Peter Arno: A Signed Publicity Still for "Artists and Models"

Peter Arno is one of six illustrators who appear together in a scene in the 1937 comedy "Artists and Models." The artists appear at a ball and draw Sandra Storme, "England's most famous model," supposedly to benefit a charity.

A publicity still from the movie is currently listed on eBay. It shows Arno pretending to draw Storme; his pencil point doesn't actually make contact with his sketch pad. The photo is signed by Arno and includes a small doodle of a woman's face.

Peter Arno and Sandra Storme

The photograph is priced at $4,000, although best offers will be entertained by the seller.

Peter Arno
eBay listing accessed July 4, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/167431008348?

Peter Arno
eBay item description

I have added a detail of the inscription to someone named Joe taken from a previous eBay listing:

"To Joe
Best wishes
Peter
Arno"

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/peter-arno-artists-models-1937-1790188922

In the movie, the scene with the illustrators sketching Storme on stage at the ball begins at 1:18:37 and runs for five or six minutes through 1:23:50.

"Artists and Models" (1937)

"America's Leading Artists and Illustrators"

Peter Arno's drawing of Sandra Storme surrounded by artists

Peter Arno and Jack Benny

Later on during the day I posted this, the eBay seller made me an offer but—alas—it didn't move the needle.

February 23, 2026 Update:  The price has climbed a bit higher, an unfortunate sign of the times.

04992

Peter Arno Signs Mary Brown Warburton's Copy of Hullabaloo

A photo that was originally part of the New York Daily News Archive shows New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno at the tony Atlantic Beach Club on Long Island. He is autographing a copy of "his latest opus" for socialite Mary Brown Warburton, granddaughter of John Wanamaker, the store merchant who, among other things, invented the price tag. She would be about 35 here and he 26. Getty Images dates this photograph to September 11, 1930 and that means the book he's signing is almost certainly Hullabaloo (1930).

A print is offered on eBay:

Peter Arno
eBay listing accessed June 25, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/326125233751?_skw=Peter+Arno+atlantic&itmmeta=01JYJCRBC82A3V4PPTXAPXCJS7&hash=item4bee942657:g:ugEAAOSw26tmQdwO&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cy1sOIcqFv1U2Fe4YdBm2LjEX%2BpfG%2BQMTKBHmncEdFlwB0FuoPCJqGfWbPDnlWA3ep7pusHdfpmgKO4QxTvxyVe

0%2FyQaUI3eFN%2FEI%2Bf%2BIkzqxCewu62SskthGz3AtBZaOnvek6INx5Xhd4K541xPDeOQlJuWTBN93%2FC%2FRwdT75J0wE%2FKJsbNMVFNYkvyjFGKkQ9Fb2zXB4TySpATUZK3Cr%2BwQe6Y1RqMkJ6uGknwSRViRo2yISIkoB%2BdIOgjcshsnGSYKGbo25xSyttNd1EebScFjh24LvnEDRDSHgR6NQOQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABFBMorbhzPRl

Note:  See also my post about Peter Arno's visit to the yacht of John Wanamaker, Jr., Mary's uncle and another "notable," here. Arno apparently enjoyed good relations with this family listed in the Social Register.

Mary Brown Warburton's rather unsparing obituary in the Times may be found here. She was "about 42 years old" according to the 1937 notice.

Arno's Hullabaloo remains a very entertaining cartoon collection ninety-five years after publication. If you don't have one, get yourself a copy. See if it has a price tag.

https://newyorkerstateofmind.com/tag/peter-arnos-hullabaloo/

Copies of Arno books with interesting inscriptions or—better still—drawings are hard to come by but easy to share right here. You provide me with the images and I show them to the world through the miracle of blogging. It's what I do. 

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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.

04796

Press Photo: Jefferson Machamer at the NYU Cooking School

A press photo from 1935 distributed by the King Features Syndicate shows cartoonist Jefferson Machamer, center, at the NYU Cooking School. There are bowls aplenty, although ingredients seem scanty.

