Attempted Bloggery: sequential art

Showing posts with label sequential art. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Claude Smith: The Happy Husband

Claude Smith called his seven-panel New Yorker cartoon of April 13, 1968, "one of my few supers!" On May 31, 1982, he pronounced it "Still a good one!" These notations were presumably made when the artist presented the original to a new owner. The art was sold in Brooklyn on January 4 for $400 plus a 28% buyer's premium.

Claude's drawing has an underlying assumption of female subservience rewarded only by male anger. The accommodating woman fails to make her husband happy, while his immature acting out brings him pleasure and contentment. Is it telling that Claude was so pleased with himself here?

Versos

The stamp indicates Ben Day was used for shading . . . but I don't see any shading.

Verso

Claude Smith's signature

Claude Smith
Antique Arena, Inc., sale of January 4, 2024

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/195006709_claude-smith-original-new-yorker-magazine-cartoon

Claude Smith
Antique Arena, Inc., sale of January 4, 2025

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/195006709_claude-smith-original-new-yorker-magazine-cartoon/?from=alert&utm_source=LA_SavedAlert&utm_campaign=SearchAlert_20230912_A&utm_medium=email&utm_content=itemendingsoon

Note: For once an auction house has really done its homework. If you'd like to do your homework too, send along images of some original Claude Smith art along with all the publication info. Be nice and I may even throw a coaster at you.

04848

Friday, May 12, 2023

Anthony Taber: The Puzzle

Back in the 1970s, The New Yorker published the work of some of its outstanding cartoonists in formats that went beyond the single-panel cartoon into more sequential narratives. In those days, the magazine was bolstered by enough print advertising to support more unconventional use of its space. Occasionally it gave its artists the room to develop ideas over two, three, or even more pages. It wasn't at all unusual for stalwarts like Charles Saxon, William Steig, and Saul Steinberg to explore various themes over multiple pages of prime magazine real estate.

The newer talent also got its chance. George Booth concocted a two-page masterpiece with the one-off comic strip "Ip Gissa Gul" in the January 12, 1975 issue. He also hit a home run with a series of single-panel cartoons grouped under the title "Keeping Calm" from January 9, 1977. The two pages are still a delight to read. And there has never been anything quite like Jack Ziegler's cinematic "Hole!" in the January 13, 1976 issue, complete with "soundtrack."

Anthony Taber's "The Puzzle" from the issue of February 13, 1978 was a more sober artistic experiment. Six-panel sequential cartoons weren't all that scarce in previous decades, but to tell a serious and enigmatic story with large, atmospheric drawings tantalizingly unfolding over three full pages of the magazine was an exceptional use of space. "The Puzzle" is not in The New Yorker's humorous tradition and instead comes across as a mysterious parable. The six pieces of original art were recently removed from their frame and sold on eBay.