Back To Birnbaum
Nearly five years ago — April 9, 2016 to be exact — I posted “New Yorker Artist, Abe Birnbaum, Nothing’s Ugly. Everything Is What It Is” and I showed a scan of Philip Hamburger’s first book, The Oblong Blur with an Abe Birnbaum cover. I loved that cover at first sight, and always had it on my mind to get hold of a copy if one turned up for a reasonable price. Well, one did, and now for the price of a few cups of coffee and a danish, it’s in the Spill library. The cover’s great, and perhaps needless to say — but I’m saying it anyway — so is Mr. Hamburger’s writing within.
The arrival of The Oblong Blur inspired me to look through Birnbaum’s covers this chilly morning using The Complete Book Of Covers From The New Yorker. From Birnbaum’s first cover, May 20, 1944, through his last, May 27, 1974, I had the feeling he was switching from magnifying glass to telescope as he imagined and created his subjects. When we think of a large scene inhabited by a single tiny figure we probably think of J. J. Sempe, but Birnbaum was there first on the cover of The New Yorker (Sempe’s first cover appeared in 1978, four years past the last of Birnbaum’s). An example: the cover mostly taken up by a theater curtain, published November 6, 1954.
Whether it’s an extreme close up, or an aerial view, the work soars. There is, I think, a kind of graphic chutzpah placing a small lone figure on a field of green (the cover of August 6, 1966), or looking down from a skyscraper on ant-like humans below (Dec. 12, 1959); and then there’s the opposite: the extreme close-up such as the life guard’s umbrella (September 5, 1953); the witch’s hat (October. 27, 1962) or a ball balanced by a seal (April 12, 1958).
But there’s more: Birnbaum also captured fast-forward movement, such as the horses and jockeys (April 22, 1961) or the skater on the cover of January 30, 1954.
Finally, there are a number of covers that work beautifully and fully with just a few strokes of Birnbaum’s brush, such as his Lincoln (February 9, 1963).
I’ve just shown a smidgen of Birnbaum’s 141 New Yorker covers. I do hope you have access to the magazine’s digital archives, or can get hold of the aforementioned book of covers to take a look at more. You won’t be disappointed.
Abe Birnbaum’s A-Z entry:
Abe Birnbaum Born, New York City, 1899. Died June 19, 1966, New York City. New Yorker work: 1929 -1974. Mr. Birnbaum began at the New Yorker as a cartoonist, contributing a handful before switching to cover work, of which he produced 141. He also provided spot drawings and illustrations. According to Mr. Birnbaum’s New York Times obit, his work was exhibited at The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Carnegie Institute.
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…Peter Kuper‘s classic drawing, “Five Stages Of Trump White House Employment” is mentioned in this article from Esquire, posted February 10, 2021. Jack Holmes, the author of the piece, call’s Kuper’s drawing, “One of the great early observations of the Trump phenomenon…”
…Valentine’s Day Stuff:
…From the Spill’s archives, February 14, 2018:
“My Favorite (Funny) Valentine”
On this day, besides thinking of the song, “My Funny Valentine”(the Elvis Costello version), I always think of this great Charles Addams New Yorker cover that appeared February 16, 1981 — it was also used as the cover for his 1981 collection, Creature Comforts. It just might be my all-time favorite Addams cover (magazine & book).
… And finally: here’s an ancient rejected New Yorker cover idea of mine I drag out every Valentine’s Day.