Jefferson Machamer Press Photo
eBay listing accessed November 2, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/205073860206?_skw=Cartoonist+Jefferson+Machamer&itmmeta=01JBQZ9MVNVHMA0J09NWPKA59Z&hash=item2fbf5ac66e:g:v3oAAOSwdMZnIl7D&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAABAHoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnZjl2ECh7MpS9VvzOHxqnJilZ47MbTHEOSC2tMw5v1cRmmDphsW3sXJ6Af5C0WaUAws8iKERAcdOLXhocFKlyMWTn

FnqbbNaHiuSyS1EjtGVbIefu43lApCfIBl7qlUuSyKQotFD%2FuRzrLuKPiP7a6vKVkf1dszf%2FVTrKeo2qjVlZ45oGL2foCnZKLYWWlNpAtFj%2FGDp2lFL4y4ze%2FgGn23llBFBhXw3By26w%2B7f02Ql0jVSbLzOnDbtQYa%2F1%2FC4NHg75o0UAGSKSLZT3uhuDJyj1cV711fctfZ22%2FMuqfO1QYMCb182qDRMCNrniyJVg%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_TNpv_dZA

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Groucho Marx's Copy of The Hokinson Festival

Responding to some of my recent posts about Helen E. Hokinson (1893-1949) and her cartoons, Stephen Kroninger sent along an old press photo showing Groucho Marx (1890-1977) at home in his study. On one shelf at the far right Stephen had somehow discerned a copy of The Hokinson Festival, the 1956 cartoon collection memorializing Hokinson including a memoir by her collaborator James Reid Parker. Stephen reports that this very book is today in the library of Frank Ferrante, the actor and distinguished portrayer of Groucho.

AP photograph courtesy Stephen Kroninger

Stephen has circled the dust jacket of The Hokinson Festival and he provides a photo of his own dust jacketed copy for reference. Once you know what you're looking at, there is no mistaking it, although you might need to find yourself a jeweler's loop.

The Hokinson Festival (1956)

Stephen Kroninger's photo of his copy

So good old Groucho owned a copy of The Hokinson Festival! Naturally, I wanted to know all about it. Stephen suggested I contact Frank Ferrante to find out what he knew about the photograph and about Groucho's old cartoon book. Not a bad idea... You can pretty much infer what my queries were from Frank's gracious reply:

The photo of Groucho looks to me like late 1950s—From his home office on 1083 Hillcrest in Beverly Hills. The book was handed down to his daughter Miriam Marx Allen and from her to me. There is no signature or personalization by any party nor is there an estate stamp. There seems to be some water damage and the dust jacket is no longer. Bookstand below the publication you reference is in my living room as is the 1935 Columbia Encyclopedia that’s placed upon it. There are multiple items in his office in that photo that are now in my possession.

Terrific! With that information in hand, I contacted Steve Stoliar, author of Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House. He expended some effort in the 1970s cataloguing Groucho's home library and I was curious whether he might have remembered seeing the cartoon book.

He replied:

I don't have anything to add on the Hokinson item. I wouldn't have known who she was at the time and was far too distracted by his inscribed Benchleys, Kaufmans, Perelmans, etc. His bedroom office still looked very much like that when I worked there, although the big dictionary in the wheeled stand somehow migrated into the main hallway.

On the other hand, I was gratified to learn that the press photo itself was familiar to him. Indeed Steve owns a print of it that formerly resided in the "morgue" of the Herald Examiner and he was able to provide me with the written copy that originally accompanied it. Here then is the full caption:

"Groucho's Den In New Home—

Comedian Groucho Marx settles down to business affairs of the moment in the new $250,000 home he and his wife, Eden, built so she could have a new sunken circular bathtub. The study is Groucho's domain.

Associated Press Photo."

Saturday, March 12, 1958 [Herald-Examiner]

AP photograph courtesy Stephen Kroninger

AP caption courtesy Steve Stoliar

That date would make the book only two years old in this photo. It is gratifying to know that Groucho, a world-class comedian, possessed at least one collection by Hokinson, a world-class cartoonist. As Steve notes, Groucho had a library teeming with significant work by the great prose humorists of his day. Are we at all surprised that he followed the work of Helen Hokinson too?


