The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker
The Cover: friezes?
The Cartoonists And Cartoons:
Sixteen cartoons, sixteen cartoonists. One duo, that we know of (the Spill counts duos as one cartoonist), and one newbie: Ben Chase. Mr. Chase is the 17th addition to the New Yorker‘s cartoonist arena this year, and the 143rd addition under Emma Allen, who took the cartoon editorship reins in May of 2017. The longest active contributing cartoonist in the issue is this cartoonist.
The Cartoon Caption Contest Cartoonists: Adam Sacks, Sofia Warren, Paul Noth.
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch:
The above piece of graphic perfection by Rea Irvin was shooed out of The New Yorker in the Spring of 2017 after 92 years, and replaced — gasp! — by a redraw. The Spill continues to hope Mr. Irvin’s work someday returns.
Rea Irvin’s A-Z Entry:
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. Number of New Yorker covers (not including the repeat appearances of the first cover every anniversary up to 1991): 163. Number of cartoons contributed: 261.