Then and Now: Traffic Cones and The New Yorker

New York City's orange traffic cones can be seen all over town. They have occasionally made their way from the streets into the art of The New Yorker magazine. There is, for example, cartoonist Mort Gerberg's seasonally-themed "Sketchbook" from the issue of October 26, 1998:

"Sketchbook"
Mort Gerberg
The New Yorker, October 26, 1998, p. 258

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1998-10-26/flipbook/258/

This year, The New Yorker didn't publish a Halloween cover, or so the magazine would have us believe. Still, it is hard to imagine that the September 23 cover by Christoph Niemann wasn't at some point considered for the last week in October. Orange steam funnels and traffic cones inspire the evening fashion of one of the city's denizens. The New Yorker can call this the Fall Style & Design cover all it wants, but to me it still looks like a Halloween cover. I see what I see.

"Smoke and Mirrors"
Christoph Niemann
The New Yorker, September 23, 2024

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2024-09-23/flipbook/CV1/

Note:  Interested coneheads can find the original 1998 art by Mort Gerberg at the end of my post on his New-York Historical Society exhibition here. Christoph Niemann's original art, on the other hand, is presumably not a work on paper and never to be displayed on a gallery wall.

Last month, on his Ink Spill blog, cartoonist Michael Maslin noted how magazine cover art imitates life, citing this 2017 Halloween costume.

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A Seasonal Diffee Doodle Print

A Diffee Doodle print by Matthew Diffee offered on eBay in 2017 seems to be an especially apt image for this time of year. Diffee created some 1,500 unique Diffee Doodles and they were offered as gifts to the first 1,500 subscribers to his newsletter back around 2015. There were also prints made of these drawings, or at least of some of them, based in part on demand, but some were given to later subscribers. The prints are signed and dated but not numbered.

Matthew Diffee
eBay listing  as of January 10, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matthew-Diffee-Rejection-Collection-New-Yorker-Signed-Autograph-Card-Doodle-/252713410624?hash=item3ad6e4a040:g:55UAAOSwjDZYcG6Y

Matthew Diffee
eBay item description

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Pat and Charles Searle's Copy of Sex and the Single Child by Sam Levenson and Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Pat and Charles Searle's copy of Sex and the Single Child (1969) by Sam Levenson was inscribed to the couple by illustrator Whitney Darrow, Jr., a full decade after publication. Darrow included an original charcoal pencil drawing of a young boy writing the dedication on the wall of a house while a girl peers around the corner. The book somehow found its way to the collection of cartoon historian Bill Bush of Houston and from his estate made it's way to Space Cadets of Oak Ridge North, Texas. It was sold on eBay just over a week ago.

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
eBay listing ended October 20, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304950138990?_skw=Whitney+Darrow+signed&itmmeta=01JAPGD924D4YTAJW3PJK4REHX&hash=item470071d86e:g:VewAAOSwncFkUcX9&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnXXO7f4bMrcL7nNGcnu7omBgx13iGQ3uMUOCBWFDzClMiR9dAMiqfY1s3LJqemA9Q2P3cXlv3Rg61JEew8SAo6Os

EjvQRTErNZFhUPGjb9VB3g0S2xYtpQI6amXAxzRr2J4Fs0mJJHrhaSX4bAHPZjYLPR%2BDVTMr5F%2FQSGp5CZlqG5Ws%2Bz6datJe6WFrrZpVA4bJUIvMoi8lBFe9D6op8%2FiJe1hrA8OXKZkoqaSHLg686Ei250oJ4YgmvB076OYvFIdH5Cxz4sV78T5Qb8nEJtekQi%2FWFcoFNy324kX4tRZg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5SRtdDVZA

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
eBay item description

Note:  I can read the writing on the wall. Original art by The New Yorker's Whitney Darrow, Jr., is always welcome on this blog. Go ahead, try me.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #919

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #919 from the issue of October 28, 2024, a a pair of cowboys on horseback are chasing a horse driving a convertible. The cowboy with the lasso is speaking. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Michael Maslin.

"How did you think he'd leave town by high noon?"

These captions didn't sit right:

"You mean he's the only one with GPS?"

"What do you suppose is his horsepower?"

"This is worse than when the dog caught the car."

"Someone should post a speed limit."

November 9, 2024 Update:  The Finalists

November 17, 2024 Update:  I voted for the caption from Silver Spring.

November 23, 2024 Update:  The Winner

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My Copy of Eric Drooker's Naked City

A copy of Eric Drooker's brand new graphic novel Naked City arrived in the mail last week. I had preordered a signed copy.

