Stolzer, Rob :: Art For Sale

Exceptionally Rare ROBERT MINOR 1910 Political Cartoon ~ UNCLE SAM!

Artist: Robert Minor (All)

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Exceptionally Rare ROBERT MINOR 1910 Political Cartoon ~ UNCLE SAM! Comic Art

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Additional Images:

Robert Minor - Drawing on Back of Cartoon

Robert Minor - Printed Image

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Artwork Details

Title:	Exceptionally Rare ROBERT MINOR 1910 Political Cartoon ~ UNCLE SAM!
Artist:	Robert Minor (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	FS - $1200.00 + Shipping
Views:	1,070
Likes on CAF:	3 4
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	7/25/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Robert Minor (1884-1952) is considered to be one of the greatest political cartoonists of the 20th century. He was also among the very first to use grease pencil (lithographic crayons) in his work, spawning generations of cartoonists who followed suit.

Minor was born in Texas and began drawing cartoons for the San Antonio Gazette starting around 1905. Minor was a fan of the cartoon's being done in Joseph Pulitzer's St. Louis Post-Dispatch and moved to St. Louis around 1907, right around the same time that he joined the Socialist Party of America. Pulitzer liked what he saw in Minor and didn't mind the strong point-of-view in his work. By 1910, Minor was the lead editorial cartoonist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1911, the editor of the New York World offered to make Minor the highest paid editorial cartoonist in the United States if he moved to his paper in New York. This is where Minor began experimenting with a grease pencil and his work truly blossomed. Over time, Minor's strong leftist views became too much for the newspaper, and he found himself doing work for The Masses, where he created some of the strongest work of his career, including a WWI cartoon with a headless soldier, long considered one of the greatest political cartoons of the 20th century.

Minor continued work for publications such as The Liberator, and helped found The Daily Worker. Post-WWII, Minor campaigned for African-American civil rights and wrote articles exposing several white politicians who were involved in lynchings. Minor suffered a heart attack in 1948 and was bed-ridden during a time when fellow American Communist Party members were arrested and jailed.

This powerful political cartoon appeared in the August 10, 1910 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. W.J. Gaynor was the popular mayor of New York City, who was shot in an assassination attempt on August 9, 1910. Gaynor was shot by a disgruntled former New York docks night watchman. Minor's cartoon, titled "Can't Spare Him", portrays a concerned Uncle Sam waiting outside of Gaynor's hospital room. Gaynor had previously been considered a presidential candidate. While the powers-that-be in Tammany Hall helped get Gaynor elected, he was known for his fair-minded decisions on the court and as Mayor, causing a falling-out with the Tammany Hall folks. As an aside, one of Gaynor's granddaughters, Jean Rennard, was married to the actor Fred Gwynne.

Robert Minor's originals are exceedingly scarce. I know of only four that exist in private hands, though others may be held in collections. This one is from before Minor's switch to a litho crayon and shows his skills as a pen and ink artist. Just look at that wonderful drawing of Uncle Sam, with the strong pen and ink cross-hatching work. It’s rather brilliant stuff. The drawing measures 18”x 12½” and you can see that it has some condition issues. It was trimmed at some point, likely for framing, right up to the border, part of which is still visible on the left. There is also a thin line of tape residue at the very top, along with some light staining in the upper left. Still and all, given that this piece is 110 years old, it’s remarkable that it has survived at all. And there's also a cool sketch on the back of the piece. And again, Robert Minor originals on the market are as scarce as they come. $1200.00 + 35.00 fully insured Registered mail shipping. Check, money order, Venmo or fee-free PayPal only.

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About the Owner

	Rob Stolzer Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	September 2004
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	robart
Website:	https://freeassociationfunnies.com/
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Rob's Classifieds Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About RobStolzer

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