My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #959

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #959 from the issue of September 15, 2025, a woman carries a pyramid of steaming coffee mugs and speaks to a man who doesn't have any coffee. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Amy Hwang.

"How do you take it?"

September 22, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

September 29, 2025 Update:  I voted for the medical caption from New York City.

October 11, 2025 Update:  The Winner

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Paul Degen: Don't Cry Over Spilled Ink

Six years ago a signed, limited edition of Swiss New Yorker artist Paul Degen's Don't Cry Over Spilled Ink (1985) was sold on eBay for an undisclosed Best Offer somewhere south of $125. With art books, an eBay listing is only as good as its photos and this one, alas, is somewhat lacking. Were there no decent digital cameras back in 2016? Let's not cry over it.

Paul Degen
eBay listing ended August 1, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-NEW-YORKER-SWISS-ARTIST-PAUL-DEGEN-SIGNED-LTD-EDITION-HUMOR-MUSIC-GOLF-/351470796119?hash=item51d54abd57%3Ag%3ADh4AAOSwHnFVvmuf&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Paul Degen
eBay item description

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Saul Steinberg: The Chrysler Building

The title of Saul Steinberg's 1965 composition "The Chrysler Building" doesn't begin to hint at the imaginative transformation that art deco landmark has undergone. Even more remarkable is the appearance of the Statue of Liberty, here draped in the French Tricolor and wearing an American Indian headdress. A rainbow and the pyramid from the back of the dollar bill balance out this image. The art has appeared in publications of the Galerie Maeght, Paris. It will be sold by sothebys.com on September 28 with an estimate of $20,000-$30,000. Bidding starts at $14,000, but the reserve is apparently higher.

Saul Steinberg
The Chrysler Building, 1965

Saul Steinberg
The Chrysler Building, 1965

Saul Steinberg
Sothebys.com Listing Accessed September 20, 2018

http://timed.sothebys.com/auction-lot/SAUL-STEINBERG-1914-1999-The-Chrysler-Build_B8D4A45AE2/

Saul Steinberg
Sothebys.com Description Accessed September 20, 2018

http://timed.sothebys.com/auction-lot/SAUL-STEINBERG-1914-1999-The-Chrysler-Build_B8D4A45AE2/

February 16, 2020 Update:  This artwork was used on a 1988 poster for Galerie Adrien Maeght.

https://www.etsy.com/hk-en/listing/578668607/1988-saul-steinberg-exhibition-poster

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Saul Steinberg

Attempted Bloggery's Iconic Index

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Saul Steinberg's Pyramid #4

The fourth numbered composition in Saul Steinberg's Pyramid series from 1968 bears labels from two galleries, one in Los Angeles and one in New York, but notably not the Betty Parsons Gallery. The piece is signed in Conté crayon rather than ink, and pencil guide lines visibly extend from the pyramid into the sky and the ground. The work also appears looser in its watercolor finish than the second and eighth examples of the series. It was sold at Heritage Auctions in 2013 for $8,125.

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #4, 1968

Saul Steinberg's signature

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #4, 1968, framed

Saul Steinberg
Heritage Auctions, May 22, 2013

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/fine-art-painting/saul-steinberg-romanian-1914-1999-pyramid-no-4-1968-watercolor-and-rubber-stamps-on-paper-14/a/5138-72063.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

Saul Steinberg
Heritage Auctions Item Description

To recap the last three days of blog posts, here are three Steinberg compositions from the Pyramid series of 1968:

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #2, 1968

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #4, 1968

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #8, 1968

Note:  Attempted Bloggery would like to receive scans or photographs of original works by Saul Steinberg, including further variations on this Pyramid series from 1968.


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Saul Steinberg

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Saul Steinberg's Pyramid #8

Six years ago at Christie's New York, Saul Steinberg's 1968 composition Pyramid #8 sold at auction for the same price, $12,500, as Pyramid #2 did last month. The eighth work in the series has two rubber-stamped figures in the foreground on the right, the side with the smaller, shaded pyramid face. The lines of that right pyramid face point toward the figures, which creates an area of visual focus apart from the main horizontal sweep.

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #8, 1968

Saul Steinberg
Christie's New York, November 9, 2011

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/saul-steinberg-pyramid-8-5498651-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5498651&sid=733c85c8-b520-4e0e-93f1-205b835cfb1c

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #8, 1968

Note: Attempted Bloggery seeks scans or photographs of original works by Saul Steinberg.


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Saul Steinberg

Attempted Bloggery's Monolithic Index

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02418

Saul Steinberg's Pyramid #2

Every landscape by Saul Steinberg is a thing of wonder,  to be sure, but is it possible his Pyramid #2, from 1968, is a bit too symmetrical? Or do the faces of the pyramid, the different designs of the ink stamps, and the subtle gradations of his watercolor technique serve to relieve any possible monotony? Steinberg is no doubt aware of the issue, yet he doubles down by audaciously placing his signature and the date dead center above the pyramid. The stamps and seal form the vertices of a second pyramid, this one encompassing Steinberg's floating signature. No one can accuse this artist of shyness.

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #2, 1968

Saul Steinberg
Christie's New York, December 12-13, 2017

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/drawings-watercolors/saul-steinberg-pyramid-2-6122118-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=6122118&sid=733c85c8-b520-4e0e-93f1-205b835cfb1c

Saul Steinberg, Pyramid #2, 1968

Note: Attempted Bloggery is always on the lookout for scans or photographs of original works of art by Saul Steinberg.


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Saul Steinberg

Attempted Bloggery's Monumental Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

02417

Seven by Gahan Wilson

Last spring over the course of two months these seven pieces of original cartoon art by Gahan Wilson were sold individually on eBay. No publication history is known for any of them and it seems likely they are unpublished..

Gahan Wilson, "I told him not to try for a sun tan!"

Gahan Wilson, "There's something a little ominous about this spring!"

Gahan Wilson, "Don't you just love these media frenzies"

Gahan Wilson, "It was a real challenge for the taxidermist."

Gahan Wilson, "His learning how to talk changed everything!"

Gahan Wilson, "Painting past the edges of the canvas is a real breakthrough!"

Gahan Wilson, "Amazing no one's noticed these little ones before!"

eBay Listing Ended April 11, 2015

eBay Bid History
Of the twenty-eight bids, five were in the last two minutes.

eBay Listing Ended April 19, 2015

eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History
A bid two seconds from the close just isn't high enough.

eBay Listing Ended April 26, 2015

eBay Item Description

eBay Listing Ended May 3, 2015

eBay Bid History
The bid amount doubled in the final eleven seconds.

eBay Listing Ended May 10, 2015

eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History
The winning bid was placed in the final four seconds.

eBay Listing Ended May 17, 2015

eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History
The last bid takes it.

eBay Listing Ended May 31, 2015

eBay Bid History
The winning bid was placed in the last two seconds.

Note:   Read more in this blog's archives about Gahan Wilson or about original cartoon art.

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