Showing posts with label real estate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label real estate. Show all posts

Friday, May 21, 2021

Edna Eicke: Beachfront Sale

Edna Eicke's New Yorker cover of April 2, 1949 marks the rise of a new postwar leisure class, one that can afford a second home by the beach. We see the real estate agent, his woodie parked out front, showing a windswept property to a young couple. The coming storm adds atmosphere without diminishing the appeal of the landscape or of the house.


 

Celebrity gossip columnist Lloyd Shearer, who wrote for Parade magazine under the name Walter Scott, and his wife Marva, also a writer, acquired the original art directly from the artist. Lloyd passed away in 2001 and Marva died in 2019. Over the years, to judge by the published cover, some of the greens and browns have faded but otherwise the artwork remains vibrant and compelling. It was sold yesterday, at Bonhams, at a hammer price of $8,500, or more than the cost of a beach house in 1949.



Edna Eicke
Bonhams sale of May 20, 2021, accessed May 2, 2021




https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1949-04-02/flipbook/CV1/


The hammer price:


The price with buyer's premium:





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Monday, August 10, 2020

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #719—Almost

It's open house for my non-entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #719 dated August 10, 2020. I did not get around to entering what I wrote. The drawing is by Jeremy Nguyen.

"The seller lost too many socks."


These captions just weren't clean enough:
"It's just pop architecture. The laundromat is around the corner."
"You'll need a lot of coins."
"They're both washers. On the roof there's a clothesline."
"I can have you in it for pocket change."
"As you can see, it has every convenience."
"You don't need to bring your dirty clothes inside."
"Would you like to take it for a spin?"




August 17, 2020 Update:  The Finalists


August 24, 2020 Update:  I didn't vote this week. I'm partial to Bellingham. Peekskill's not bad either.


August 31, 2020 Update:   The Winner



Note:  Last week in the Caption Contest, cartoonist Michael Maslin showed us a horse of a different color—at least regarding its shoes. My caption wasn't even as good as that last sentence. Put on some snazzy footwear—matching, of course—and check out Contest #718.



Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #11,

Let's do a walk-through of the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #11. The drawing is by Charlie Hankin. My entries follow.

"I've finally found something in your price range."
"It's a bit of a hole-in-the-wall."
"You said you wanted rustic."

"What are your feelings about grizzlies?"
"Prepare yourself. It's a bit of a fixer-upper."



February 27, 2019 Update:  Winning Caption



Quick Links to the 
Attempted Bloggery Archives:


Charlie Hankin

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: "I Don't Know Much About Real Estate..."

Wishing a happy Father's Day to all!

A 1978 letter from cartoonist Whitney Darrow, Jr. is hand-written and hand-drawn. It is amusing and sexy and even seems to have a self-portrait of the artist. Yet at auction it did not find a buyer. There are no sure things in this world.

Whitney Darrow, Jr. Autograph Letter Signed, September 11, 1978

Swann Auction Galleries April 21, 2011
Sale 2244, Lot 283



Note:  I would be remiss if I did not offer you a look at some additional letters preserved for posterity on this blog. Why read only your own mail?

A quick glance through the blog archive offers a wide-ranging introduction to the work of Whitney Darrow, Jr. Take a look. Impress your friends.

Can you believe what passes for a Father's Day post around here? Yet today's post is relatively tame. You should have seen this blog last year!

A few of my blog posts look at the summer season.

Yesterday this blog was mentioned on Ink Spill. Did you catch it?

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Saturday, April 12, 2014

The Dream House: Constantin Alajálov New Yorker Cover Art

Sure, Constantin Alajálov's New Yorker cover of May 15, 1954 is in its essence a comment on postwar real estate development, but it doesn't depict a typical suburban tract. Instead, we get to see this average-looking couple's dream house and--surprise!--it's modernist. Alajálov has used his prodigious skills as an illustrator not only to show us what can't be shown in any other medium, but also to subvert our conventional expectations. What a fine illustration this is!
Constantin Alajálov, Framed original artwork, The New Yorker, May 15, 1954

Back in 2007 when this original artwork was sold, I was a novice at preserving online auction sales records although I did make one or two halting attempts. This blog did not exist in those days, of course; I was copying the sales records for myself and I knew better than to try my hand at anything so preposterous as writing a blog. This Alajálov piece is one of those rare eBay auctions from that time period that I did manage somehow to archive, unnecessarily, as it turns out. The auction house's own online archive still records the sale. A bit of redundancy is good for the internet, no?

The eBay record:




 The Pook & Pook auction house record, which includes the 22% buyer's premium:
http://www.pookandpook.com/cat/2007-10-26/260

Constantin Alajálov, The New Yorker, May 15, 1954


Note:  Am I alone in this? It occurs to me that there must be other folks with a similar obsessive bent and perhaps a better track record than mine at preserving old auction sales of vintage illustration art. If you are likewise afflicted and you'd like to share your archival records of relevant auctions here, please get in touch.

Constantin Alajálov was no one-hit wonder. See other blog posts about him here.

Would you care to see more original New Yorker cover art? You've come to the right place! Check out the archives here.

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