Weekend Spill: Helen Hokinson Inducted Into Society Of Illustrators Hall Of Fame

 

Helen Hokinson, one of The New Yorker‘s earliest and greatest artists, was inducted into The Society of Illustrators  Hall of Fame last night in a ceremony at the organization’s home in Manhattan. Ms. Hokinson’s award was accepted by New Yorker cartoonist, Liza Donnelly, who delivered the remarks (shown below).

Here’s a fun photo (by Ms. Donnelly) from the evening: left to right, Steven Guarnaccia, Paula Scher, Edward Sorel, Seymour Chwast, and Steven Heller.

The other Hall of Fame inductees last night were Richard Amsel, Anna Whelan Betts, Reynold Brown, the aforementioned Seymour Chwast, Wendall Minor, and Barron Storey (Mr. Story’s award was accepted by The New Yorker cartoonist, Peter Kuper). 

Liza Donnelly’s Remarks Upon Accepting Helen Hokinson’s Hall Of Fame Award

I am deeply honored to accept this award for Helen Hokinson. After spending decades studying and writing about her, I am deeply grateful to be here. What little I know of her as a person, I imagine she would be overwhelmed and self-effacing about this, yet grateful to be acknowledged by her peers.

Helen was a wonderful artist. You’ve read about her so I don’t need to add much except perhaps some personal reflections.

Like so many of her colleagues, Helen was classically trained. She drew beautifully,  with great skill and artistry. To me, what made her so different is this: her line organically had humor in it. She helped us see people, yet she infused her line with her point of view.  She gave us a feeling of humor through her pen.

Helen shared her ideas in her choices of what she drew. She had observational skills that set her apart.  She loved to wander around New York City drawing people, and many of those became cartoons, or full-spread series in The New Yorker. 

She helped us see ourselves in others. I wonder if she knew how groundbreaking she was, being one of a few women working as a cartoonist at the fledgling humor magazine.  Helen was from a small town outside of Chicago (Mendota: I spent a few days there on my book tour, and  was welcomed with open arms. They are so proud of her). In the early 1920’s, she bravely made her way to NYC as a young woman during a time when that was not easily done.

What is it about some people, they have a vision for themselves, a desire to do something and won’t take no for an answer! And when I say “no” I mean society was telling her not to do this.   Women aren’t funny, they said!

She was one of those people. She was a determined young woman, and very very funny.

These are the people who help bring change, one by one. By creating a career for herself and sharing her beautiful work, she emboldened other women I’m sure, and she emboldened me. She drew what it was like to be a woman in New York City in the 1920’s and 30’s, providing a window for us into that world.  Humor can show us a reality in nuanced ways.

How difficult was it for her?  What kind of internal struggles did she daily manage? Editor Harold Ross was her champion, that was extremely important and worth noting. The letters between them are caring and teasing, primarily Helen teasing Ross. When she discovered that Peter Arno was being paid more per cartoon than she was, she complained and Ross  fixed the problem. 

But I can only imagine the cultural pressure to conform, to not stay true to yourself.

If you look closely at her later work, you can perhaps see those pressures as she tried to adapt to post-war America.  Her early work at The New Yorker reflected different aspects of life, but later, her drawings and covers primarily showcased the matronly, heavy set middle aged ladies. Helen is quoted that she adored those characters, saying, “I love my ladies- I wouldn’t do anything they wouldn’t do.”  Those ladies showed resilience, curiosity, and a lack of fear.

With the shifting of the culture, Helen began to think that her audience was laughing AT her ladies and not WITH  them. In 1949 she decided to go on a speaking tour to explain these characters to her audience. On the first leg of that tour, she was killed in a plane crash. I often wonder if she had lived, how  would she have navigated the new world of the 1950’s  in her drawings?  What would she show us about women’s lives?  How would she have helped us laugh?

I am extremely grateful that Helen pushed through to become the success that she did. It’s a tragedy that she died so young; but she left her mark: a body of wonderful work. Helen used her pen line to show us women’s lives and to make us laugh.

It’s so wonderful that the society is honoring her tonight, thank you for letting me be a part of it.

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Helen Hokinson’s A-Z Spill entry:

Helen Hokinson Born, Illinois,1893; died, Washington, D.C., 1949. New Yorker work: 1925 -1949, with some work published posthumously. All of Hokinson’s collections are wonderful, but here are two favorites. Her first collection: So You’re Going To Buy A Book! (Minton, Balch & Co, 1931) and what was billed as “the final Hokinson collection”: The Hokinson Festival (Dutton & Co., 1956). According to a New Yorker document produced during Harold Ross’s editorship (1925-1951) rating their artists, Ms. Hokinson and Peter Arno occupied a special category unto themselves above all others.