R. Crumb: A Sketchbook Page from April 1, 1962

A sketchbook page of yellow lined paper was drawn upon by R. Crumb on April 1, 1962 and sold at Heritage Auctions on November 21, 2003. The unrelated sketches on the right side of the page, as it originally was bound, are undated.

The other side of the page bears the date and a self-portrait of Crumb drawing an interior on the sketchbook page we are looking at. Heritage gave it the title April Fool and called it an "infinity" piece, but I think that's a stretch on both counts. Or is the joke on me?

R. Crumb
Heritage Auctions listing of November 21, 2003

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/sketches/robert-crumb-original-sketches-april-fool-1962-you-ll-feel-foolish-if-you-pass-up-this-cool-infinity-piece-by-crumb-from-april/a/808-5567.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

R. Crumb
Heritage Auctions item description

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Sketchbook Page by William Hamilton, PFC

William Hamilton's sketchbook pages in pen and ink unmistakably come from the same hand as his finished drawings. They could never be mistaken for those of any other artist. Aside from all that, who would not be impressed in the sketch shown below with the fun this cartoonist has noting his (former) military rank?

William Hamilton
eBay listing accessed September 21, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Sketch-William-Hamilton-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-Signed-Autographed-RARE/362896055356?hash=item547e4a5c3c:g:WngAAOSwEaJeL4ic

William Hamilton
eBay Item Description

Note:  Are William Hamilton's sketchbook pages pure exercises in drawing or are they attempts to develop specific cartoons? If you can match up a sketchbook drawing with a published cartoon, please step forward.

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William Hamilton

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Wine

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At the Piano: Stan's Sketchbook Page by William Hamilton

A young woman at the piano is the subject of a sketchbook page by New Yorker cartoonist William Hamilton. The piano has to be taken on faith; it is left out of the drawing. The sketch is inscribed "For Stan with best wishes" and signed by Hamilton with the date June 15, 1991. The sheet has one horizontal fold and two vertical folds, each of which go into the image. Tsk-tsk, Stan.

William Hamilton
eBay Listing Ended June 23, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-William-Hamilton-Autographed-Signed-Original-Sketch-/351767109699?hash=item51e6f42043%3Ag%3AvFAAAOSwqu9U622s&nma=true&si=MY%252BVlM1DDf4MNMNGGnCdh3m%252FHQQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

William Hamilton
eBay Item Description

Note:  Just on the basis of the two sketchbook pages by William Hamilton that have appeared on this blog to date and another currently on eBay, I am going to go out on a limb (my favorite part of the tree) and state that of all the New Yorker cartoonists I chronicle, he was the most likely to tear a page out of his sketchbook and inscribe it to a stan—sorry, fan. As I have based this sweeping conclusion on an extremely small sample, I invite readers to respond with their own observations. I also invite the submission to the blog of other sketchbook page images by Hamilton or by other New Yorker artists. All sketchbook pages are welcome, but this argument specifically is about pages removed from a sketchbook by the artist, as opposed to by some dealer, and dedicated in writing to a recipient.

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Ronald Searle: Catcher

The weather, at least in the northeast, is decidedly not yet appropriate for baseball, but pitchers and catchers have reported for spring training in more southerly climes. A New York sketchbook drawing from 1957 by Ronald Searle available from the Chris Beetles Gallery in London shows a catcher and an on-deck batter. From the context of the gallery's other available sketchbook pages, this likely was drawn at a Dodgers game. This would be the team's last season in Brooklyn. I wonder whatever happened to them.

Chris Beetles Gallery

http://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/sports/american-sports/catcher.html

Note:  This blog has more than enough posts about Ronald Searle, thank you.

It's early yet, but there are more than a few posts here about baseball.

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A William Hamilton Sketchbook Page

A sketchbook page by cartoonist William Hamilton currently on eBay is dedicated by the artist to someone named Kevan. The ink sketches on both sides of the sheet are in Mr. Hamilton's signature style. The selvage at the edge of the page shows where the sheet was torn from a sketchbook's spiral binding. Such sketches as this may be "rare"--the eBay seller's term--to the market, but they are not rare in their existence. Artists fill sketchbooks constantly, and the pages are plentiful even if they don't get out much.

Putting a dollar value on such a rare yet plentiful item isn't so simple. If there were a real demand for these pages, artists would be happy to sell any number of them once they were no longer needed. The more well-known the artist, the greater the market demand generally. The Buy It Now price here of $899.99 is to my mind quite steep, well exceeding the sale price of at least some of Mr. Hamilton's finished drawings. There is a Make Offer option as well, suggesting the seller might be willing to entertain a reasonable offer.

William Hamilton. Sketchbook page, recto, signed and inscribed "For Kevan/Wm Hamilton"

William Hamilton. Sketchbook page, verso

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Yorker-Cartoonist-William-Hamilton-Signed-Autograph-Original-Sketch-1-1-RARE-/370844217726?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item565809b17e

Note:  Don't miss my previous posts on William Hamilton.

Sketchbook pages by New Yorker cartoonists show up relatively infrequently on eBay, but there are two there right now, the subjects of the last two days's blog posts. The usual pattern is that a page is gifted by an artist to a friend or maybe to an admirer of the drawing and it remains in the confines of that person's home for perhaps the better part of a lifetime. Then one day it receives some publicity briefly in order for a sale to be made, and soon, if all goes well, it disappears into another collection, that of the buyer. We live in a digital age now and matters don't have to remain this way. Owners of such sketchbook pages can scan them or photograph them and pass them along to me or someone else willing to display them and—voilà!—the world is a richer place. My door is open....

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A Frank Modell Theater Sketch

A framed drawing by cartoonist Frank Modell now on eBay is fresh from the estate of philanthropist Sue Erpf van de Bovenkamp (1928-2011). The eBay seller states this sketch dated 1961 "needs research." I beg to differ. This is almost certainly an unpublished sketchbook page by Modell depicting audience members in a theater. That's pretty much it. You're welcome.

Frank Modell. Theater sketch, 1961

Frank Modell. Theater sketch, 1961

Frank Modell's signature

Frank Modell. Theater sketch, 1961

Frank Modell. Theater sketch detail, 1961

Frank Modell. Theater sketch detail, 1961

Frank Modell. Theater sketch, 1961

The writing on the cardboard backing merely conforms what the artist has written on the drawing.

At the time of framing this 1961 sketch, the five-digit zip code had not yet been introduced. That was to occur in 1963.

Does anyone find this sort of thing helpful?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FRANK-MODELL-NEW-YORKER-MAGAZINE-LISTED-CARTOONIST-AUCTION-RECORDS-TO-7000-/291071739199?

The asking price was subsequently reduced.

The previous owner was a noted New York socialite. Here is her paid death notice from the Times:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=sue-van-de-bovenkamp&pid=150003231

Her home, presumably where this sketch hung, sold for $23 million:

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/08/24/real-estate-investor-wife-buy-ues-co-op-for-23m/

Note:  This sketch "needs research;" that's what the seller said. This blog is just teeming with any variety of posts that need research into publication history and other issues, but I don't see this particular sketch being one of them.

The few posts I have written about Frank Modell tend to be about a lot of other things as well.

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