Weekend Spill: Dumpster Diving With Edward Sorel

Dumpster Diving With Edward Sorel

The news of the SS United States being towed to its final resting place has reminded me of a rather large (23″ x 33″) framed piece hanging here in Spill headquarters.

It’s an odd thing, this print of ships — we’ve nothing else like it hanging up. It’s a manipulated photo printed on thin board; the SS United States is shown twice, steaming both north and south. I can’t look at it without thinking of Ed Sorel. Many many years ago (maybe twenty, or even more than twenty) when Ed lived in Tribeca he invited my family for a lunchtime visit. At some point Ed said he needed to go out and pick up our lunch at Chinese restaurant. When he mentioned taking a taxi to fetch the order, I offered to drive him. Somewhere south of his apartment we pulled up to the restaurant. Out front was a large dumpster loaded with junk. As we got out of the car I noticed a framed something-or-other peeking out from the mountain of rubble. We managed to wrestle the framed piece away from the debris without much difficulty.

I fell in love with the framed ships immediately: the image of the the cityscape and ships, as well as the funky old grey not-very-together wood frame, and the very official looking plaque.

I wish I could remember what Ed had to say about the framed ships and my wanting to hold onto them. Perhaps he admired the effort of whoever went big on the production. Ed himself, as is very well known, is no stranger to bravura efforts on paper.

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Edward Sorel’s A-Z Entry:

Edward Sorel (self-portrait from a strip appearing in The Nation following the death of Marlene Dietrich. Drawing used by permission of Mr. Sorel). Born 1929. New Yorker work: 1990 – . All of Mr. Sorel’s books are of great interest; Unauthorized Portraits (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) is particularly essential. Website: edwardsorel.net