Now That’s A Cover!
This is the first in what will be sporadic postings of New Yorker covers, cartoons, spots, or illustrations that jump out at me and make a deep impression. First up is this fantastic cover by the great Perry Barlow. I’ll try to stay away from “classics” many of us are familiar with and stick to art that’s likely lost to time. This particular cover has always been a favorite. Won’t someone please publish a collection of his work!
In answer to a Spill reader’s question: The cover is most definitely tied-in to an event. Here’s a snippet from the issue’s Goings On About Town listings:
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Perry Barlow’s A-Z Entry:
Perry Barlow ( photo above from barlowgeneology.com) Born 1892, McKinney, Texas. Died, Westport, Connecticut, December 26,1977. New Yorker work: 1926 -1974, with 1,574 drawings and 135 covers. According to Barlow’s obit in The New York Times (Dec. 27, 1977) William Shawn called him “one of the gentlest and most humane of all comic artists…he was also one of our three or four most prolific people.” In the same piece, James Geraghty (The New Yorker’s Art editor from 1939 thru 1973) said “he often tried to interest Mr. Barlow in publishing a book of his drawings ‘but he was halfhearted about it.’” Mr. Barlow’s wife, Dorothy Hope Smith, played a role in his work: she colored-in his covers because her husband was partly color blind.