First & Last…Mary Petty
A series of quick looks at an artist’s very first New Yorker cartoon and their last
Though Mary Petty’s celebrated New Yorker career lasted nearly forty years, the number of cartoons she contributed was relatively low: 219 (she also contributed 38 covers, many of them among the best covers the magazine has ever published).
I have to think that the complexity of her work, and the great care she took in finishing a drawing had something to do with that. Here’s James Thurber in his Preface to Ms. Petty’s only collection (This Petty Pace) telling us about her work habits:
“She never studied art, but taught herself, with the same slow patience and great care with which she makes each of her drawings, sitting in what she insists is a dark corner, surrounded by a ring of eraser crumbs. It takes her three weeks to finish a drawing, and at the end of that time she protests that she hates the drawing and herself. Everybody else, of course, loves it and her.”
Below: Ms. Petty’s very first New Yorker drawing published October 22, 1927. Below that is her last New Yorker drawing published January 1, 1955. Although her cartoons no longer appeared after that, she went on to contribute a dozen covers, with the last appearing March 19, 1966.
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Mary Petty’s A-Z Entry:
Mary Petty Born, Hampton, New Jersey, April 29, 1899. Died, Paramus, New Jersey, March, 1976. NYer work: October 22,1927 – March 19,1966. Collection: This Petty Place (Knopf, 1945) with a Preface by James Thurber.
Syracuse University holds the Alan Dunn and Mary Petty Papers.(Ms. Petty and Mr. Dunn were the very first married New Yorker cartoonist couple).
In 1983, the University held an exhibit of Ms. Petty’s work. This catalog accompanied the exhibit.
