Seth's Clyde Fans: A Lonely Place

Abe Matchcard visits his estranged brother Simon's emotionally desolate home in a preliminary page from Clyde Fans, Seth's tragic take on capitalism and human failings, to oversimplify just a bit. The page, which embodies a sense of isolation and spiritual emptiness, is unified by the klop klop of Abe's shoes on Simon's floor and the stench of his cigarette smoke in Simon's house. In 2015, the rough art sold on eBay for a respectable $429.64. The finished art may be seen in Palookaville #21 (2013) on page 55, and in Clyde Fans (2019) on page 344.

Seth
Preliminary art
Clyde Fans, part 4
Palookaville 21, September 2013, page 55
Clyde Fans (2019), page 344

Seth
eBay Listing Ended September 28, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SETH-Palookaville-21-p55-Preliminary-ORIGINAL-ART-Clyde-Fans-/400999188891?hash=item5d5d6a099b%3Ag%3ATQ4AAOSwyQtVtsN9&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Seth
eBay Item Description

Seth
eBay Bid History

The bidding gets serious in the last eight or nine hours and the winning bid is placed only in the final twelve seconds.

Note:  Sorry, I have no scans of Seth's finished art today.

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Seth's Clyde Fans: "That Woman"

Back in 2013, Seth was working through Part 4 of Clyde Fans, continuing to publish installments of his magnum opus in Palookaville, by then his hardcover comics magazine. A page of preliminary art depicts the disillusioned salesman-turned-business owner Abe Matchcard avoiding his wife Vera—"that woman"—who is waiting for him to open the front door for her. It was sold on eBay in 2016. The finished art appeared on page 44 of Palookaville 21 and eventually on page 333 of the complete five-part "picture novel" published in 2019. Comparing the rough with the finished page gives some insight into Seth's working technique.

Seth
Preliminary art
Clyde Fans, part 4
Palookaville 21, September 2013, page 44
Clyde Fans (2019), page 333

Seth
eBay Listing Ended September 5, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SETH-Palookaville-21-p44-Preliminary-ORIGINAL-ART-Clyde-Fans-/401179210670?hash=item5d6824f3ae%3Ag%3AdGoAAOSwgmJXxLZV&autorefresh=true&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Seth
eBay Bid History

Seth
eBay Bid History
Six bidders, eleven bids

[End of eBay listing]

Seth
Clyde Fans, part 4
Palookaville 21, September 2013, page 44

https://thecribsheet-isabelinho.blogspot.com/2014/07/pamphlets-and-graphic-novels-seths_24.html?m=1

Seth
Preliminary art
Clyde Fans, part 4
Palookaville 21, September 2013, page 44
Clyde Fans (2019), page 333

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Seth's Clyde Fans: The Storefront

In a page of pencil roughs from the opening pages of Clyde Fans, Seth establishes the urban landscape in which the Clyde Fans Company is situated. We see the exteriors of city buildings before Seth zooms in on a single storefront window. Each panel is visibly held in place by tape. The finished art appeared in Palookaville #1 in 1997. The rough was inscribed "For Dan" in 2000, at which time it was signed by the artist. This piece was sold at Heritage Auctions in 2012 for $286.80. I first noted it on eBay in 2013 where it sold for $322. It took Seth many years to complete Clyde Fans and the full picture novel wasn't published until 2019.

Seth
eBay listing ended March 9, 2013

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SETH-original-comic-art-prelim-Clyde-Fans-Palooka-Ville-/130862841905?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Seth
Clyde Fans, Palookaville #1

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2005/09/07/arts/palookaville-gets-gallery-treatment/

The 2012 Heritage auction had higher resolution images:

03586

George Price's Sideshow Simplified

Why did cartoonist George Price keep returning to the subject of carnival sideshows? I suspect it was the colorful cast of characters he got to draw, the so-called sideshow freaks. That would explain the original artwork sold at Illustration House on July 6, 2008, which has an interesting assortment of carnival and circus performers. The odd thing is, for the most part these odd characters add little to this cartoon; they are a bit distracting. The gag works better without them and that's how it was published.

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
Preliminary artwork for the New Yorker, April 18, 1942, page 17

http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/search/Search_Repeat.aspx?searchtype=AUCTION_RECORDS&artist=68261

http://www.prices4antiques.com/Price-George-Drawing-signed-The-New-Yorker-Cartoon-15-inch-D9817484.html

http://www.findartinfo.com/search/listprices.asp?keyword=3078&name=George%20Price

Only two of the figures were retained in the published version, the ones having the conversation, and the setting was changed.

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
The New Yorker, April 18, 1942, page 17

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
The New Yorker, April 18, 1942, page 17

The published version also appears in Price's collection Who's in Charge Here? (1943).

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
Who's in Charge Here? New York:  Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1943

Note:  Comparing preliminary artwork for the New Yorker with the final published version says a lot about the thought processes and intentions of the artists, art directors, and editors involved. I've been lucky enough to collect a few examples of preliminary New Yorker work on the blog which you can see here. I'd love to be able to show more. Please contact me if you have any roughs or variants of published cartoons to share.

My ongoing run of blog posts on George Price tend to go in several different directions, but they usually start out with my finding an example of original artwork, and I'm quickly running out of those. If you're sitting on any original George Price artwork, by all means consider letting the world see it here. Some older auctions like this one tend to vanish from the auction house's website and disappear behind paywalls. Just look at the contortions I've gone through to report on this auction. If you have access to old auction material, I'd love to hear about that too. In the meantime, check out my series of posts on this artist here.

