The Unreliable Fortune Cookie

If you can't trust your Chinese fortune cookie, what can you trust? Last week's fortune cookie proved just slightly self-serving:

"A good way to keep healthy is to eat more Chinese food."

Note:  The blog archives are replete with unexpected fortunes from various Chinese banquets.

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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #431

Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #431 for June 9, 2014. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.

"I thought I would be more interesting."

Here are a few other captions I considered entering:

"I was hoping to see some kinetic art."
"If streaking ever comes back, I'll be ready."
"Of course you can trust me."

June 23, 2014 Update: The Finalists

July 14, 2014 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  Last week I bravely entered the bullring but proved to be no matador. See Contest #430.

Don't miss my other archived New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest posts featuring cartoons by P. C. Vey.

It's June 21. Here are some blog posts for the summer season.

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Lee Lorenz with Two Hearts

Here's a very nice copy of The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995 with an original drawing and personalized inscription by the author Lee Lorenz. Lorenz succeeded art editor James Geraghty, serving in that position from 1973 to 1993. He then served in the newly-created position of cartoon editor from 1993 to 1997.

Lee Lorenz, The Art of the New Yorker 1925-1995, signed with a drawing of a man holding two large hearts bearing the names "Liz" and "Jenny," inscribed "Warmest best/wishes.--/Lee Lorenz "

Lee Lorenz, The Art of the New Yorker 1925-1995

http://www.ebay.com/itm/The-Art-of-the-New-Yorker-1925-1995-SIGNED-W-ART-by-Lee-Lorenz-1995-Hardcover-/251308062708?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item3a8320b7f4

Lee Lorenz, The Art of the New Yorker 1925-1995, signed with a drawing of a man holding two large hearts bearing the names "Liz" and "Jenny," inscribed "Warmest best/wishes.--/Lee Lorenz "

November 2, 2014 Update:  The price has been reduced by more than 20%.

Note:  The program "A Conversation with Lee Lorenz" hosted by Michael Maslin will take place tomorrow at the Westport Historical Society.

Other blog posts about Lee Lorenz are here in the archives, even including a couple of other copies of this book.

See also other signed books with drawings.

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Life Magazine Presents "New Yorker" Covers

Here's an article on New Yorker covers published in Life magazine back in 1946. Life reproduced the unadorned cover artwork without the magazine's logo, which must have required considerable cooperation and good will from the New Yorker's editors. Life may have interviewed a number of the artists as well, as they seem to have very specific information about where the images were created. In all, there are seventeen outstanding covers, starting with Rea Irvin's famous depiction of Eustace Tilley, the observant 19th century fop who serves as the magazine's symbol.

Life, July 15, 1946, page 68

http://books.google.com/books?id=NUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Life, July 15, 1946, page 69

http://books.google.com/books?id=NUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Life, July 15, 1946, page 70

http://books.google.com/books?id=NUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Life, July 15, 1946, page 71

http://books.google.com/books?id=NUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Life, July 15, 1946, page 72

http://books.google.com/books?id=NUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Life, July 15, 1946

http://books.google.com/books?id=NUoEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Note:  You're in luck! This blog's archives contain many examples of original New Yorker cover art.

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Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Employee Initiative

In 2007, Illustration House sold this original 1955 artwork for the New Yorker by Whitney Darrow, Jr. The subject matter, an employee threatening his boss with bodily harm, is perhaps not the ripest for office humor.

"At last, Morton, you're showing some initiative.
You can have the raise."
Whitney Darrow, Jr., original artwork
The New Yorker, October 8, 1955, page 51

Illustration House June 2, 2007

 http://www.illustration-house.com/recent/a35/a35pages/a35_110.html

http://artsalesindex.artinfo.com/asi/lots/3382738

"At last, Morton, you're showing some initiative. You can have the raise."
Whitney Darrow, Jr., The New Yorker, October 8, 1955, page 51

"At last, Morton, you're showing some initiative. You can have the raise."
Whitney Darrow, Jr., The New Yorker, October 8, 1955, page 51

Note:  Cast a gander at my other blog posts featuring the art of Whitney Darrow, Jr.

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A 25th Anniversary Toast from Ed Arno

Cartoonist Ed Arno's oil on canvas offers an exceedingly generous 25th anniversary toast. Does the occasion even matter?

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10013833

Note:  Don't miss my earlier blog posts about the art of Ed Arno.

Cartoonist Charles Barsotti (1933-2014) passed away yesterday. I have a few blog posts here with Barsotti cartoons.

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Tally-Ho from Peter Arno

A bit of inspired naughtiness from Peter Arno:

Peter Arno, "Tally-Ho[, goddammit!]"

http://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2275/lots/489

A variant was published in For Members Only (1935) but the version sold at Skinner seems a bit more finished.

Peter Arno, "Tallyho, godammit!"[sic]

http://confessions123.blogspot.com/2008/09/hail-to-whatever-you-found-in-sunlight.html

Peter Arno, For Members Only, 1935

http://confessions123.blogspot.com/2008/09/hail-to-whatever-you-found-in-sunlight.html

Alas, Arno published a far tamer gag in the New Yorker:

Peter Arno, "Tallyho, for God's sake!"
The New Yorker, November 4, 1933, page 14

Note:  Be sure to check out my other classy blog posts about the great Peter Arno. Tally-Ho!

