The Monday Tilley Watch Takes A Glancing Look At The Art & Artists Of The Latest Issue Of The New Yorker
The Cover: chess
The Cartoonists and Cartoons:
Twelve cartoons, thirteen cartoonists (Liana Finck has a Sketchbook). One duo, that we know of. One newbie: Marie Pax, who is the 11th addition to the cartoon stadium this year, and the 157th cartoonist brought in since Emma Allen took the cartoon editor’s reins in May of 2027.
Nice to see a Sam Gross cartoon in the issue (Mr. Gross passed away in May of 2023). The longest active cartoonist in the issue is this cartoonist.
The Caption Contest Cartoonists: Christopher Weyant, Felipe Galindo, Kaamran Hafeez.
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch:
Back a long long time ago, in 2017, the above perfect Talk design by Rea Irvin was benched in favor of — if you can believe it — a redrawn version. The Spill continues to believe that one day the real deal will be returned. More reading here.
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.
[Correction: The Spill mistakenly listed Tristan Crocker as a newbie in the current issue. Tristan’s first appearance was in the June 27, 2022 issue. My apologies.]