No Joke: Rea Irvin’s April 1947 Cover

The cover above has always been a favorite. The first time I came across it I thought I’d stumbled upon a printing error. But no, it’s yet another gift from Rea Irvin, cover artist, designer (as in his designs for the magazine’s masthead, as well as his adapted development of the typeface), cartoonist, “art supervisor” (his unofficial or official designation

Read more

81 Years Ago in The New Yorker

Just for the heck of it, I’ve taken a bound volume of The New Yorker off the shelf, and opened it up to the issue dated May 23, 1936. The cover is  by Perry Barlow. The cover’s colors are supplied by Mr. Barlow’s wife, Dorothy Hope, as Mr. Barlow was partly color-blind.  The festive cover moment doesn’t hint at all

Read more

Website of Interest: Alain (Daniel Brustlein)

  I’ve just come across this really nice website for the New Yorker cartoonist Alain. Great photos, scans of his work, and a timeline. His Ink Spill New Yorker Cartoonists A-Z entry: Daniel Alain Born Daniel Brustlein in Alsatian town of Mulhouse, 1904. Died in Paris, July 14, 1996. NYer work: 1931 -1965. Key collection: Alain’s Steeplechase ( Simon &

Read more