Lee Lorenz: A Cookout With Uncle Sam

The original New Yorker cover art for the July 4, 1988, issue by Lee Lorenz was sold at auction on June 17. Here we have Uncle Sam manning the barbecue. His apron says it all.

Lee Lorenz
Original art
The New Yorker, July 4, 1988

Lee Lorenz
Original art
The New Yorker, July 4, 1988

This artwork carried an auction estimate of $2,000 to $3,000. When the gavel fell, it sold for of $6,000, which comes to $7,500 with the premium.

Lee Lorenz
Swann Auction Galleries listing of June 17, 2025

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(NEW-YORKER)-LEE-LORENZ-(1932---2022)-Cookout-with-Uncle-Sam?saleno=2709&lotNo=138&refNo=829876

Lee Lorenz
The New Yorker, July 4, 1988

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1988-07-04/flipbook/CV1/

Lee Lorenz
Original art
The New Yorker, July 4, 1988

Note:  After today's barbecue, collectors might consider sending me additional images of original cartoon art by Lee Lorenz. Let freedom ring.

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John Hersey: Two Signed Copies of Hiroshima

The New Yorker's issue of August 31, 1946 was entirely devoted to a single editorial piece, John Hersey's "Hiroshima." The landmark article on the nuclear destruction of a Japanese city was published in book form that year by Alfred A. Knopf. Nearly forty years later, author Kirby Congdon had Hersey sign copies of the magazine and the first edition of the book. They were both inscribed to the poet on February 24, 1985. Yesterday, they were sold together at auction by PBA Galleries of Berkeley.

The auction house provides us with a few photographs of the very collectible issue of the magazine. Unfortunately, we don't get to see the final page of the article where Hersey signed.

Wraparound band

The book is signed and inscribed on the title page with a quotation from the book:

The presale estimate was $500 to $800 plus a 25% buyer's premium. Bidding started at $250.

John Hersey
PBA Galleries listing accessed April 23, 2023

https://www.pbagalleries.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/648/lot/212615/Hiroshima-two-inscribed-editions?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Findividual-lots%2F%3Fkey%3DHersey

Sold!

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The Quotable Albert Einstein

The words of the highly-quotable Albert Einstein appear on a t-shirt offered for sale on Nassau Street in Princeton. Einstein remains a popular figure in Princeton, but there is no evidence that this quotation about the difference between stupidity and genius, clever as it is, was ever said by him. According to Quote Investigator, this saying is derived from a French quotation which first appeared in print in 1865 where it was attributed to Alexandre Dumas, fils. Nevertheless, you will be forgiven if you choose not to debate this point across the street from the campus of Princeton University.

"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."

—Albert Einstein

T-shirt available at Landau in Princeton

Note:  Yes, you can quote me on that!


Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Albert Einstein

Quotations

Princeton

Bob Dylan

Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump

Attempted Bloggery's Quotable Index

01996

Drew Friedman: Keith Richards's Malady

Rolling Stones legend Keith Richards is quoted in the September 2011 Reader's Digest.
"I'm free of hypochondria--although I have everything else." Drew Friedman's illustration shows the aging Stones guitarist diagnosing himself with a stethoscope. Friedman must have been an obvious choice for this assignment, given the musician's copious wrinkles and this caricaturist's trademark affinity for them.

The original artwork was offered on eBay back in 2012 by the Scott Eder Gallery. The bidding rose to $2,425, but the reserve was not met.

A new exhibition, "Drew Friedman's Old Jewish Comedians," is being shown at the Society of Illustrators in New York. The opening reception is tonight.

Drew Friedman, Keith Richards
Reader's Digest, September 2011, p. 185

Drew Friedman, Keith Richards
Reader's Digest, September 2011, p. 185

http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2011/08/some-recent-assignments.html

Keith Richards by Drew Friedman, eBay Item Listing 

         http://www.ebay.com/itm/DREW-FRIEDMAN-Keith-Richards-ORIGINAL-ILLUSTRATION-ART-Rolling-Stones-/120992091748?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c2bb0ce64&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

This is the right hat, but it isn't the right reference photo.

http://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/pa602049_175x175.jpg

Drew Friedman, Keith Richards
Reader's Digest, September 2011, p. 185

Note:  My first post on artist Drew Friedman may be seen here.

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A Fortune Cookie for the Class of 2013

I would ask this year's graduating class to please take note of the following timely fortune cookie:

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Also, the Class of 2013 should feel free to be further inspired by these YouTube videos.

Elgar - Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
("Land of Hope and Glory")
(Last Night of the Proms 2012)

Fountains of Wayne
"Prom Theme"

July 21, 2013 Update:  The fortune cookie quotation apparently has been around for a while, but I hadn't seen it before. I learned that it is often attributed to Gandhi, but this is what Brian Morton had to say in the New York Times of August 29, 2011:

Starting from the fourth paragraph:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/falser-words-were-never-spoken.html?_r=0

So I apologize to the Class of 2013 for dispensing hackneyed advice from a bumper sticker. In my defense, I thought it came from a fortune cookie.

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