I don't have many blog posts here that can be considered about President's Day per se, but a few do deal with aspects of the Presidency in a way you just don't see every day. See them here.

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A George Price Preliminary Drawing

In 2007, Heritage Auctions sold a preliminary drawing by George Price. A man is shown sitting in his living room chair reading a newspaper. Here is that rare example of Price's pencil work without the addition of ink and Ben-Day.

George Price, preliminary sketch

http://fineart.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=677&lotNo=58353#Photo

George Price, preliminary sketch

Note:  Finished drawings by George Price may be seen here.

01040

J. C. Leyendecker: Study for the 1938 New Year's Baby

J. C. Leyendecker's study for the January 1, 1938 cover of the Saturday Evening Post is an important preliminary work by a major illustrator. It depicts the New Year's baby of 1938. The original artwork seems to have undergone a significant decline in sale price since 1991, perhaps owing to nothing more than the vagaries of today's art auction market.

J. C. Leyendecker, Study for the Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1938

J. C. Leyendecker, Study for the Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1938, framed

J. C. Leyendecker, Study for the Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1938, detail

J. C. Leyendecker, Study for the Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1938, detail

J. C. Leyendecker, The Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1938

Provenance

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21856453_jc-leyendecker-study-1938-saturday-evening-post-cover

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/21856453_jc-leyendecker-study-1938-saturday-evening-post-cover

J. C. Leyendecker, The Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1938

Image added January 1, 2014

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JAN-1-1938-Saturday-Evening-Post-J-C-LEYENDECKER-NEW-YEARS-Artwork-on-Cover-/121241974188?pt=Magazines&hash=item1c3a95b5ac

Note:  See my previous post about Saturday Evening Post cover art by J. C. Leyendecker here.

More posts welcoming in the New Year may be seen here.

0996

Frank Modell: Roughing It with Cleopatra

Certain Books of Westhampton is currently offering this preliminary sketch for a 1961 New Yorker cartoon by Frank Modell. The subject is Cleopatra, looking rather unreasonable, and the price is $150, which seems very reasonable to me.

Frank Modell, "What a day!  Now she wants an asp!" 
Inscribed "For Jean"
Preliminary Artwork for The New Yorker, March 4, 1961, Page 103

http://www.bibliopolis.com/main/books/706687/Original-Illustrated-Cartoon-Art-By-Frank-Modell-New-Yorker-Artist-Frank-Modell-Certain-Books.html?id=5gkUopjb

http://www.bibliopolis.com/main/books/706687/Original-Illustrated-Cartoon-Art-By-Frank-Modell-New-Yorker-Artist-Frank-Modell-Certain-Books.html?id=5gkUopjb

The published version:

Frank Modell, "What a day!  Now she wants an asp!" 
The New Yorker, March 4, 1961, Page 103

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1961-03-04#folio=102

Frank Modell, "What a day!  Now she wants an asp!" 
The New Yorker, March 4, 1961, Page 103

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1961-03-04#folio=102

Frank Modell, "What a day!  Now she wants an asp!"
 The New Yorker, March 4, 1961, Page 103

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/What-a-day-Now-she-wants-an-asp-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8641588_.htm

Frank Modell, "What a day!  Now she wants an asp!"
 Inscribed "For Jean"
Preliminary Artwork for The New Yorker, March 4, 1961, Page 103

http://www.bibliopolis.com/main/books/706687/Original-Illustrated-Cartoon-Art-By-Frank-Modell-New-Yorker-Artist-Frank-Modell-Certain-Books.html?id=5gkUopjb

Frank Modell, "What a day!  Now she wants an asp!" 

The New Yorker, March 4, 1961, Page 103

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/What-a-day-Now-she-wants-an-asp-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8641588_.htm

Note:  You can see more rough drawings by New Yorker artists on this blog here.

Cartoonist James Stevenson has just written a book about Frank Modell. Read all about it on Ink Spill here.

0821

William Steig: Preliminary Shrek! Book Cover Art

I would never want to minimize the importance of William Steig's Shrek! but it is after all but one small part of the artist's output over a long and brilliant career. The Shrek movies have no doubt enriched the Steig estate greatly, and for most people Shrek! is probably the only Steig work they have heard of, if only through Hollywood's outsized adaptations of it. Still, the auction estimate for Steig's preliminary book cover art was stratospherically high, and I was almost a bit relieved when it didn't sell for such a price in 2009. I would hate to be permanently priced out of the Steig market.

But then why shouldn't it sell at a premium? Classic children's book illustrations by Maurice Sendak, Ted Geisel, or Garth Williams could certainly go for a lot more than this. The issue, though, for collectors may be about how different the movie is from the book. Fans of the film's slick computer-animation may scarcely recognize images from the hand-drawn book that gave rise to it.

Lot 339. STEIG, William (1907 - 2003)

 Shrek!

 Watercolor, ink and pencil. (285 x 240 mm). Preliminary jacket design for Shrek! New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990. Provenance: William Steig Estate.

Capture the Imagination: Original Illustration & Fine Illustrated Books
Bloomsbury Auctions. New York, NY
Wednesday 9th December 2009 at 2:00 pm

http://www.bloomsburyauctions.com/detail/NY040/339.0

William Steig
Shrek!, 1990
The Published Cover

Note:  While you're at it, why not check out these William Steig posts?

0815