Concealed Art

"Concealed Art"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Reggie Pepper
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher The Strand Magazine
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date February 1915

"Concealed Art" is a short story by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse and one of seven stories featuring the fictional character Reggie Pepper. It was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in February 1915, and in the American women's magazine Pictorial Review in July 1915.[1]

In the story, Reggie has a friend named Archie, who is an abstract painter. Archie tries to keep his fiancée and later wife Eunice, a serious-minded poet, from finding out that Archie actually draws slapstick cartoons for a living.

Plot

It's all dots and splashes, with a great eye staring out at the middle of the mess. It looks as if summer, just as it was on the way, had stubbed its toe on a bomb. He tells me it's his masterpiece, and that he will never do anything like it again. I should like to have that in writing.

— Reggie describes "The Coming of Summer"[2]

Reggie has a friend named Archibald "Archie" Ferguson, an artist whose abstract works are ahead of his time, though Reggie finds them ugly. Archie has not sold any paintings. He confesses to Reggie that to earn a living, he illustrates slapstick cartoons about the "Doughnut" family in a magazine called Funny Slices. Reggie enjoys the cartoons and congratulates Archie, but Archie is afraid of telling his fiancée, the spiritual poet Eunice Nugent, that he draws cartoons.

Meeting Eunice, Reggie quickly perceives that she is indeed serious and spiritual. He thinks Archie should not tell her about the cartoons and suggests that Archie claim his money comes from B. and O. P. Rails, a company that Archie really has invested in. Archie follows this advice and soon Archie and Eunice get married. Around seven months later, Archie comes to Reggie in distress. The value of B. O. and P. stock has plummeted, and Archie has lost his savings, but his true problem is that he cannot explain his continuing income to Eunice. Archie is unwilling to tell her about the money he makes from cartoons, so the couple lives off Eunice's small private means and moves to a less expensive residence.

Reggie thinks hard about the problem, his manner becoming so distrait as a result that he inadvertently hurts the feelings of his valet Wilberforce, which Reggie makes up for by tipping him two pounds. Eventually, Reggie comes up with an idea. He calls Archie and tells him to claim he obtained his money by selling "The Coming of Summer" to the American millionaire J. Bellingwood Brackett, who lives in London and often buys artwork. Archie follows through on this plan and decides to tell Eunice he was paid two thousand pounds, a remarkably large sum.

A newspaper reports that Brackett paid two thousand pounds for Archie's painting. Eunice had told the papers about the story. Renshaw Liggett, Brackett's representative, visits the Ferguson home to tell Archie to publicly deny the story. Liggett leaves after Archie agrees. He reveals to Eunice that his money comes from the Doughnut cartoons, which he shows to her. Surprising Reggie and Archie, Eunice finds the cartoon hilarious. She admits that she lied about her private means and is in fact an advertisement copywriter. Archie and Eunice share a heartfelt embrace, and Reggie sidles out.

Differences between editions

The British and American versions are basically the same. In the American edition, the story takes place in New York instead of London and Archie's painting is reportedly sold for ten thousand dollars rather than two thousand pounds.[3][4]

Publication history

The story was illustrated by Alfred Leete in the Strand and by Will Grefé in Pictorial Review.[1]

The British edition of "Concealed Art" was included in Enter Jeeves, a 1997 collection published by Dover Publications, featuring all the Reggie Pepper stories and eight early Jeeves stories.[5]

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 McIlvaine (1990), p. 153, D50.2, and p. 183, D133.39.
  2. ↑ Wodehouse (1997), chapter 14, p. 211.
  3. ↑ Wodehouse, P. G. (February 1915). "Concealed Art". Madame Eulalie. Retrieved 12 February 2018. British edition.
  4. ↑ Wodehouse, P. G. (July 1915). "Concealed Art". Madame Eulalie. Retrieved 12 February 2018. American edition.
  5. ↑ Wodehouse (1997), pp. ii-v.
Bibliography
  • McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (1997). Enter Jeeves. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-29717-0.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.