Existing comment:
(36) Indian snake charmer raising dollar bills from a pot to the amusement of two American tourists, between 1950 and 1970. Watercolor and ink wash with opaque white over graphite underdrawing.
Art Wood Collection of Cartoon and Caricature
Prints and Photographs Division
LC-DIG-ppmsca-09430 (36)
William Steig (1907-2 003) gives a wry take on the ‘exotic traditions' of foreign lands in this scene of an Indian snake charmer who makes music so magically that he causes dollar bills to rise out of his basket. Two western tourists appear agog. Steig depicts the figures with clean, spare lines, delicately shading their forms and shadows with ink and watercolor washes and cleverly using the same green for the Indian's turban, clothing, and paper money. From 1930 on, Steig's acerbic, elegantly drawn cartoons graced the pages and covers of the New Yorker. In addition, he wrote and illustrated more than thirty children's books. |