04/12/2026 General, Books & Autographs
The covers of The New Yorker have, since its inception in 1925, been a constant reflection of the American cultural landscape and a visual feast. Harold Ross, the magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief, assembled a remarkable roster of artists from the very beginning. Eustace Tilley, the imaginary dandy who adorned the cover of very first issue (and who swiftly became the magazine’s enduring emblem), was the creation of the cartoonist Rea Irvin, and Irvin’s successsors are a veritable Who’s Who of American illustration art.
Constantin Alajálov (1900-1987), who was born in Russia to an Armenian family, began his career as a political artist, painting propaganda art. He emigrated to America at the age of twenty-three, and his first New Yorker cover adorned the September 25, 1926, issue. He went on to produce over seventy covers for the magazine over the course of his career, as well as work for The Saturday Evening Post and many book illustrations (of which the best-known today is his work for George Gershwin's Song Book, 1932). His original work, though very much sought after, is distinctly uncommon at auction, and we are delighted to be able to offer the original artwork for the New Yorker cover of March 13, 1937 (lot 369).
We do not know when the magazine started to run covers reflecting the upcoming tax season, but this must be an early example. A witty depiction of an Everyman in his pajamas and dressing gown, musing unhappily over his income tax form, torn between the forces of duty (the Founding Fathers and an angel waving an American flag) and greed (thoughts of tropical vacations, a car, and all the trappings of wealth, offered by a rakish devil), this design is both humorous and elegant.
Clearly, this tax season cover started something of a New Yorker tradition. We know Alajálov revisited the theme in 1938 and again in 1941, and other New Yorker artists also riffed on it over the years. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the artist Charles Elmer Martin (1910-1995), a New Yorker stalwart who produced hundreds of designs for the magazine, created several such covers. We are pleased to offer four of these.
The first, depicting a bogeyman Uncle Sam (collaged from a tax form, no less) menacing the slumbers of a balding man, was published as the cover for the April 11, 1959 issue (lot 372). He revisited the tax theme in 1961, for the April 15 issue, where it is raining returns from a dreary sky (lot 373), and again for the issue of April 14, 1962 (lot 371). Finally, for April 15, 1967 he prepared a striking design with something of an Art Moderne feel, with an attendant rearranging the deckchairs on a listing vessel (lot 370); this is not explicitly linked to tax time by collaged tax forms, but the implications seem fairly clear, given the date of the issue.
We hope that our customers at Doyle all have handsome refunds this tax year, and choose to spend some of the proceeds on these delightful examples of New Yorker illustration art!
Auction Thursday, April 16, 2026 at 10am
Exhibition April 11 - 13
Sale Info & Highlights
