On April 17, Peter Arno's original 1944 New Yorker cartoon set at the skating rink of Rockefeller Center went on the auction block at Heritage. The Texas auction house, it should be noted, did not identify the drawing's date or its publication in The New Yorker. But the caption was right there. The drawing is unsigned but unmistakeably Arno.
"Why, it's Mrs. Courtney Richardson, Senior—she's heading this way!" Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, February 12, 1944, p. 20 |
"Why, it's Mrs. Courtney Richardson, Senior—she's heading this way!" Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, February 12, 1944, p. 20 |
Peter Arno Heritage Auctions listing ended April 17, 2024 |
Peter Arno Heritage Auctions item description |
Some sleight-of-hand took place before publication. The New Yorker published the drawing with a linear border that looks for all the world like a part of Arno's original. His signature was added as well. Possibly the signature and border together were part of a single overlay. It's a small detail, but the back lining of Mrs. Richardson's coat, which Arno left white, has been shaded.
"Why, it's Mrs. Courtney Richardson, Senior—she's heading this way!" Peter Arno The New Yorker, February 12, 1944, p. 20 |
"Why, it's Mrs. Courtney Richardson, Senior—she's heading this way!" Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, February 12, 1944, p. 20 |
Cartoons by Peter Arno and Garrett Price |
Garrett Price The New Yorker, February 12, 1944, p. 21 |
Note: I suspect Arno may have used photo references for some of the skaters—no, not for Mrs. Richardson—as well as for the women on the stairs and perhaps the rink's architectural elements, but I have no way of proving this.
04623