T.S. (Thomas Starling) Sullivant (1854-1926) was simply put one of the greatest pen men in comic art history. Most well-known for his wonderfully animated depictions of human and animal locomotion, Sullivant was a masterful figural artist, long a favorite of folks in the animation industry. It took me many years to get my hands on a sweet example of Sullivant’s work like this one, but I’ve just happened to acquire yet another Sullivant, so in order for me to keep this collecting hobby afloat, I’m letting this one go.
The cartoon illustration pictures a man in the throes of a spring illness, with a caption that reads, "Cub, gettle Sprig! ethereal Bildness! cub." This is taken from the first line of “Spring” (1728), one of the four sections of “The Four Seasons” by the Scottish poet James Thomson. Thomson's actual text was: "Come, gentle Spring! ethereal Mildness! come," As you can see by the way our hero feels in the cartoon, there is nothing yet gentle or mild about spring.
The piece is stamped with Arthur Crawford's name address in NYC. Crawford was a writer and actor who contributed many pieces to Life, Puck, and Judge magazines, among others. He often contributed gags to cartoonists, and it's quite possible that he provided the gag for this piece. If you collect old cartoon art, you'll sometimes run across pieces signed by the artist with "+A.C." next to his or her name. A.C. was Arthur Crawford. Crawford sadly suffered some mental health issues in 1922, and committed suicide on November 14 of that year.
There are neither publishing marks on the piece, nor any indication of the date of publication. I'm guessing that the piece is circa 1910 to 1920, which means that it likely appeared in Life magazine, since Sullivant returned to the publication in 1911. I did discover that this play on Thomson's poem predates the Sullivant cartoon, so he was likely riffing on something that already existed. I came up with the dating based on the suppleness of Sullivant’s pen work. His ink drawings from the 1920s tend to be rougher, with more scratching through with a razor. This drawing has very little of that razor scratching, and the ink work is some of the best I’ve seen in a Sullivant original. The ink work is lively, with expressive mark-making creating great richness and depth. The drawing measures 14½”x near 12”. It is in remarkably good condition, especially considering its 100+ year old age. The piece is at least in a solid Fine to Fine + condition. $2750.00 + 17.00 first class shipping. If you want the piece shipped with insurance, it will need to go by Registered Mail, and will cost extra. Fee-free PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or a check only on this one.
