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Lot 122

STEIG, WILLIAM. 1907-2003.
35 original drawings for Fortune, "How Hard Do Executives Work?"

5 December 2019, 10:00 EST
New York

US$4,000 - US$6,000

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STEIG, WILLIAM. 1907-2003.

35 original drawings for Fortune, "How Hard Do Executives Work?" [c.1953], ink and/or pencil, various sizes, two signed in ink ("W. Steig") and some editorial comments and printer's marks.
Published: William H. Whyte Jr., "How Hard Do Executives Work?" Fortune, January 1954, pp. 108-111.
Provenance: William Steig, the artist; by descent.

A collection of original drawings for an article in Fortune, including 13 finished pen-and-ink drawings, only seven (of eight) were published in the article. There are three versions of "Conformity" (published as "I feel swell"). An alternative of the published one of the businessman being pursued by a dollar shows him pursuing an apple. There are two entirely different ones of the man with the phone for an ear as well as the one published as "It's all so much fun" and a photostat of a similar abandoned sketch ("It's work but I enjoy it"). The remaining 22 drawings are preliminary pencil sketches of unused ideas for the same article. The signature on the headpiece on page 108 was cut out, but Steig resigned it below the drawing on the left. Includes a copy of the magazine.

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