First & Last: Donald Reilly
Another in a series of Spill posts looking at an artist’s very first and the very last New Yorker drawing.
Here’s Mr. Reilly’s A-Z entry:
Donald Reilly ( Pictured in the mid 1980s. Photograph by Liza Donnelly) Born, Scranton, Pa. November 11, 1933; died, Wilton, Ct., June 18, 2006. Graduated from Muhlenberg College in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in English; received a certificate in fine arts from Cooper Union in 1963. New Yorker work: 1964 -2006; 1,107 cartoons and 16 covers. Rumored to have been on the shortlist in consideration to succeed James Geraghty as The New Yorker’s Art Editor (Lee Lorenz, in his book The Art of The New Yorker 1925 -1995, said Reilly was “Geraghty’s choice” to succeed him). William Shawn eventually appointed Lee Lorenz to the position in 1973.
Mr. Reilly’s very first New Yorker cartoon appeared in the issue of March 21, 1964:
And his last, in the issue of September 1, 2003:
It’s a real treat to look through his work on the magazine’s Cartoon Bank site. You’ll find his active pen and brush remained throughout his forty-two years and thousand plus cartoons (and… 16 covers).