New Yorker Cartoonists, 40 Years or More

When people I meet find out I’m a New Yorker cartoonist, one of the questions they ask is: “How long have you been with the magazine?” My answer (41 years and counting) usually causes them to look at me a bit confused. Working at a job that long must seem unusual. But the thing of it is, this particular pursuit has a long list of folks who have contributed as long, and much much longer. The way the magazine historically wrapped its arms around contributors, providing them (in a way) with a home, resulted in careers that lasted well beyond what we today might consider long careers. Some of the cartoonists below would’ve gone on contributing longer if life events hadn’t intruded (Charles Addams for example was still actively contributing when a heart attack felled him. Helen Hokinson’s career was in full swing when she died in a plane crash.  Some cartoonists retired, though that’s rare. A few others walked away from the magazine for various reasons).

All of the below cartoonists began under either Harold Ross’s editorship (1925-1951) or William Shawn’s (1952-1987).  And all began either from 1925- 1939, when the art fell under the care of the Fiction Department (and also under the watchful eye of art supervisor, Rea Irvin), or from 1939-1973 under James Geraghty’s art editorship or Lee Lorenz’s art/cartoon editorship (1973-1997). As Lee Lorenz’s cartoon editorship ended in 1997, the cartoonists arriving post-Lorenz that are still contributing are only in their second decade.

For today, I’ve decided to concentrate on those who actively contributed 40 years or more (and in some cases are continuing to contribute).  We’ll get to the 30 and 20 year crowd another time.

My guess is that many of these cartoonists names and their art will be familiar to New Yorker readers.  If the name isn’t familiar, their art is.  It’s fun to have an anthology nearby to look up the work. Every one of the below is included in the New Yorker 75th Anniversary Collection. Corrections, additions always welcome.

William Steig: 68 yrs… contributed from 1935-2003.

Chon Day: 67 yrs…1931-1998

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: 65 yrs…1933-1998

Al Ross: 65 yrs… 1937-2002

Mischa Richter: 61 yrs…1942-2003

George Price: 59 yrs …1932-1991

Barney Tobey: 57 yrs… 1929- 1986

Saul Steinberg: 58 yrs… 1941-1999

Charles Addams: 55 yrs… 1933-1988

Edward Koren: 56 yrs and counting / 1962–present

Dana Fradon: 55 yrs…1948-2003

Lee Lorenz: 55 yrs…1958-2013

Mort Gerberg:  53 yrs and counting / 1965–present

Sam Gross: 49 yrs and counting / 1969-present

Garrett Price: 49 yrs… 1929-1974

Otto Soglow: 49 yrs… 1925-1974

George Booth: 49 yrs and counting / 1969- present

Alan Dunn: 48 yrs…1926-1974

Perry Barlow: 48 yrs…1926-1974

William Hamilton: 48 yrs…1965-2013

James Stevenson: 47 yrs…1956-2003

J.B. “Bud” Handelsman: 46 yrs…1961-2007

Carl Rose: 46 yrs…1925-1971

Robert Day: 45 yrs…1931-1976

Ed Fisher: 45 yrs…1955-2000

Joseph Farris… 45 yrs…1956 -2002

Robert Weber…45 yrs…1962–2007

Charles Barsotti…45 yrs…1969-2014

Warren Miller…44 yrs…1959-2003

Jack Ziegler: 43 yrs …1974-2017

Charles Saxon: 43 yrs…1948-1991

Peter Arno: 43 yrs…1925-1968

Gahan Wilson: 42 yrs and counting / 1976 -present

 

Michael Maslin: 41 yrs and counting / 1977-present

Robert Mankoff 41 yrs and counting / 1977-present

Gardner Rea: 40 yrs…1925-1965

Tom Cheney: 40 yrs and counting / 1978-present

Roz Chast 40 yrs and counting / 1978-present