Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Ed Arno's Blind Beggar

Ed Arno's 1985 oil on canvas Blind Man Begging shows the hazard of not being able to see where the money is going. It was offered for sale on eBay in 2013, eventually selling for $49. Two years earlier it had sold at auction for a more robust $225.









This sold in August 2013 for about the same price as the original listing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ed-Arno-1916-2008-Cartoonist-for-New-Yorker-Listed-Blind-Man-Begging-NR-/121151813408?ViewItem=&item=121151813408&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ed-Arno-1916-2008-Cartoonist-for-New-Yorker-Listed-Blind-Man-Begging-NR-/121120347502?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item1c3355d56e&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


The 2011 auction sale:




Note:  My blog posts about Ed Arno may be seen here.

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Monday, March 30, 2015

Ed Arno's Superman

Superman goes to a fortuneteller in this original cartoon art by Ed Arno. It was first offered on eBay in 2013 for $50. When it received no bids, the seller lowered the price to $25 and it sold.

Ed Arno, "I'm in a hurry, so try speed reading."
Original art

Ed Arno, "I'm in a hurry, so try speed reading."
Original art

Ed Arno, "I'm in a hurry, so try speed reading."
Original art

Verso

EBay Listing Ended April 27, 2013


EBay Item Description
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Vintage-Ed-Arno-1916-2008-Signed-SuperMan-Art-New-Yorker-Artist-/181127891140?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a2c1048c4&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557





Ed Arno, "I'm in a hurry, so try speed reading."
Original art
Note:  Read more on the blog about cartoonist Ed Arno.

There's also some more here about Clark—I mean about Superman.

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Sunday, March 29, 2015

The Runner-Up iPhone Case

When I sat down to select my new iPhone case, I had to choose between one with a gorgeous 1974 New Yorker cover by George Booth and one with a brilliant New Yorker cartoon by Charles Barsotti. The Barsotti case bears a truly great cartoon and I would really love to have it on my cell phone cover. Ultimately though, I never wanted a case with a horizontal design, but I came very close to breaking my rule this time around.


http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/The-New-Yorker-Well-I-think-you-re-wonderful-iPhone-6-Case-Prints_i12419086_.htm

The cartoon was originally published in the New Yorker of December 9, 2002.
Charles Barsotti, "Well, I think you're wonderful."
The New Yorker, 
December 9, 2002, page 95

Charles Barsotti, "Well, I think you're wonderful."
The New Yorker,
December 9, 2002, page 95


Note:  Now the tough choice is yours. Do you click on the link for my blog posts about George Booth or about Charles Barsotti?

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Saturday, March 28, 2015

A New Case for a New iPhone

The case arrived today for my new iPhone 6. Like the last case I had for the iPhone 5S, it is a George Booth design featuring an English bull terrier. If you recognize me about town carrying my new iPhone case, please stop and say hello.
Case for my iPhone 6

The case shows a detail of the marvelous New Yorker cover of February 4, 1974.
George Booth, The New Yorker, February 4, 1974

Note:  This case and many others are available from the Condé Nast store.
http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/The-New-Yorker-February-4-1974-iPhone-6-Case-Prints_i12419088_.htm

See my previous iPhone case. 

More posts about George Booth?  Coming right up!

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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #467

Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #467 for March 23, 2015. The drawing is by Paul Noth.


"I told him no way you're flying south without me."

Here are some other working captions I considered:
"He wanted some time to himself."
"Don't say your father won't go out on a limb for you."
"He went from early bird to jailbird."
"'Free as a bird' is just an expression."
"Four more months with time off for good behavior."
"I never told him I have the key."
"It's more work for me, but at least I know where he  is."
"He never liked catching the worm anyway."
"Now does anyone else need a time-out?"


March 30, 2015 Update:  The Finalists



April 13, 2015 Update:  Winning Caption




Note:  Last week, Drew Dernavich held a meeting under the table. My caption was a bit too close for comfort. See the undermanned outcome of Contest #466.

Check out my other blog posts about Paul Noth.

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Friday, March 27, 2015

A Look at the New Yorker's Sixth Issue: March 28, 1925

Were beauty under twenty locks kept fast,
Yet love breaks through and picks them all at last.
--Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis

Love laughs at locksmiths.
--Proverb

Everyone knows women and cats sell magazines. Ray Rohn's New Yorker cover has both. It is very theatrical, which seems appropriate for a new magazine that covers so much of the stage. Like the cover of the magazine's third issue, a fashionable young woman carries a cigarette holder and the cigarette smoke is a prominent design element. Ray Rohn never did a second cover.
Ray Rohn, The New Yorker, March 28, 1925
Artist Ray Rohn has been on the scene for a while. Here is an example of his art from 1912.
 
