This is a tale of one-thing-leads-to-another.
A few weeks ago I posted a link to Mike Lynch’s blog about an article, “Those Cartoonists!” provided to Mike by Dick Buchanan.The article was written by Charlie Rice. Mr. Rice wore many hats over his 60 years, including author (he collaborated with W.C. Fields on Fields For President), and columnist (“Charlie Rice’s Punchbowl”). He also spent 33 years at This Week Magazine. For part of those 33 years he served as the magazine’s cartoon editor.
After running across the “Those Cartoonists!” post, Bryan Durr, contacted the Spill to say he had a collection of cartoons he had inherited from his step-grandfather, Charlie Rice.
Mr. Durr has generously allowed a number of the pieces — all from artists in This Week’s cartoonist stable — to be shown here. As you can see this is no ordinary collection of work; the cartoonists here went the extra mile. My favorite drawing is the one leading off the post: Mischa Richter, one of The New Yorker‘s grand masters picturing himself as Eustace Tilley (Mr. Richter contributed over 1,500 drawings to The New Yorker).
The runner-up for Spill favorite is the “Chuck Saxon” sickly green cartoonist drawing. Mr. Saxon, like Mr. Richter, is in the Spill’s New Yorker cartoonist Hall Of Fame (he contributed 916 cartoons to The New Yorker, and 93 covers).
The great Syd Hoff gave Mr. Rice a (Hoff) self portrait.
The biggest surprise, graphically, is this Virgil Partch drawing, looking style-wise, nothing like VIP’s patented style.
And finally, this beauty — a self portrait — from Gardner Rea. I’ve seen one or two of Mr. Rea’s self portraits before, but never one using color. Truly an elegant drawing.
Here’s Charlie Rice in his This Week office. You can see the Charles Saxon drawing on the wall over his shoulder.
— I’m so grateful to Bryan Durr for sharing these fabulous drawings.
__________________________________________________________________________
My thanks, once again, to Dick Buchanan for starting the ball rolling, and Mike Lynch for moving the ball along.
Here are Spill A-Z entries for the artists shown above:
.jpg)
Mischa Richter (photo above courtesy of Sarah Geraghty Herndon). Born, Kharkov, Russia, 1910. Died, March 23, 2001. New Yorker work: January 10, 1942 – January 20, 2003 ; Key books: This One’s On Me! (McGraw-Hill, 1945) , The Cartoonist’s Muse, co-authored by Harald Bakken (Contemporary Books, 1992).
Charles Saxon (self portrait from Best Cartoons of the Year 1947) Born in Brooklyn, Nov 13, 1920, died in Stamford, Conn., Dec 6, 1988. New Yorker work: 1943 – 1991 (2 drawings published posthumously). Key collection: One Man’s Fancy ( Dodd, Mead, 1977). One of the giants of the New Yorker’s stable of artists. He could do it all: covers, spreads, single panels.
Syd Hoff ( Photo source: Esquire Cartoon album, 1957) Born 1912, New York City, died May 12, 2004, Miami Beach, Florida. New Yorker work: 1931 – 1975. Website: sydhoff.org/
Virgil Partch ( VIP) (pictured) Born, St. Paul Island, Alaska, 1917; died in a car crash on Interstate 5, north of Los Angeles. California, August 1984. New Yorker work: six drawings, beginning in November 21, 1942. His last appeared May 3, 1976.
Gardner Rea (self portrait above from Collier’s Collects Its Wits. Photo from Rea’s NYTs obit, 1966.) Born, Ironton, Ohio 1892. Died, 1966. Collections: The Gentleman Says It’s Pixies / Collier’s Cartoons by Gardner Rea (Robert McBride & Co. 1944), Gardner Rea’s Sideshow (Robert McBride & Co, 1945). New Yorker work: 1st issue (February 21, 1925) – 1965.
And A Little More Rice:
W.C. Fields Fields For President, (Dodd, Mead & Co.,1940), co-written by Charlie Rice (uncredited), illustrated by Otto Soglow.
This Week Magazine also issued this album:
The liner notes, by Leslie Lieber, includes the following:
