The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker
The Cover: kitty cat
The Cartoonists And Cartoons:
Seventeen cartoons, eighteen cartoonists (Roz Chast has a “Sketchbook”) in this themed “Innovation & Tech” issue. Two duos, that we know of (the Spill counts duos as one cartoonist). One newbie: Sarah Morrissette, who is the sixth addition to the magazine’s cartoon stadium this year, and the one hundred and fifty-first addition since Emma Allen took the cartoon editor’s reins in 2017. The longest active cartoonist contributor in this issue is Roz Chast, whose first New Yorker cartoon appeared in July of 1978.
Good to see a drawing by the late Jack Ziegler (Mr. Ziegler passed away in 2017).
The Caption Contest Cartoonists: Benjamin Schwartz, P.C. Vey, Lars Kenseth.
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch:
The above perfect design by Rea Irvin ran for 92 years before being yanked and replaced by — gasp! — a redrawn version. The Spill clings to a slender thread of hope that Mr. Irvin’s work will return. 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. 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.