STEIG, WILLIAM
Four original drawings, each signed (lower right, W. Steig) and captioned in his hand, from the cartoonist's famous Dreams of Glory series. Each is rendered in various shades of black and gray, with some areas heightened in white, on sketching paper. 9 x 11 inches (23 x 28 cm), or slightly larger. Two drawings bear the stamp of the New Yorker (the Editorial Department), together with various printing and internal directions on the rear, as well as discreet reduction notes etc. on the front.
Two of these cartoons were published in the New Yorker, and have been frequently anthologized since. Breaking the Bank at Monte Carlo appeared on January 26, 1952. Hypnotic Power appeared in the October 4, 1952 issue. The two remaining drawings (both from Dreams of Glory), are Samson, and Miraculous Healer.
Steig, who died in 2003, was one of the New Yorker magazine's greatest cartoonists. Many of the drawings in this series appeared in the 1953 publication Dreams of Glory. The artist started writing for children in the 1960s, and was a Caldecott Medal winner, as well as the author of Shrek, 1990, on which the popular animated films are based. Original drawings for classic New Yorker cartoons are distinctly uncommon in the marketplace.