Drooker not only signed it but he provided an original sketch on the front free endpaper of Isabel—but she prefers to be called Izzy. She is the singer-songwriter and artist's model at the heart of the story. Did Drooker use a quarter?

This one panel in particular resonates with me:

https://www.facebook.com/edrooker/posts/pfbid02b4WiQgDaLHKVenDN4MpnzByAXDLaHGtapvv87iyUg3QYFTfs2g14anDVcJGQwi2ul

Note:  At the time of this posting, signed copies of Naked City by Eric Drooker remain available here.

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Karen's Copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor by Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden

Even more impressive than a copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor (1971) personalized with a drawing by illustrator Richard Oldden—such as we saw here in yesterday's post—is a copy personalized with sketches by both Oldden and the book's author Robert Kraus. Oldden's drawing for reader Karen featured Pip Squeak with his sword raised as well as Hopper, the mouse's toad. Kraus, himself a prolific New Yorker cartoonist and magazine cover illustrator, provided the book's new owner with a somewhat generic drawing of a rabbit holding a flower.

This leads one to wonder how Kraus decided whether to illustrate his own stories or assign them to others? His obituary dated August 30, 2001, by Myrna Oliver of the Los Angeles Times, and cited by Wikipedia on its Robert Kraus page, sheds a little light here:

A decade later, the budding author decided to establish a children's book publishing house, dubbing it Windmill and installing himself as president. His idea was to ask artist friends to create the books—but he soon learned they were more interested in illustrating than writing.

So he wrote the stories, albeit painfully, recalling: "I love drawing . . . Giving my stories to somebody else was like giving away a child."

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Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden
Biblio listing accessed October 25, 2024

https://www.biblio.com/book/pip-squeak-mouse-shining-armor-robert/d/1624075172

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George and Fran's Copy of Pip Squeak: Mouse in Shining Armor by Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden

Pip Squeak:  Mouse in Shining Armor is a 1971 children's book by New Yorker cartoonist and author Robert Kraus published by his Windmill Books imprint.  The illustrator is fellow cartoonist Richard Oldden, here making his debut in children's literature. E. M. Maurice Books of Torrington, CT,  offers a copy personalized by the artist "To George and Fran from Pip Squeak and Dick Oldden" with an original drawing of the heroic mouse.

Robert Kraus and Richard Oldden
E. M. Maurice Books listing accessed October 21, 2024

https://e-m-maurice-books-llc.square.site/product/pip-squeak-mouse-in-shining-armor-inscribed-with-drawing/2749?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=true

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Edward Lear: Desert of Sinai

Edward Lear (1812-1888) is known and beloved to this day for his nonsense verse and illustration. On his travels, though, he sketched and painted more realistic work. His Desert of Sinai, for example, shows his skill in delineating the vast scale of the landscape populated with smaller groups of human figures traveling on camelback. A few splashes of color give a sense of the local textiles. The work was sold on Tuesday in Chicago with an estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.

Edward Lear
Toomey & Co. listing accessed October 20, 2024

https://www.toomeyco.com/auctions/2024/10/fine-art/190

Sold!

Hammer price

Price including the buyer's premium

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Midnight Maestro: Charles Alston Original New Yorker Cover Art

Harlem Renaissance artist Charles Alston painted only one illustration that was used on the cover of The New Yorker. It graced the issue of October 6, 1934. The original art was sold yesterday at Toomey & Co. Auctioneers of Chicago.

A janitor is shown on stage conducting an imaginary orchestra after hours.

The presale estimate was $8,000 to $12,000, with bidding starting at $6,000.

Charles Henry Alston
Toomey & Co. Auctioneers listing accessed October 12, 2024

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/charles-alston-cover-illustration-for-the-new-yor-114-c-24844738e9?objectID=192265776&algIndex=upcoming_lots_lotNumber_asc_prod&queryID=8eefb851c9952ac2ffa11abbe66a00bb

The artwork was in the collection of Alfred and Martha Montgomery Newman. Alfred Newman was a major Hollywood composer.

Charles Henry Alston
Toomey & Co. Auctioneers listing accessed October 13, 2024

https://www.toomeyco.com/auctions/2024/10/fine-art/114

Charles Henry Alston
The New Yorker, October 6, 1934

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1934-10-06/flipbook/CV1/

Charles Henry Alston
Original cover art
The New Yorker, October 6, 1934

Sold!

Hammer price

Price including the buyer's premium

Charles Alston

Alfred Newman

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