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Nude with The New Yorker

Today is a clothing-optional day here on the blog. I hope you didn't overdress.

A series of four anonymous vintage nude photographs from the 1950's were sold on eBay in March of 2014. These black and white photos shot in an unkempt apartment strike one immediately as the work of an amateur. They are severely lit and the subject is overexposed—no pun intended. Still they merit a blog post here because in the first of these photos the model is posed with a copy of our favorite magazine, The New Yorker. Yes, The New Yorker. She smiles and appears to be enjoying herself. Perhaps she is reading Thurber.

Now of course I know a studio prop when I see one. Nevertheless, I see no reason not to believe that this young woman was an avid reader and that she proved to be a lifelong devotee of the magazine. She might be about 80 now and, based on the limited evidence, just perhaps enjoying the fruits of a literary and no doubt adventurous life.

—Oh, I almost forgot. Happy Father's Day, everyone!

Vintage nude posed with The New Yorker, c. 1954.

Just take a look at that sickly houseplant! The issue of The New Yorker works far better as a studio prop.

Vintage nude, c. 1954
That radiator isn't much better than the houseplant.

Vintage nude, c. 1954

I'm beginning to suspect the photographer wasn't too interested in the backgrounds.

Vintage nude, c. 1954
She's pretty. I don't think the photographer was able to do her justice.

Although the eBay item title reads "1940's," the magazine issue in the photo dates from 1954.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-4-1940s-Vintage-Original-Photos-Busty-Hairy-Nude-Pinup-Reads-New-Yorker-/131133415903?pt=Art_Photo_Images&hash=item1e882921df&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

EBay Item Description

EBay Bid History

[End of eBay listing] 

Abe Birnbaum, The New Yorker, August 21, 1954

Vintage nude posed with The New Yorker of August 21, 1954.

Note: Sorry, there simply are no other blog posts here quite like this one, but there is one other post I also consider not safe for work. Feel free to check it out, but only if you're not working.

Was this Abe Birnbaum's finest hour? Perhaps I should rephrase the question. Would you like to see more of the New Yorker art of Abe Birnbaum?

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Summing Up Constantin Alajálov

Constantin Alajálov was a major twentieth century illustrator whose incisive observations of our world graced the covers of the New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post and appeared in many other publications. For two months, less the usual digressions, his highly original work has been showcased on this blog. So just who was he?

Constantin Alajálov, The Saturday Evening Post, October 6, 1945

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2011/12/30/art-entertainment/artist-constantin-alajalov.html

The Times published this obituary in 1987, hitting the major biographical points.

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/28/obituaries/constantin-alajalov-is-dead-was-painter-and-illustrator.html

Illustration House's biography of the artist is a little more personal, offering Roger Reed's observations on meeting Alajálov.

http://becodasimagens.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

http://www.illustration-house.com/bios/alajalov_bio.html

For some reason, Illustration House reproduced this watercolor in black and white.

http://illustration-magazine.com/Illustration_Magazine_Site/23.html

Both the New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post required their cover artists to work for them exclusively. How Alajálov alone came to work for both publications seems a mystery even to his biographer at the Post. I suspect that he had considerable charisma.

http://www.curtispublishing.com/bios/Alajalov.shtml

Constantin Alajálov, The Saturday Evening Post, May 7, 1940

To my surprise, I was unable to find an obituary notice in the New Yorker, but these are quite rare.

Ernest Watson's chapter on Alajálov's working methods is a uniquely informative source regarding this artist. In addition, Janet Flanner's biographical notes from Conversation Pieces are appended.

"Like most of Alajalov's [New Yorker] cover ideas, this one sprang from nowhere. Once in a while the editors hand him one, but 95% of them are his own."

Ernest Watson, Forty Illustrators and How They Work, 1946, pages 2-3

http://www.fulltable.com/vts/aoi/a/alajalov/a.htm

"One step in the creation of Alajalov's covers--and an important one--cannot be shown in our demonstration. That is the black and white underpainting over which the final painting is done in color."

Ernest Watson, Forty Illustrators and How They Work, 1946, pages 4-5

http://www.fulltable.com/vts/aoi/a/alajalov/a.htm

"'Alajalov, with more difficulty, lived on borrowed bread and olives.'"--Janet Flanner

Ernest Watson, Forty Illustrators and How They Work, 1946, page 6

http://www.fulltable.com/vts/aoi/a/alajalov/a.htm

Constantin Alajálov, The New Yorker, November 28, 1942

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1942-New-Yorker-November-28-Army-chefs-get-turkeys-for-Thanksgiving-dinner-/121085967558?pt=Magazines&hash=item1c31493cc6

Constantin Alajálov
Ernest Watson, Forty Illustrators and How They Work, 1946, page 3

http://www.fulltable.com/vts/aoi/a/alajalov/al/SH930.jpg

Note:  For the time being I'll have no further posts regarding the artwork of Constantin Alajálov but I'm sure I'll return to him in the future. His art is an inspiration and he has been a joy to write about. As always, I would love to hear from anyone with access to any of his original artwork or letters. He is represented too in several museum collections which may in some cases be available to the public.

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