MoCCA Fest 2019: Heretics! by Steven Nadler and Ben Nadler

Spinoza scholar Steven Nadler is the author of Heretics!, a graphic novel subtitled The Wondrous (and Dangerous) Beginnings of Modern Philosophy. Okay, I'm in. It is illustrated by his son, Ben Nadler, who was signing copies at MoCCA Arts Festival 2019. Actually, he was signing other books so I had to purchase this copy at one table and carry it to him at another table on a different floor, but the end-result is the same.

Note:  There's more coming about my acquisitions at MoCCA Fest 2019, but tomorrow we'll pause for my "Blog Post No. 2900." It's what we in the trade call a minor milestone.

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Steven Nadler

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books with Original Sketches

Attempted Bloggery's Meaningful Index

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MoCCA Fest 2019: Mort Gerberg's Cartooning: The Art and the Business

The MoCCA Arts Festival is an annual two-day convention devoted primarily to independent comics and cartoons. I've attended each year since 2012 with one regrettable exception—2017—and it's taken me all these years to hone my strategy for taking it all in. MoCCA Fest is big: it fills two levels of Metropolitan West, a capacious exhibition space just across the street from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, with panel discussions held throughout the day in two additional conference rooms located offsite at Ink48, a fortuitously-named hotel located at the site of a former print shop two blocks north. This year was especially challenging because so many of the panel discussions were of interest to me on both days. After the Saturday panel covering cartoonist Mort Gerberg's legendary fifty-year career, I met the cartoonist at a signing table with my used copy of Cartooning: The Art and the Business (1989). He seemed surprised to see it, apparently believing he had all the surviving copies in his basement, and he signed it graciously.

Note:  Allowing for the usual digressions to which I have become accustomed, it wilI take at least two weeks to review all the books I obtained at MoCCA Fest 2019. Stick around for the ride.

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Mort Gerberg

The MoCCA Arts Festival

Signed Books

Attempted Bloggery's Artful and Businesslike Index

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The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #19

I found the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #19 to be a bit dark. I wrote two captions but failed to submit them by the deadline. The drawing is by Lila Ash. 

"It's just an expression to go for the jugular."
"He didn't even get to ring twice."

April 29, 2019 Update:  The Winner

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Lila Ash

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

All These Cartoon Caption Contests and More

Attempted Bloggery's Killer Index

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Barbara Shermund and E. Simms Campbell: The Same Name

Let's play the name game. The repetition of names—these names belonging to attractive, available young people—is a common element in two rather different cartoons from the cover of Pictorial Review published in the early 1950s. The Sunday supplement was syndicated nationally by King Features and included single panel gags aimed at an adult audience created by leading cartoonists of the day. Karen Miller provides us with photos of the cartoons by Barbara Shermund and E. Simms Campbell.

The Shermund boating cartoon was the first to appear, in 1950. Two boats are named for the same carefree, blonde woman and there's no doubt about which of the two is the superior. Barbara Shermund was certainly an early feminist, but when she left the New Yorker for Esquire and Pictorial Review, she depicted not a few gold diggers like this one. This sort of woman was a standard fixture in men's cartoons of the era, but in Shermund's gags the gold digger often is portrayed as self-empowered rather than a mere object of derision; she uses her sexuality to get and achieve what she wants out of life. Evelyn can do the math and she understands that richer men can afford bigger and better boats. But still…the poor little guy!

Barbara Shermund
"My girl!—my name!—I been double-crossed!"
Pictorial Review (The San Francisco Examiner)
August 6, 1950

Photo by Karen Miller

In 1951, E. Simms Campbell takes the repetition of names a few steps further.

E. Simms Campbell
"They're ALL named William—I'm sort of a 'Bill' collector."
Pictorial Review (The San Francisco Examiner)
January 21, 1951

Photo by Karen Miller

The pun is atrocious, but aside from that the underlying idea of a woman playing the field is meant to highlight her implied promiscuity. The implication of these two cartoons together is that women are willing to use their sexuality to trade up in the world. To men of the 1950s, that might just have been exciting and threatening at the same time.


Note:  Thanks to Karen Miller for contributing the images in today's post. She writes, "The Bill one I framed because my husband is Bill, my son is Bill, my Dad is Bill, my Grandfather was Bill, my nephew is Bill and my brother in law is Bill!" Thus life imitates art in a manner I would scarcely have imagined.

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Barbara Shermund

E. Simms Campbell

Pictorial Review

Attempted Bloggery's Nameless Index

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #658

I have mixed emotions about my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #658 for April 15, 2019. The drawing is by Carolita Johnson.

"This is my first mixer."

For these captions I should have read the owner's manual:

"What if I don't want us to be blended?"
"I thought we were already a good mix."
"Okay, let's shake things up."
"You'll excuse me if I don't jiggle back."

April 22, 2019 Update:  The Finalists

April 29, 2019 Update:  I voted with Boston.



May 6, 2019 Update:  The Winner

Note:  Last week cartoonist Jeremy Nguyen took us to work in an unusual office shared by people and dogs. My caption might have benefitted from my working overtime on it. Anyway, clock in and see Contest #657.

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Carolita Johnson

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

All These Cartoon Caption Contests and More

Attempted Bloggery's Blended Index

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E. Simms Campbell: Dependent Exemptions

E. Simms Campbell's Harem Girls cartoon from the April 1937 Esquire may seem a tad dated today. Now, as a result of our new tax law, after the 2017 tax year dependents are no longer subject to an income tax exemption, although the standard deduction has been increased. Someone is going to have to inform the sultan.

"You mean I can claim an exemption if I have children?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, April 1937, page 42

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Page-You-mean-I-can-claim-an-exemption-if-I/163028012270?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40971%26meid%3D428523e367fe4e02b4fb9cbcdf0fc65a%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D163023293146%26itm%3D163028012270&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

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E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

Tax Day

Attempted Bloggery's Taxing Index

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George Booth: From Cats to Kickstarter

It isn't every day that original New Yorker cartoon art by the incomparable George Booth sells for a mere pittance on eBay. A pair of cat ladies living next door to each other are the subjects—at least the human subjects—of the drawing and they are prepared to engage in some horse trading, so to speak. The artwork, framed as a promotional gift by the New Yorker and ready to hang, attracted the attention of only one bidder in 2017 and the piece sold for the opening bid price of $300. The art has some condition issues to be sure, notably considerable fading and some matte burn (shame on the New Yorker for not going acid-free), but still…$300? To be sure, the sale could have been better handled by the Knoxville seller. A nice sharp photo of the art might have made all the difference.

"Let's swap some cats today."
George Booth
Framed original art
The New Yorker, October 3, 1988, page 31

"Let's swap some cats today."
George Booth
Original art
The New Yorker, October 3, 1988, page 31

Matted caption

Detail

George Booth
eBay Listing Ended August 5, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/George-Booth-original-illustration-for-New-Yorker-034-Let-039-s-Swap-Some-C-Lot-467-/222586870638?hash=item33d3361b6e%3Ag%3A-F4AAOSwfsFZb4Vd&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

George Booth
eBay Item Description

George Booth
eBay Bid History
One shrewd bidder

"Let's swap some cats today."
George Booth
Framed original art
The New Yorker, October 3, 1988, page 31

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1988-10-03#folio=030

* * *

George Booth and friend

Wouldn't it be great to see more of George Booth? Of course it would. Well, there are only seven days remaining in the Kickstarter campaign to fund "Drawing Life," the partially-animated documentary about legendary New Yorker cartoonist George Booth. At this writing, the campaign is about $2,300 shy of reaching its $35,000 funding goal. I am personally supporting this campaign and I encourage interested readers to help bring this important project to fruition. Remember, it's all or nothing. The funding must all be in place by April 20. Support the film project here.

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George Booth

Cats

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Attempted Bloggery's Purrfect Index

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Saul Steinberg: Café Scene

Saul Steinberg's Café Scene of 1949 is strangely haunting. The three figures inhabit the room but appear unnaturally stiff and isolated from each other. The interior space is rendered in a deliberately subverted perspective. The mirror reflects a separate version of reality which seems to follow its own rules. The art deco jukebox and the table are boldly colored, yet the café seems eerily silent.

Bonhams Paper Jam sale from last month is mystifying in its own way. There is an undisclosed presale estimate and no published sales result. After the sale, the listing quickly vanished from the auction house's website.

Saul Steinberg
Café Scene, 1949

Saul Steinberg
Bonhams New York
Paper Jam
Contemporary Works on Paper
Lot 3, 29 March 2019

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25681/lot/3/

https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Saul-Steinberg/3-saul_steinberg-04.3.19-bonham

Note:  I would like to hear from anyone with knowledge of the auction house estimate or the outcome of the sale.


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Saul Steinberg

Attempted Bloggery's Café Society Index

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Saul Steinberg: The One Franc Table

The One Franc Table is a wooden table top constructed by Saul Steinberg in 1973-1974. It contains extraordinary paper and wooden elements masquerading as mundane objects. On the table's surface Steinberg has separately created both sides of a supposed postcard, a one franc stamp, as well as a pencil and dip pen. The image on the postcard is a compelling and colorful landscape with a lone standing rubber-stamped figure, while the written side of the postcard is a nearly-convincing fake Steinberg document. Both sides of the postcard have what seem to be circular rubber stamp cancellation marks, although the one franc postage stamp for which the work is titled has yet to be affixed, so the card is represented as unsent. Thus an ordinary desktop tableau has somehow been reimagined painstakingly as a fanciful, artistic grouping. The piece did well at auction in 2017, selling for more than four times its high estimate at Sotheby's New York.

The One Franc Table, 1973-1974
Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg
Sotheby's New York
Contemporary Art Day Auction, Lot 158, 17 November 2017

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2017/contemporary-art-day-auction-n09714/lot.158.html?locale=en

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Saul Steinberg

Attempted Bloggery's Picture-Postcard Index

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The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #18

Rest your head and enjoy my entries in the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #18. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz. 

"This woman made me what I am today."
"This woman taught me everything I know."
"Mom's getting on. Yesterday she forgot the bucket. Today she forgot the axe."
"Guess who circumcised me."
"The thing Mom misses most is being able to hear the screams."
"Mom tells me you submitted your caption after the deadline."
"Mom always said if I put my mind to it, I could decapitate anything."

April 17, 2019 Update:  The Winner

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Benjamin Schwartz

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

All These Cartoon Caption Contests and More

Attempted Bloggery's Head-Rolling Index

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