Ray Rohn, "Third Person Singular"
Judge[?], August 1912
Flickr photostream of carlylehold

On the left is a photograph of the artist Ray Rohn in his studio from the July 1916 number of The Green Book. On the right, Herb Roth and Rea Irvin are seen sitting. All three artists would be associated with the New Yorker come 1925.
Photos of Ray Rohn, Herb Roth, and Rea Irvin in 1916, three artists
who would be associated with the New Yorker in 1925
The Green Book, July 1916
From the blog Stripper's Guide by Allan Holtz


Inside the magazine, Rea Irvin again has drawn his as-yet-unnamed 19th century dandy for "The Talk of the Town" page. He signed it with an owl's head, representing the other character from the masthead.
Rea Irvin, Saying goodbye to Michael Arlen. "The Talk of the Town"


Reginald Marsh has drawn another two-panel spread--such spreads would later be one continuous image across both pages. This one depicts The Theatre Guild Tapestry Ball at the Hotel Commodore. Deems Taylor, who figures prominently in the left hand panel, is another acquaintance of editor Harold Ross's from the Algonquin Round Table.
Reginald Marsh, The Theatre Guild Tapestry Ball at the Hotel Commodore
Smells good:
Spot drawing

A Prohibition-Era drawing from Miguel Covarrubias revels in the street's perspective. It is not especially complimentary to the police, of whom one officer is shown carrying a flask and sleeping on the job. U. S. Attorney Emory Buckner was aggressively padlocking speakeasies at this time to enforce the Volstead Act. The proverb "Love laughs at locksmiths" means love will find a way.
Miguel Covarrubias, Love Laughs at Locksmiths

Here's a taste of the variety of the items on the "Of All Things" page. The New Yorker takes on freedom of the press (it's in favor of it), William Randolph Hearst (willing to have a laugh at his expense), Prohibition legislation (not fond of it), and other burning topics of the day. If that bores you, there's always the drawing.
"Of All Things"

British cartoonist Cyril Kenneth Bird goes by the name Fougasse. This is his only appearance in the New Yorker but he will have a stellar career at Punch. Cave canem is Latin for Beware of Dog.
Fougasse, Cave Canem

This weeks' "Profile" is "Mister Muggsy."  John McGraw is the manager and vice president of the New York Giants. That's a local baseball team. "If you can understand baseball you can understand John McGraw. But, of course, if you could understand baseball there wouldn't be any baseball." Didn't folks understand baseball pretty well even back in 1925? The Giants will move to San Francisco in 1957 (and the Dodgers will go to Los Angeles).
"Profiles:  Mister Muggsy"
Henry Major, John McGraw

Were there too many cars in 1925? Thank goodness we've solved that problem!
Spot drawing

Algonquin Round Table author Frank Sullivan writes about the new taxicab rates.
Alfred Frueh, The Taxicab System is Simple to Any Man with a Master's Degreee
"Ten, Twenty, Thirt"

Alfred Frueh, from "Ten, Twenty, Thirt"

New Yorker cartoonist Herb Roth and his wife have a new son. Roth's art does not appear in this issue. Al Jolson is heading to California. We know he will find his way to Hollywood where he will be in the short subject "A Plantation Act" (1926). "The Jazz Singer," the first talkie, will follow in 1927 and he will be catapulted to international stardom. Actress Ethel Barrymore's improving health is the subject of a news item. Her grandniece is Drew Barrymore.
"In Our Midst"

Editorially, the New Yorker appears to have no problem with women smoking, as the magazine's covers have made clear.

The Ziegfeld Follies are back and they've got W. C. Fields, Will Rogers, and Ray Dooley. This is a good thing, Ralph Barton explains, because "The entertainment value of the nude is far greater in theory than in practice." Wise words, Mr. Barton.
Ralph Barton, Glorifying the American Guffaw
A New Edition of the Follies that is Really New
From the "Art" page:
Henry Major, John Noble

And from "Music": Koussevitzky or Stokowski?

"Goings On" Spot
The Klan is far from gone on the national scene. In Frank Hanely's first cartoon for the magazine, he anticipates their demise. This is the magazine's second cartoon about the Ku Klux Klan.
Frank Hanley, The Last Ku Kluxer

"The Optimist," in case you missed it the first five times around. But all is soon to be revealed.

"The New Yorker is glad to be able to report progress in its campaign to keep the Democratic Convention of 1928 away from New York, at whatever sacrifice." Spoiler alert: It will be held in Houston.
"Save New York Movement" Sweeps Country

You probably don't need to learn the name Wilton Williams. This will be the artist's only cartoon in the magazine.
Wilton Williams, The Raw Material and the Finished Goods

Frank Hanley's second cartoon:
Frank Hanley, Snake-Charmer Assisting the Fire Department

Can you keep a secret?

At long last, an explanation for "The Optimist," after the fact:

That line about the old lady in Dubuque has made its way into the consciousness of an advertiser. You will recall editor Harold Ross's assertion in his magazine's prospectus that "The New Yorker will be the magazine which is not edited for the old lady in Dubuque. It will not be concerned in what she is thinking about." With no disrespect, of course. But what exactly is the book of which "Dubuque may disapprove?"
Washington Square Book Shop Advertisement

The "Books" department reviews "Form 1040, Individual Income tax Return" and somewhat unfavorably at that.
From "Books"
Mercenary advice from the New Yorker:

Inspirational humor from Corey Ford for a dry town:


The last words:

***

That's all for now. We're all caught up, give or take 90 years! Goodbye!
Rea Irvin, Saying goodbye to Michael Arlen. "The Talk of the Town"


Note:  Care for a little more? Take A Look at the New Yorker's Fifth Issue.

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