The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker
The Cartoonists and Cartoons
Fourteen cartoons, fifteen cartoonists (Harry Bliss has the cover). The longest active contributing cartoonist in the issue is Roz Chast, whose first drawing appeared in the issue of July 3, 1978.
See the cartoons here (in a slide show).
The Cartoon Caption Contest (this week’s drawing was supplied by Dan Misdea).
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch
There’s been no trace in The New Yorker of the above perfect Rea Irvin Talk design since the issue of May 22, 2017. It disappeared after serving spectacularly for 92 years. Installed in its place — no joke!: a redrawn version by a contemporary illustrator. That redraw was itself reworked for the magazine’s centenary. The Spill continues to hope Mr. Irvin’s work returns. Read more here.
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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): 179. Number of cartoons contributed: 261.
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Note: With this issue of The New Yorker, the single copy price has been increased by a buck to $10.99.
The debut issue price:
The 2026 price:
