Wednesday Spill…A Group: Otto Soglow, Bob Eckstein, Warren Miller

                               A Group: Otto Soglow, Bob Eckstein, Warren Miller

Another in a series of groupings of books and original art. Today the cartoonist spirits moved me to select an unusual book by Otto Soglow, as well as art and books by Bob Eckstein, and Warren Miller.

From the left:

In the forefront is Bob Eckstein’s The Sea Below Us: The Missing Journal Of Macky M, (published in 2012). When I first read it, I thought it was one of the funniest reads in years (and I’m not just saying that because I know Mr. Eckstein). Thirteen years later, I still feel that way. Behind the book is an Eckstein New Yorker original drawing. It appeared in the magazine February 13, 2012. It’s possible that my current re-watching of The Sopranos influenced the selection of this drawing for today, but who knows! Eckstein did a bang-up job on it, both caption and drawing. Somebody ought to put out a collection of these end-of-the-pier mob cartoons.

Next is Otto Soglow’s Everything’s Rosy (published in 1932). I remember when and where I first saw this book (in a Philadelphia bookstore, 1977). I remember because I’d never seen anything like it before (or since). The book was published with a thin transparent sheet of red plastic — it’s called a “filter” on the rear dust jacket text  — that one places over the drawings in the book, revealing an alternate drawing. I’ve let a bit of the plastic show here. I’d love to say that Soglow’s work was a major influence on me (what with his simple line and all), but I know that’s not true. While I love his work, his line discipline was daunting — my Thurber roots (free-wheeling lines) couldn’t and wouldn’t bear it.

Finally, two from Warren Miller. His book, All Thumbs (published in 1967), and a New Yorker original added to the Spill collection not too very long ago (the drawing appeared in the issue of February 25, 1980). Mr. Miller is one of the most published New Yorker cartoonists in its near 100 years. He belongs to the 1000+ club — a club  comprised of cartoonists who have contributed 1000 or more drawings to the magazine. Currently, there are only 20 some members. I needn’t have to say that Mr. Miller is one of the greats, but heck, I’ll say it anyway.

When I was researching my Arno biography, Mr. Miller was one of the few New Yorker people I could find referenced by Arno. Barbara Nicholls, who was James Geraghty’s assistant in the early 1960s (he was the magazine’s art editor) told me she had mentioned Miller’s name to Arno on one of his infrequent visits to the office. Arno responded, “Oh, he’s the one who looks like he draws with the end of a burnt stick.” 

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Drawings shown above: 

The A-Zs:

Bob Eckstein (photo above courtesy of the artist) Born, New York, NY, Feb. 27 1963. New Yorker work: July 2007 – Author of The History of the Snowman (Simon & Schuster, 2007) and Footnotes From the World’s Greatest Bookstores: True Tales and Lost Moments From Book Buyers, Booksellers, and Book Lovers (Penguin Random House, 2016). New Yorker work: 2007 -. Website: bobeckstein.com

Otto Soglow Born, Yorkville, NY, December 23, 1900. Died in NYC, April 1975. New Yorker work: 1925 -1974. Key collections: Pretty Pictures ( Farrar & Rinehart, 1931) and for fans of Soglow’s Little King; The Little King (Farrar & Rinehart, 1933) and The Little King ( John Martin’s House, Inc., 1945). The latter Little King is an illustrated storybook. Cartoon Monarch / Otto Soglow & The Little King (IDW, 2012) is an excellent compendium.

 

Warren Miller (photo by Liza Donnelly, NYC, Sept. 1997) Born 1936, Chicago, Ill. The following biographical information comes from The Phoenix Gallery site which hosted a group exhibit of NYer cartoonists work (Lorenz, Harris, Modell, and Miller) in 2007: “Warren Miller studied commercial and fine art at the American Academy of Art, Chicago. He started selling cartoons to Playboy and The New Yorker in 1961 and moved to New York City later that year. Miller’s work has also appeared in Esquire, Punch, Rolling Stone, Audubon, Harvard Business Review, Barrons, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, and the London Sunday Times. Mr. Miller is a painter and a sculptor as well. He has exhibited his work in a number of shows in the New York area and in the Midwest.” Key collections: All Thumbs (Bobbs-Merrill,1967); Prince and Mrs. Charming (Bobbs-Merril, 1970). New Yorker work: 1959 -.