January 2016 | Rebecca Rego Barry

Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders at Auction

Peruse the catalogue for this Thursday's Illustration Art auction at Swann Galleries, and you'll see a fine mix of book and magazine illustration art, including a particularly nice selection of New Yorker art and cartoons. For maximum comic effect, however, take note of several caricatures that harmonize with current political events.

Trump 188.jpgLot 188, for example, is a pen-and-ink drawing of Donald Trump by artist David Levine. It was published in the New York Review of Books on May 22, 1988 alongside "Big Shots," a review of Trump: The Art of the Deal. The subject--currently a vociferous candidate for the US presidency--appears to be wearing a suit, a tie, and a diaper. The estimate is $2,000-3,000--quite the bargain should he succeed with his current scheme.   

The following lot is another pen-and-ink depiction of Trump by David Levine, this one showing the real estate mogul shouldering his own lumber. It ran in the New York Review of Books on December 21, 2000, alongside "Golden Boy," a review of The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire. (The review, by the by, eerily warns: "He's not going to go away. We might as well accept the fact that Donald Trump is the price you pay for living in a marketplace culture.") Again, the estimate is $2,000-3,000.

Sanders copy.jpgAnd lest they snub the other side of the aisle, Swann Galleries will also offer Edward Sorel's illustration of a whip-wielding, fist-pounding Bernie Sanders, published in the New Yorker on October 15, 2015, to illustrate an article titled "Bernie Sanders; The Populist Prophet." The pen and ink wash on paper is mounted on card. Its estimate is $1,000-1,500.

Images via Swann Galleries.