January 8th of any year can’t pass by around these parts without raising a glass to toast Peter Arno, born in New York City, 113 years ago today.
Visitors to this site are likely quite aware of Arno’s work and what it meant to the struggling New Yorker in its first year of publication. Today I offer up another toast: this one’s to Arno for winning what might appear to some as a small victory, but to cartoonists themselves is a victory quite meaningful.
During the later years of Harold Ross’s editorship (Ross is the fellow who created The New Yorker and was its first editor) Arno became incensed that some of his cartoon captions were being edited and published without his approval. He created a document that would ensure the magazine would agree to pay a fine if such editing occurred without his approval. I believe this brought about an awareness and a policy that exists to this day at the New Yorker. Arno’s document is a thing of the past, but the magazine will not add or subtract so much as a comma in a cartoon caption without first running their suggestion by the artist for approval. It is a policy that symbolizes editorial respect for the magazine’s artists and their work.
My glass is raised to Arno for that and for so much more!
Above: Arno in the 1950s
If you want to read more about Arno may I suggest you check out his biography.