one was a variant of a published cover. These were the only examples of cover art offered to the public in support of the museum.

A view of Central Park Lake at twilight shows rowboats stacked up for the night not far from the boathouse. Martin's cover art shows us a scene readily recognizable to New Yorkers but bathed in a certain light at day's end that we may not have noticed before. There is a serene air of tranquility; it feels as if we have this corner of the park to ourselves. It was published in the spring of 1977.

Charles E. Martin
Original cover art
The New Yorker, April 25, 1977

Westport Historical Society

Charles E. Martin
The New Yorker, April 25, 1977

Another cover, this one from 1978, is set in a different part of Central Park with a view to the west at sunset. It shows Belvedere Castle as it looked in the 1970's following years of neglect. (The castle tower looks considerably different today following its 1983 renovation.) Once again, no one is present in the park to disrupt our reverie.

Charles E. Martin
Original cover art
The New Yorker, June 19, 1978

Westport Historical Society

Charles E. Martin
The New Yorker, June 19, 1978

Finally, the 1983 artwork is not a New Yorker cover but an interesting variant. Many people who saw it in Westport preferred it to the actual published artwork. It is certainly a lot busier than the published cover, and I too prefer it. Here there are people enjoying the shade; no one at all is present in the magazine's version.

Charles E. Martin
Preliminary cover art
The New Yorker, September 19, 1983

Westport Historical Society

Charles E. Martin
The New Yorker, September 19, 1983

Note:  This third cover may be set in Park Row, but I'm not at all certain. That triple line of trees is rare indeed in Manhattan. If you recognize the area, please assist me in identifying it.

The variant of this artwork shown in Westport was indeed published, I recall, as the front cover of some book—but I can't recall the name or find an image of it. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who can help jog my memory on this one.

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David's Copy of Local Fauna by Peter de Sève (with Preliminary and Original "To the Sea!" New Yorker Cover Art)

Sorry about that ungainly title. Today blog contributor David from Manhattan shares a scan of a book page graced with an original drawing by the illustrator Peter de Sève. This appears in David's fabulous personalized copy of the artist's new retrospective collection Local Fauna: The Art of Peter de Sève (2023).

Perhaps you recognize the character—it's Scrat from the "Ice Age" movies—but do you recognize the context of his jump? How does one obtain such a desirable copy of this book anyway? David explains all:

So there you have it. Here's the original New Yorker's cover art "To the Sea!" as currently displayed at the Philippe Labaune Gallery:

"To the Sea!"
Peter de Sève
Original art
The New Yorker, July 24, 2023

Photo by Claude Haber

"To the Sea!"
Peter de Sève
The New Yorker, July 24, 2023

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2023_07_24/flipbook/CV1/

Image added September 30, 2023

From the gallery catalogue:

Side by side:

https://www.philippelabaune.com/show/philippe-labaune-gallery-peter-de-seve---local-fauna

All gone:

Scrat, of course, is a popular character from the "Ice Age" franchise. For the sake of comparison, and to get an idea of contemporary book dealer pricing, here's a copy of A Sketchy Past: The Art of Peter de Sève (2009) from Borg Antiquarian of Lake Forest with another original drawing of the world's favorite acorn-collecting saber-toothed squirrel:

 

A self-portrait

Peter de Sève
AbeBooks listing accessed September 28, 2023

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30163909940&searchurl=kn%3DPeter%2Bde%2BSeve%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title13

Peter de Sève
AbeBooks item description

Note:  Once again, my thanks go to David from Manhattan for his wonderful scan and for providing the story behind it. This is the fifty-eighth Attempted Bloggery post he has contributed to. That's dedication for you.

Thanks also to Claude Haber for the gallery photograph. This is Claude's fourth contribution to the blog.

Just a reminder:  You too can share your original art and sketches by Peter de Sève with the readers of this blog. Just send me a scan or two.

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