Collections record Beta

Ink and Gouache Drawing - "House Warming!?!"

1973-19-19

Ink and gouache drawing of an abstract building with stepped roof and two windows. Building is rendered in black ink with four large flames rising from the roof, done in red gouache. A small figure outlined in black with blue clothing is seen running away from the house, in lower-right corner. Written just above figure in ink, "House Warming!?!/Call the Fire Dept.!" White mat board, wooden frame, under glass.

After graduating from Yale, Robert Osborn studied painting in Rome and Paris before returning to Connecticut to teach art and philosophy at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville. He developed his distinct illustration style while drawing Navy training manuals during World War II, most of which featured a character named Dilbert whose blunders illustrated improper safety procedures. After the war, Osborn’s satirical cartoons appeared regularly in magazines such as The New Republic, Life, and Esquire. He also wrote and illustrated books on topics ranging from fishing and hunting to war and social issues. Between 1947 and 1994, illustrator Robert Chesley Osborn lived with his wife in Salisbury, Connecticut. Among his close friends were Rufus and Leslie Stillman of Litchfield.

• Osborn, Robert Chesley, 1904-1994

ca. 1965

16 1/4" high x 20" wide

• ink
• gouache
• paper