Attempted Bloggery: Santa

Showing posts with label Santa. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Barney Tobey: Santa at Sea

A printed color Christmas card designed by cartoonist Barney Tobey gives us Santa Claus making a special delivery. He is rowing to a lighthouse on his own without a reindeer in sight. We see the beam catching him full on. The card, signed by its sender, has lost its envelope and bears no date.

Barney Tobey
eBay listing ended December 10, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/355256840415?hash=item52b6f530df:g:JJgAAOSwW8hlbQ8E&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwC7PRVQxYfHmD62qSynR9nDV9%2BxVP9J9KeBNUs3hq%2F33Z%2B%2Fjuf542X4XnpICYRAwcd1tz9NRPwNEbg6rGCYNJ%2FuxXNhD8hilwx7wPI9uUyl6WUa4sB

CpK8cEWJSbVMFN8ihhVRxgwcXwRBe7c%2Fc9zW%2FUDfHUjEch2xBh9Q3SV2IlvQcvZiduITU%2FCcfmxfPHHK9gtuLZEF0oNGK4Z7lJkJWGBhOPr3cYsGCzxGADDIPHMew2OLMQqDmer5k2Orn3w%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_7P3tuXYw

Barney Tobey
eBay item description

Barney Tobey
eBay bid history
One bidder places five early bids and a second bidder places five late bids. Now who do you suppose wins?

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Saturday, December 16, 2023

MDLinx Comic Consult #14

The MDLinx Comic Consult is a caption contest open only to doctors with a sense of humor. Prizes are a $100 Amazon gift card for first place, and $50 gift cards for up to four runners up. I won a $50 gift card for contests #12 and #13, so I was excited to try again. This is contest #14 and it features Santa Claus on a psychiatrist's couch. Five entries are permitted; each of mine is shown below. The cartoon is by Jonny Hawkins.

"Sure I check it twice, but then I go back and recheck it over and over."
"I better not cry."
"I don't suppose you could prescribe some cookies?"
"I hope you're not making a list."
"Actually, I'm bipolar."

December 30, 2023 Update: The Winner

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Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Saul Steinberg: Santa Playing the Violin

Santa Playing the Violin is a black and white Christmas card by Saul Steinberg published by the Museum of Modern Art. The museum published annual Steinberg Christmas cards from 1945 through 1951, according to the Saul Steinberg Foundation's website. In 1952, he signed a more lucrative contract with Hallmark, yet MoMA was to publish this final card in 1953. The cards are scarce, indicating they've never been reissued despite their timeless appeal. This example was sold in 2018 for a reasonable $9.95.

https://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d-2958374/1953-saul-steinberg-christmas-card-%E2%80%93-santa-playing-the-violin--unused.html

Note: Thanks again to David from Manhattan, who wrote yesterday's post and guided me down the path to today's.

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Saturday, December 2, 2023

Glen Baxter: It is December

Original Glen Baxter art was published in The Observer on December 7, 1997:

Glen Baxter
AbeBooks listing accessed December 21, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31385090405&searchurl=kn%3DGlen%2BBaxter%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D0&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1

The image was published in America as a greeting card:

https://shop.nybooks.com/collections/holiday/products/dark-forces-holiday-greeting-cards-by-glen-baxter

The artwork was listed at one time by Chris Beetles. It was later offered in November 2022 by Bonhams London with an estimate of 500 to 700 GBP. It sold for 350 GBP, or 446.25 GBP with the 27.5% buyer's premium. It resurfaced the following month at Maggs Bros., Ltd., priced at very close to a 300% markup.

https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27375/lot/254/baxter-glen-it-is-december-and-already-dark-forces-are-gathering-original-artwork-in-pen-and-crayon-1997/

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/bonhams/catalogue-id-bonham10494/search-filter?CategoryCode=DPS

As published:

https://biblioklept.org/2011/12/02/it-is-december-and-already-dark-forces-are-gathering-glen-baxter/

I don't know the price history of this piece with Chris Beetles, Ltd.—feel free to help me out here—but I can report on the gallery's current listing of a similar Baxter work of unknown date. The multiple Santas are explicit in both cartoons. Note also the hands-on-hips stance, the single pair of Santa sunglasses, and the use of the word already in both instances.

https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artwork/2086/there-are-ominous-signs-that-the-festive-season-is-already-under-way

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Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Arthur Rackham: "And Filled All the Stockings"

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
—Clement Clarke Moore
"A Visit from St. Nicholas"

Arthur Rackham's original illustration for the famous holiday poem depicts Santa Claus—or Father Christmas to the British—filling the stockings with toys. The artist uses shadows with bold diagonals and some energetic line work to ensure the image is anything but static. This is the artwork to one of the four color plates from Rackham's 1931 edition of Clement Clarke Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," or, as the book is more familiarly titled, The Night Before Christmas. The art is available for 50,000 GBP.

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks listing accessed December 14, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Filled-Stockings-RACKHAM-Arthur-illus-MOORE/31307611911/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&cm_ite=viewbook_low

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Thursday, December 1, 2022

My Copy of Kevin Maher and Joe Dator's Santa Doesn't Need Your Help

Santa may not be quite as spry as he used to be, but he certainly doesn't need any young do-gooders to step in and try to save Christmas. That is the premise of Santa Doesn't Need Your Help, told in verse and pictures. The new children's book is written by filmmaker Kevin Maher and illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist Joe Dator. Always the procrastinator, I ordered my copy from Porter Square Books of Boston while a book signing was actually underway. Both author and artist have signed the book and both have drawn a picture of someone who doesn't need your help, so don't ask.

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Friday, November 25, 2022

The 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

A quick check of the blog archives reveals that it has been twelve years since I attended the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and six years since I visited the balloon inflation. Any reasonable person would conclude that I have officially retired from parade going. Fortunately, three million other people still do go and one of them, my friend Uki, provided me with some photographs for which I am very grateful. These pictures were taken at Columbus Circle as the parade turned from Central Park West onto Central Park South—while I watched on TV at home.