The countdown continues to the 100th anniversary issue of The New Yorker. By this time next month we’ll see what we will see.
Will the issue be added to the classic group shown here (I photographed these in 2008 when the Rea Irvin anniversary issue more often than not featured Mr. Irvin’s Eustace Tilley cover):
Or…will the 100th anniversary issue cover join the below group of anniversary covers (I photographed them this morning). For the most part they were Tilley take-offs; in one case: the cover of February 20, 1995, the decision was made to gild Rea Irvin’s lily. In most case’s though, the artists bounced off of Mr. Irvin’s iconic creation. In a few cases Eustace was completely disregarded.
Further Reading: something I wrote for the magazine way way back in 2008: “Tilley Over Time”
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The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker
The Cartoonists & Cartoons:
Eighteen cartoons, nineteen cartoonists (Barry Blitt has the cover). No newbies. Two duos, that we know of. The longest active cartoonist in the issue is Roz Chast, whose first New Yorker drawing appeared in July of 1978.
The Cartoon Caption Contest Cartoonist: Mort Gerberg
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch:
In May of 2017 the above perfect Talk design by the late great Rea Irvin was escorted off the stage and replaced by a redrawn version by a contemporary illustrator. I’d hoped that the redraw would disappear in quick-time, and that Mr. Irvin’s work would return. Eight years later, no such luck (yet).
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.