September 20, 2020 Update:  Stephen's two photos and four additional ones from Frank Ferrante previously appeared in The Marx Brothers Council, a private Facebook group. There was some discussion there as well. Members may access the February 12 posting here.


Note:  My thanks first go to master collagist and illustrator Stephen Kroninger who found the photo that connects Groucho Marx, my favorite comedian, with New Yorker cartoons, my great passion. His discovery is at the very limit of my eyesight; in fact I'm quite sure I never would have spotted the book even if I had the photograph enlarged and hung above my own sunken circular bathtub. This is Stephen's 33rd contribution to the blog and not the first to knock my socks off.

Thanks too go to Frank Ferrante for carefully answering all of my questions about the book. He is new to the blog today. Welcome aboard, Frank. Just don't expect to find anything about bloggery in that 1935 encyclopedia.

I can't believe my luck! Steve Stoliar just happened to be sitting on his own copy of this press photo. Many thanks to him as well. This is his fourth mention here on the blog, not that it's a competition. By the way, I greatly enjoyed the expanded audiobook edition of Raised Eyebrows narrated by Steve himself and I give it my highest recommendation.

I still have questions. For example, did Groucho ever meet Helen Hokinson? It's probably not all that farfetched. Harpo Marx and New Yorker editor Harold Ross certainly knew each other from the Algonquin Round Table, so there are no more than three degrees of separation between Groucho and Hokinson, at least if my math is right. Verifiable anecdotes wanted. 

More broadly, I would love to hear from readers who have a little something to share regarding celebrities and their cartoon books, particularly New Yorker cartoon books. If you've got the goods, drop me a line. I'd be interested in posting rare Marxiana as well, and I don't mean Karl.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Groucho Marx

Helen E. Hokinson

Miriam Marx Allen

James Reid Parker

Stephen Kroninger

Steve Stoliar

Attempted Bloggery's Eagle-Eyed Index

03379

A Guillermo Mordillo Press Photo from 1980

Argentine cartoonist Guillermo Mordillo passed away in Spain on June 29, 2019 at age 86. Born in Buenos Aires, he moved to Paris in 1963. His cartoons were often vividly colored but they rarely if ever had words and could be enjoyed by people the world over.

Those who don't recognize this cartoonist by his name may still be familiar with his distinctive style. The following sampling of gags from Mordillo's Cartoons/Opus 1 (1986) is borrowed from a completed eBay listing. (The softcover book sold for $6.50 plus $3.27 domestic shipping.)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cartoons-MORDILLO-Cartoons-Opus-1-Softcover-1986-Intro-in-German-Language-/143316512177?hash=item215e546db1%3Ag%3A9wwAAOSwvNVcKnXo&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Two prints of a presumedly rare press photo of the cartoonist by photographer Tom Blau are currently listed both on Amazon and on eBay. The example on Amazon has a handwritten date of 1980 while the eBay photograph is stamped March 6, 1980. I'm going to go out on a limb here and tentatively date the photo c. 1980.

Tom Blau
Camera Press, London
Guillermo Mordillo, c. 1980

Verso

https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-photo-Portrait-Mordillo/dp/B00TPKJ0IE

Mordillo
Amazon Item Description Retrieved July 12, 2019

https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-photo-Portrait-Mordillo/dp/B00TPKJ0IE

The eBay photograph, on the other hand, has a less expensive initial offering price, has a 15% discount on top of that, and has free shipping included. As if that weren't enough, it has the Make Offer option available too. How Amazon is eating everyone's lunch is a mystery to me.

Tom Blau
Camera Press, London
Guillermo Mordillo, c. 1980

Verso

Mordillo
eBay Listing Retrieved July 12, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ARGENTINIAN-CARTOONIST-GUILLERMO-MORDILLO-PHOTO-1970s-8345/140830622229?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3Df39f3631a6e64012a06cd4a4691962cc%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D392325486082%26itm%3D140830622229%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Mordillo
eBay Item Description Retrieved July 12, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ARGENTINIAN-CARTOONIST-GUILLERMO-MORDILLO-PHOTO-1970s-8345/140830622229?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3Df39f3631a6e64012a06cd4a4691962cc%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D392325486082%26itm%3D140830622229%26pg%3D2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Guillermo Mordillo

Press Photos

Attempted Bloggery's Opus 1 Index

02979

Ronald Searle: Traffic

A press photo of a Ronald Searle illustration entitled "Traffic" depicts automobile congestion in Midtown Manhattan. The photo is dated 1970, the year of the first Earth Day, when environmental considerations were on everyone's mind. 

