Peter Arno Uncovered

I bought my copy of Peter Arno's Circus (1931) for $12.50 in late 1988. The cartoon collection was pushing sixty then, so it was not surprising if it was a bit beaten up with no dust cover in sight. That was really not a concern of mine at the time. I was happy enough to add it to my library in its imperfect state and to bring my Arno collection closer to completion. Besides, I wouldn't have known how to find a copy with a proper dust jacket if I'd wanted to. Before the internet, pretty much it either came your way or it didn't.

Now the book is pushing ninety and that missing original dust jacket is something of a collector's item. It's a real curiosity today too, a relic of the long-defunct circus sideshow. The cover depicts a circus "fat lady" named Fatima, the exotic name taken, apparently, from a song in the 1921 stage musical "Love Birds" by Sigmund Romberg which punned on the name's first syllable. Arno's stock Timid Man character, walking with his rail-thin wife, turns to contemplate the bountiful mysteries of Fatima, who regards him in turn with an alluring smile. That ability of Arno's to let us read his characters' unspoken desires is truly uncanny!

A copy of the book is currently offered for $250 on AbeBooks by Between the Covers. It includes the dust jacket and three additional Arno prints which do not appear in the book and which may have been provided by the publisher. The price is twenty times what I paid for my copy in 1988.

Peter Arno
AbeBooks Listing Retrieved June 28, 2019

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=5849304204&searchurl=sortby%3D1%26tn%3Dpeter%2Barno%2527s%2Bcircus&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image1

"Fat, Fat Fatima" from "Love Birds" (1921)

Music by Sigmund Romberg

Lyrics by Ballard MacDonald

José Ferrer as Sigmund Romberg

From "Deep in My Heart" (MGM, 1954)

Directed by Stanley Donen

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2871/

Arno knew his audience connected the name Fatima to the sideshow "fat lady." A 1928 Arno cartoon depicts a magic act at a circus sideshow. Signage across the background advertises "Fattest Woman—La Belle Fatima."

"Fake, ain't it?"
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, May 8, 1928, page 13

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1928-08-11#folio=012

Reader and long-time contributor David from Manhattan has sent along three images of the flap copy:

Photo by David from Manhattan

Photo by David from Manhattan

Photo by David from Manhattan

Note:  I wish to extend an apology to every woman in the world named Fatima.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Peter Arno

Sideshows

Attempted Bloggery's Recovering Index

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Peter Arno's Wrong Impression

Today's discussions of gender and gender identity are generally complex, nuanced, and increasingly divisive politically. There is nothing at all nuanced about cartoonist Peter Arno's approach to the topic of gender definition some eight decades ago. In 1937, the most obvious way to blur the distinction of the sexes was to draw the bearded lady in a so-called freak show. That horrific institution has mercifully gone extinct today, but not before cartoonists such as Arno and George Price, to name two, drew considerable material from them, much of it understandably grotesque.

Arno's oddball drawing is so idiosyncratic and so bold that Heritage Auctions can almost be forgiven for listing it in 2010 as simply a "cartoon illustration." There is indeed a caption that goes along with it, as one might surmise by the fact that the bearded lady is rather forcefully speaking. The drawing itself was published by that literary institution known to us as The New Yorker, a fact apparently never suspected by Heritage. Go figure.

"I'm afraid you've gotten the wrong impression of me, Mr. McCarthy."
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, May 1, 1937, page 21

The back of the frame

Peter Arno's signature

Peter Arno
Heritage Auctions, 2010 February Signature Illustration Art Auction #5034
Lot 87049

"I'm afraid you've gotten the wrong impression of me, Mr. McCarthy."
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, May 1, 1937, page 21

"I'm afraid you've gotten the wrong impression of me, Mr. McCarthy."
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, May 1,  1937, page 21

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1937-05-01#folio=020

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Peter Arno

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Sideshows

Gender

Attempted Bloggery's Freakish Index

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Peter Arno: The Magician's Secret

Ten years ago, Russ Cochran auctioned off an original gag cartoon by Peter Arno. The problem for buyers was that the caption wasn't reported and the date was given erroneously as circa 1950—it was published in 1928. This is why it's important to have a copy of The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker (2004) handy. The artwork was sold for $1,500, one hopes to a buyer who had done his homework.

