Tuesday Spill: First & Last…Constantin Alajalov

 

 

Another in a series of looking at the very first and very last New Yorker contributions by its artists.

Although he began his thirty-four year New Yorker career as a cartoonist, Constantin Alajalov soon turned to contributing covers. One hundred and seventy of them to be exact. His cartoon contributions numbered forty-three. I’m not quite sure about this, but other than Mary Petty, I don’t recall another New Yorker artist turning solely to contributing covers for a good portion of their run (in Alajalov’s case, a third of his career).

His last cartoon appeared in the issue of January 22, 1949. All of his contributions following were covers (the last was September 24, 1960).

Here’s his first New Yorker appearance, in the issue of July 10, 1926 (you’ll note he was using “Aladjalov” at the time):

 

Here’s his last New Yorker cartoon, from the issue of January 22, 1949:

And here is his first New Yorker cover, and his last:

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Alajalov’s Spill A-Z:

Constantin Alajalov Born Constantin Aladjalov, 1900, Rostov-on-the-Don, Russia. Died Oct., 1987, Amenia, New York. New Yorker work: 1926 -1960. Perhaps best known for his New Yorker covers ( he also supplied cover art to other publications). Key collection: Conversation Pieces (The Studio Publications Inc., 1942) w/ commentary by Janet Flanner. A profile from The Saturday Evening Post