Ronald Searle
Traffic
Press Photo, Sunday, March 1, 1970
Historic Images

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Press-Photo-Traffic-Cartoon...

Verso

Note:  I would like to hear from anyone who knows where this press photo was published, preferably with a scan or photograph of the newspaper page. A copy of this photograph without the watermark or an image of the original artwork would also be appreciated.


May 5, 2018 Update:  A comment left below by Matt Jones, author of Perpetua, the matchless Ronald Searle Tribute blog, indicates that Searle's original color art was published in Venture magazine's 1966 feature "Manhattan on the Rocks."

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Ronald Searle

Earth Day

Press Photos

Attempted Bloggery's Unfiltered Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

025202

An Anatol Kovarsky Attention-Grabber

A photostat of an obscure cartoon by the great Anatol Kovarsky turned up on eBay this year. I ran it by the artist's daughter, who offered her comments:

I would date the cute cartoon of the photographer capturing the showgirl's attention with bling (the stat of which is attached in your email) as between 1947 and 1951. I'd never seen it before. The drawing retains some of dad's early more "grotesque" style particularly in the way the woman is depicted. The theme fits with other cartoons and cartoon sketches dad did when a photographer has devised a way to keep the subject engaged. I don’t think this one appeared in The New Yorker, unless it fell through the cracks when the magazine compiled its record. It could have been published elsewhere. My father contributed to other publications as well, including Collier's, Life, Look, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, and The Herald Tribune.

Anatol Kovarsky, Showgirl and Photographer, c. 1947-1951

Anatol Kovarsky's photostatted signature

Anatol Kovarsky
eBay Listing as of February 20, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KOVARSKY-CARTOON-GIRLIE-RISQUE-8X10-Man-With-Camera-/282362038842?hash=item41be16ca3a:g:fCwAAOSwCU1YpJHb

A different eBay listing from a different seller refers to this same cartoon as a "press photo" and dates it to 1948. This date is within the range estimated by the artist's daughter and, if correct, would mean the drawing is more likely from the earlier part of the four-year range she gave. The eBay image is a scan rather than a photo:

Anatol Kovarsky, Showgirl and Photographer, c. 1947-1951

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-1948-8x10-Photo-ANATOL-KOVARSKY-Risque-Pinup-Cartoon-/352233532212?hash=item5202c12b34

Note:  I am grateful to Anatol Kovarsky's daughter for her insightful comments.

"Kovarsky's World: Covers and Cartoons from The New Yorker" is now on view at the Society of Illustrators in Manhattan through March 3, 2018. The show is co-curated by John Lind and Gina Kovarsky with an appreciation by the one and only Mo Willems. There will be an opening reception tomorrow, January 12, from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. I'm sure many highly-regarded cartoonists will be there along with at least one notorious blogger who shall here remain unnamed.

Michael Maslin's blog Ink Spill is dedicated to news about New Yorker cartoonists. In recent weeks he has featured a veritable treasure trove of Kovarsky's unpublished work. Take it all in here.

To that, add more unpublished Kovarsky work on Mike Lynch Cartoons, another fine cartoon blog published by another fine cartoonist whose name slips my mind at the moment. You can see the work here.

Surely at least some or possibly most of Kovarsky's work has been dispersed to the winds and is sitting happily in private collections around the globe. So carefully check out the frames hanging on the walls wherever you go. If you should happen to spot original artwork of his, you might want to send me an image or two for use on the blog. Nobody needs to know about it but us.

One more thing: if anyone can provide me with this obscure, photostatted drawing's publication history, I'd be deeply indebted. But not financially.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Anatol Kovarsky

Attempted Bloggery's Overexposed Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

02426