The Monday Tilley Watch Takes A Glancing Look At The Art & Artists Of The Latest Issue Of The New Yorker
The Cover: At first I thought Bruce McCall had provided us with an Olympics cover as it features hockey players… however, the hockey players are boxing, and boxing is a summer Olympics sport. Mr. McCall explains on newyorker.com here.
The Cartoonists:
Seventeen cartoons, nineteen cartoonists (Ellis Rosen has a Sketchpad, “How to Stay Optimistic”; Millie Von Platen has an illustration). One duo that we know of: Sophie Lucido Johnson and Sammi Skolmoski (the Spill counts duos as one cartoonist). One newbie: Guy Richards Smit, who becomes the 5th new addition to The New Yorker‘s cartoonist stable this year, and the 105th newbie under Emma Allen, the magazine’s cartoon editor since May of 2017. The longest active contributor in the issue is this cartoonist.
The Cartoons:
Humpty Dumpty, death, alcohol, religion, football, and so much more.
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch:
A big opportunity is upon us this month as the magazine is about to celebrate its 97th birthday. It would be the perfect time to bring back Rea Irvin’s iconic design (shown above) for The Talk Of The Town. You might recall it was 86ed in 2017 and replaced, if you can believe it, by a redraw. Read more here.
Rea Irvin (pictured above. Self portrait above from Meet the Artist) *Born, San Francisco, 1881; died in the Virgin Islands,1972. Irvin was the cover artist for the New Yorker’s first issue, February 21, 1925. He was the magazine’s first art and only art supervisor (some refer to him as its first art editor) holding the position from 1925 until 1939 when James Geraghty assumed the title of art editor. Irvin then became art director and remained in that position until William Shawn officially succeeded Harold Ross in early 1952. Irvin’s last original work for the magazine was the magazine’s cover of July 12, 1958. The February 21, 1925 Eustace Tilley cover had been reproduced every year on the magazine’s anniversary until 1994, when R. Crumb’s Tilley-inspired cover appeared. Tilley has since reappeared, with other artists substituting from time-to-time.