Ronald Searle: Portrait of Fredrick Alexander

Fredrick Matthias Alexander (1869-1955) or F.M., as he was known,  developed the Alexander Technique, an alternative therapy designed to teach habits that promote good posture and improved health. Illustrator Ronald Searle (1920-2011) benefitted from Alexander's methods and was understandably grateful. His ink portrait of the practitioner was published in the News Chronicle of February 26, 1953.

Searle gave the original drawing to Alexander adding the inscription "For 'F.M.' from the reconstituted artist with thanks." It is after this inscribed drawing that a lithographic edition of 50 was published, numbered but not signed, making this possibly unique among Searle's prints. It seems unlikely he personally was involved in the lithograph's production. Print no. 34/50 was sold on April 23 at Roseberys, London.

Ronald Searle
Roseberys London auction April 23, 2024 accessed April 14, 2024

https://www.roseberys.co.uk/a0680-lot-563499-ronald-searle-cbe-rdibritish-1920-2011portrait-of-fredrick-alexanderoffset?el=563499&pn=1&pp=25

Sold!

Note:  For a far more comprehensive look at Ronald Searle's relationship with Fredrick Alexander, see Matt Jones's 2012 post "The Alexander Technique" in Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog. It's right here.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #895

Aliens walk among us in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #895 from the issue of May 6, 2024. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by E. S. Glenn.

"But what is the planet?"

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Turkeys on the Shore: Original Frank Modell New Yorker Cover Art

Many people admire New Yorker covers—inspired full-page illustrations presented to the world free of promotional text—but opportunities to get to see the original art from which they are created are few and far between. It's so gratifying when such cover art does surface and come to the market, sometimes many decades later. Frank Modell's original art for the issue of November 25, 1961 was just sold at Heritage Auctions in April. It is a thoughtful, atmospheric image that anticipates the first Thanksgiving in a way that is both humorous and affecting.

Frank Modell
Original art
The New Yorker, November 25, 1961

Frank Modell
Framed original art
The New Yorker, November 25, 1961

Frank Modell
Heritage Auctions listing of April 23, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/franklin-p-modell-american-1917-2016-turkeys-the-new-yorker-magazine-cover-november-25-1961gouache-pastel-/a/8161-71418.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116

Frank Modell
Heritage Auctions item description

Frank Modell
The New Yorker, November 25, 1961

Frank Modell
Original art
The New Yorker, November 25, 1961

It is now apparent that the original Modell art I posted on November 22, 2022 was actually a preliminary study for this cover:

The artwork is still available on eBay, priced at about three times what the cover art went for.

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William Steig: The Perfect Wife

There is, to be sure, some good, old-fashioned charm to William Steig's drawing of The Perfect Wife. The title at first seems coyly innocent, but it allows for a touch of irony too. Is it sexist, defining the woman solely by her marital status? Or perhaps the husband is simply not worthy of a place in the title himself?

The two figures are shown in an idyllic garden posing for the artist as for a family portrait from a bygone era. The curving branches of the tree frame their heads. The ink and watercolor on paper was sold last month at Heritage Auctions and a little more than four years earlier at Doyle New York. The artist's spelling is not quite up to his drawing; the C has been squeezed into place as a correction.

William Steig
Heritage Auctions listing of April 23, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/william-steig-american-1907-2003-the-perfect-wifeink-and-watercolor-on-paper-12-x-9-inches-305-x-229-cm-/a/8161-71483.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116#

William Steig
Heritage Auctions item description

This work was sold in 2018 by Doyle New York for somewhat less, $406 with the premium.

William Steig
Doyle New York listing of November 13, 2018

https://www.doyle.com/auction/lot/lot-11---steig-william-1907-2003-the-perfect-wife/?lot=122

2725&so=4&st=William%20Steig&sto=0&au=&ef=&et=&ic=False&sd=1&pp=96&pn=1&g=1

Note:  Neither the William Doyle Galleries, Heritage Auctions, nor your earnest blogger have any idea whether this William Steig piece was ever published, but that doesn't mean that the next person won't know more about it. If you're in possession of the key to the publishing history of this piece, if indeed it can ever be known, please chime in.

