New Yorker Cover Artist, Michael Roberts: 1948-2023
Michael Roberts, who died this past Monday, was brought into The New Yorker during the Tina Brown era as the magazine’s fashion director. He eventually contributed 23 covers to the magazine. Below are several pieces of interest about Mr. Roberts’s life and career.
From The New Yorker, April 4, 2023: “Michael Roberts’s Joyous Collage Of A Life” (by Susan Morrison)
From The New York Times, April 5, 2023: “Why Michael Roberts Mattered” (by Dana Thomas).
From Vogue, April 3, 2023: “Michael Roberts, Fashion Editor and Renaissance Man, Has Died At 75” (by Liam Hess).
Below: Mr. Roberts’s 2005 collection…
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“What Is The New Yorker?”
Of the many New Yorker advertising booklets (and books) I’ve seen, “What Is The New Yorker?” is the only one entirely comprised of Steinberg drawings. The booklet is both slight and compelling (“compelling” because each page features a Steinberg drawing — almost like what you’d find at a small gallery showing). The Ebay seller offering the booklet provides the size (11″ x 15 1/4″), but does not indicate the number of pages nor a date (although I believe I can see 1961 as the most recent date along the bottom of one page:
Here’s the cover:
The magazine’s business department both asks the question, “What Is The New Yorker?” and answers the question:
(As wonderful as this booklet is, this particular copy will not find a home in the Spill’s archives as it’s a bit pricey). It becomes yet another addition to the Spill’s “Want List”)
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Saul Steinberg’s A-Z Spill entry:
Saul Steinberg Born, June 15, 1914, Ramnic-Sarat, Rumania. Died in 1999. New Yorker work: 1941 – (The New Yorker publishes his work posthumously). Steinberg is one of the giants of The New Yorker. Go here to visit the saulsteinbergfoundation where you’ll find much essential information and examples of his work.