Thanksgiving Special

Robert Crumb. 2004. "Thanksgiving Special" [Cover]. The New Yorker, November 29.

The origins of Thanksgiving date back to the early 1600s when the Pilgrims, assisted by the local Indians, celebrated their bountiful harvest. Crumb's stinging cover harks back to this with the portraits of Pilgrims and Indians on the left border. But then it is updated to present day New York, urban, densely packed. In the middle of the cover is a down-and-out Indian looking like he is about to cry wearing a signboard advertising a restaurant's "Thanksgiving Special". The menu is an ode to hip yuppie tastes with range-fed turkey, couscous and even a vegetarian alternative. America seems to have forgotten the origins of the holiday with the poor Indian looking miserable. Crumb draws himself on the right walking towards the left (a political statement?) and looking quite astounded at the scene. The evocation of busy urban New York is sizzling, the details impressive (a discarded cigarette butt on the sidewalk, a large bead of sweat on a man's forehead) and the coloring and overall feel quite different than Crumb's more typical cartoon-like covers. There is also something curious about the people with glasses: you cannot see their eyes.

54th Carnegie International

Robert Crumb. 2004. Carnegie International. Poster. 22 x 17 inches.

Crumb did the exhibition poster and and had a small retrospective of drawings, strips, and notebooks. The depressing machine people descend from Crumb's 1975 Snarf cover of a happy guy with a self-propelled vehicle (used for the cover of Underground Classics). However unlike the optimistic Snarf cover, the world has turned sour with the machine people vomiting from pollution. The irony of the drawing could not have been lost on the exhibit organizers. Here Crumb pokes fun at steel magnate Andrew Carnegie who the museum is named after, inferring that the hellish scene is a result of the environmentally destructive policies of big business. According to the Crumb Print site, there were 100 copies of this poster made. The drawing is also reminiscent of a sketchbook drawing dated 11 Nov. 2001 entitled "Draw Thru The Pain" that appeared on p. 27 of Mineshaft, #10, January 2003 as well as "We're Lost!" on p. 68 of the Whole Earth Review, #10, Summer 1993.

ARTnews

In addition to the cover (Self-Portrait with Third Eye, 2001) also has an article: Holmes, Pernilla. 2004. "A Funny Thing Happened to Robert Crumb." ARTnews, September.

Mary Fleener

Mary Fleener. 2003. Joni Mitchell. Ink on paper. 15 x 11 inches. Signed "FLEENER°03" lower left. © Mary Fleener. Illustration used in Kristine McKenna. 2004. Talk to Her. Fantagraphics. ISBN-10: 1560975709

Mary Fleener, like Crumb, is a cartoonist. Some of their work appears in the same magazines (e.g., Mineshaft). Fleener also reviewed Aline-Kominsky Crumb's Need More Love. The illustration of Joni Mitchell was used in a book of interviews of artists by an LA-based journalist. Mitchell's song "Big Yellow Taxi" music was used in an unofficial YouTube video of Crumb's "Short History of America".

Yeah, but is it ART?

Robert Crumb. 2004. Yeah but is it ART? [Cover].

In Alfred M. Fischer (editor). 2004. Yeah but is it ART? Museum Ludwig. ISBN: 3883757950

The book accompanying the Crumb exhibit at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne from 28 May to 12 September 2004.