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William Steig: Four Portraits

Four portraits by William Steig, each of a woman in profile, were sold at Heritage Auctions on April 23. They are all signed Bill Steig rather than W. Steig, indicating that they were intended for a friend rather than for publication.

William Steig
Heritage Auctions listing of April 23, 2024 accessed an hour prior to the sale

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/works-on-paper/william-steig-american-1907-2003-four-portraitsink-on-paper-each8-1-2-x-7-1-8-inches-216/a/8161-71482.s?type=lotlink--bidnotice-tracked-dailystatus

Sold!

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MDLinx Comic Consult #19

It's way past time for our office visit. The MDLinx Comic Consult is a caption contest open only to physicians with a sense of humor, or at the very least an NPI number. Prizes are a $100 Amazon gift card for first place, and $50 gift cards for up to four runners up. I've won three $50 gift cards for contests #12, #13, and #14, but now I completely missed the deadline for contest #19. I'm quite sure I couldn't have come up with anything as good as the grand prize winner. Five entries are permitted; there were none from me this go round, thank you. The subject is joy on the cardiology unit. The MDLinx cartoon is by Jonny Hawkins.

The Winner:

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Soriano: Mussolini

Benito Mussolini dominated the cover of New Masses for the August 9, 1938 number, illustrating the second part of "Inside Fascist Italy" by Margareta West. The illustrator signs only Soriano, which presents us with a bit of a mystery. We could tentatively identify the artist as Rafael Soriano (1920-2015) but he would have been seventeen and living in Cuba in the summer of 1938. Well, it might have been Juan Soriano (1920-2006), who would also still have been seventeen although he was a prodigy. But he resided in Mexico. It seems more than likely there's some other illustrator named Soriano who was, we hope, slightly older and slightly nearer to New York. 

Benito Mussolini
Soriano
New Masses, August 9, 1938

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-MASSES-MAGAZINE-V-28-N-7-AUG-9-1938-VG-COPY-CPUSA-SORIANO-COVER-ART...

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The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 179

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest #179, a fairy-tale princess and a unicorn share a couch, a TV program, and a dismal life together. The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed (and neither has my description of them): five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $120 into the first twenty-four pay-to-play contests and this twenty-fifth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $125. Having achieved runner-up status with two previous entries, I've collected $200 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, thank goodness. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds are generally favorable even for us less-gifted caption writers. My three entries are shown below. The cartoonist is Glen LeLievre.

"Happily ever after, my ass."
"Don't you despise fairy tale endings?"
"You haven't worked a day since 'Fantasia.'"

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #894

A couple of clowns take in the art gallery scene in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #894 from the issue of April 22 & 29, 2024. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

"He's no Emmett Kelly."

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Sidney Harris: A Significant Moment in the History of Terrestrial Whales

The cartoons of Sidney Harris often take their subject matter from the sciences. His original New Yorker art sold on April 23 at Heritage Auctions dips its toes in the theory of evolution. It was published in 1990.

A Significant Moment in the History of Terrestrial Whales
Sidney Harris
Original art
The New Yorker, October 8, 1990, p. 45

A Significant Moment in the History of Terrestrial Whales
Sidney Harris
Original art
The New Yorker, October 8, 1990, p. 45

Stamps on the verso suggest that this artwork was at one time in the inventory of ScienceCartoonsPlus.com, Harris's marketing company.

Verso

Sidney Harris
Heritage Auctions Illustration Art sale of April 23, 2024

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/sidney-harris-american-b-1933-a-significant-moment-in-the-history-the-new-yorker-magazine-interior-october-8-/a/8161-71353.s?ic2=mytracked-lotspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyTrackedLots-101116#

Sidney Harris
Heritage Auctions Illustration Art item description

A Significant Moment in the History of Terrestrial Whales
Sidney Harris
The New Yorker, October 8, 1990, p. 45

A Significant Moment in the History of Terrestrial Whales
Sidney Harris
Original art
The New Yorker, October 8, 1990, p. 45

With cartoons by Arnie Levin and Sidney Harris

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1990-10-08/flipbook/044/

Sidney Harris
The New Yorker, October 8, 1990, p. 44

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