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| David Brinkley by George Wachsteter |
On March 24, the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston Maine will host a one-day auction featuring "The Lost Drawings of George Wachsteter", a mind-boggling collection of original art spanning four decades from the estate of Wachsteter, at one time one of the most celebrated caricaturists of the mid-twentieth century, now all but virtually forgotten:
http://www.artfact.com/auction-catalog/one-day-auction-the-lost-drawings-of-g.-wachsteter-l9uonikmkg
Thanks to the efforts of a few longtime admirers of his incredible art, among them Leonard Maltin, Mike Lynch, yours truly and the caricaturist Zach Trenholm, who made a pilgrimage to Elmhurst Queens to visit the aging and forgotten Wachsteter in his final years, George Wachsteter's work will receive the attention and inevitable revival it so richly deserves, (and hopefully an anthology). This is my blog tribute to Wachsteter from 2012:
http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2012/03/lost-art-of-george-wachsteter.html
I'm showing just a sampling here (in no particular order) of some of the original Wachsteter caricatures and illustrations that will to be auctioned on the 24th. Full descriptions, including names, dates, and publications, as well as rough art and printed covers can be found on the auction catalog site:
http://auctions.thomastonauction.com/asp/searchresults.asp?st=D&sale_no=302&ps=25&pg=28&view=view1#103000
The majority of work represented in the auction was created for the weekly cover of the New York Journal-American Pictorial TV section. When the Journal- American ceased publication in the late sixties and Wachsteters vision faltered, his career virtually came to a halt.
Looking at his work, you might assume that George Wachsterer was perhaps greatly influenced by the legendary Al Hirschfeld, who Wachsteter frequently alternated with at the New York Times in the forties, but consider that they were each contemporaries and both quite celebrated in their day. They were also both clearly influenced by the great caricaturist Miguel Covarrubias. Enjoy!
My thanks to Martin Gostanian
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4 Broadway composers |
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4 for Texas  |
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Five TV Comedians                                                           
cast of "Uncle Willie" (with Menasha Skulnik)
The Munsters
My Favorite Martian
The NBC All-Star Review
Walter Matthau, Art Carney, "The Odd Couple"
Olson & Johnson
Oscar Levant
1946 Radio Stars
Red Buttons
Rudy Vallee
Sammy Kaye
The Defenders
"The Great Gleason Express"
The Jackie Gleason Show
Tom Ewell
Wagon Train
Walter Pigeon
Wayne & Shuster
Will Rogers
How to be a Jewish Mother
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Comp art for the NBC Book of Stars
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Awesome stuff. What a great line he had.
ReplyDeleteI had the identical experience that you did, Drew. I owned The NBC Book of Stars for decades before I ever found anything else by this artist. (He's identified only as "Wachsteter" inside, and there wasn't any Internet back then to look him up.) I hope the auction gallery issues a printed catalogue. I'd like to own all of these.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Allen Funt complained about his caricature again -- or did he learn his lesson with Hirschfeld? BTW, that Jay North & Boris Karloff teaming could've been a whole series! The mind boggles just thinking about the possibilities...
Mike, yes, there is an auction catalog. If you contact the auction house, I'm sure you can arrange to have them send you one.
ReplyDeleteYou should get straight up dibs just for all the time & work you put in posting these Drew :)
ReplyDeleteIt's only with George's passing that these beautiful examples of celebrity caricature would ever leave his hands. He was very possessive, protective of his art & as such, very, very few originals have rested out there in public hands....
Your blog is the best destination on the internet. Keep it up, if all this hard work doesn't kill ya.
ReplyDeleteThank you, being in England I'd never heard this guy, his work is superb.
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