The cartoon shows a magic act at a carnival sideshow. Signs promote the "Fattest Woman" and "La Belle Fatima," suggesting the grotesque and the exotic. Arno very skillfully has given the speaker a facial expression that shows him comically unsure of himself. The speaker is dressed in the darkest outfit deliberately set against the whitest part of the paper. The lines of the magician's box point horizontally to the speaker's head, while a line drawn through the heads of the men onstage leads diagonally to the speaker.The two men on the left have their heads turned to direct the reader's eye into the cartoon while the man on the right leans in toward and directly against the speaker.

Russ Cochran's Comic Art Auction, June 16, 2006, Lot 50

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2103372_arno-new-yorker-1950s-cartoon-original-comic-art

"Fake, ain't it?"
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, May 8, 1928, page 13

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1928-08-11#folio=012

"Fake, ain't it?"
Peter Arno, Original art, The New Yorker, May 8, 1928, page 13

Almost ninety years on, this trick is still a staple of magic acts. It still fascinates us long after carnival sideshows have vanished. Referring to the trick as "Fake" is itself a sophisticated reaction, as it shows the speaker's awareness that he's being had, but then that telling "ain't it?" undercuts his intellect and betrays some primal uncertainty about what his eyes are telling him. It's simply remarkable the way this cartoon, in just three words, can—pardon the expression—cut both ways.


Note:  You know the drill:  Clicking on the aqua links will magically transport you to more blog posts about Peter Arno or original New Yorker cartoon art. Abracadabra!

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George Price: Settling a Little Argument

Here's cartoonist George Price once again showing his affinity for carnival sideshow performers. Illustration House identifies this as a New Yorker cartoon, but it doesn't appear to be in the database. It is collected in Price's It's Smart to be People (1942) which also includes cartoons from Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post. Miles Orvelle in Flannery O'Connor: An Introduction suggests that this cartoon is one of several by Price that may have had an influence on the writer.

George Price, "My friend and I want you to settle a little argument."
Original artwork for George Price. It's Smart to be People. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1942

http://www.illustration-house.com/recent/a31/a31_118.html

http://www.findartinfo.com/search/listprices.asp?keyword=3078&name=George%20Price

http://www.blouinartinfo.com/artists/george-price-148065

Miles Orvelle, Flannery O'Connor: An Introduction.
Jackson: The University Press of Mississippi, 1991, page 53

Google Books Link

George Price, "My friend and I want you to settle a little argument."
George Price. It's Smart to be People. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1942

Note:  More posts about George Price's cartoons may be seen here.

For President's Day weekend, see this blog's posts about U.S. Presidents here.

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George Price's Sideshow Simplified

Why did cartoonist George Price keep returning to the subject of carnival sideshows? I suspect it was the colorful cast of characters he got to draw, the so-called sideshow freaks. That would explain the original artwork sold at Illustration House on July 6, 2008, which has an interesting assortment of carnival and circus performers. The odd thing is, for the most part these odd characters add little to this cartoon; they are a bit distracting. The gag works better without them and that's how it was published.

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
Preliminary artwork for the New Yorker, April 18, 1942, page 17

http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/search/Search_Repeat.aspx?searchtype=AUCTION_RECORDS&artist=68261

http://www.prices4antiques.com/Price-George-Drawing-signed-The-New-Yorker-Cartoon-15-inch-D9817484.html

http://www.findartinfo.com/search/listprices.asp?keyword=3078&name=George%20Price

Only two of the figures were retained in the published version, the ones having the conversation, and the setting was changed.

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
The New Yorker, April 18, 1942, page 17

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
The New Yorker, April 18, 1942, page 17

The published version also appears in Price's collection Who's in Charge Here? (1943).

George Price, "What sort of a job?"
Who's in Charge Here? New York:  Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1943

Note:  Comparing preliminary artwork for the New Yorker with the final published version says a lot about the thought processes and intentions of the artists, art directors, and editors involved. I've been lucky enough to collect a few examples of preliminary New Yorker work on the blog which you can see here. I'd love to be able to show more. Please contact me if you have any roughs or variants of published cartoons to share.

My ongoing run of blog posts on George Price tend to go in several different directions, but they usually start out with my finding an example of original artwork, and I'm quickly running out of those. If you're sitting on any original George Price artwork, by all means consider letting the world see it here. Some older auctions like this one tend to vanish from the auction house's website and disappear behind paywalls. Just look at the contortions I've gone through to report on this auction. If you have access to old auction material, I'd love to hear about that too. In the meantime, check out my series of posts on this artist here.

I don't have many blog posts here that can be considered about President's Day per se, but a few do deal with aspects of the Presidency in a way you just don't see every day. See them here.

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