The NYTs On Barbara Shermund: “Overlooked No More”
Hurray for Barbara Shermund! The paper of record has finally got around to noting her life and work.
The first Barbara Shermund obit — at least as far as I’ve been able to discover — was the notice, above left, published September 9, 1978. I found it online years ago in a New Jersey local newspaper. The Spill’s 2009 obit for Ms. Shermund, “another notice, a little late, and a little longer” appears below.
Revisiting Barbara Shermund (posted 2009)
Barbara Shermund, who died in early September, 1978, had the misfortune of passing away during a newspaper strike that affected the paper of record, The New York Times. An extensive search has turned up just one obituary for her, a four sentence notice that ran in a newspaper covering the New Jersey coastal town where she lived for a number of years toward the end of her life.
For someone who contributed hundreds of cartoons and eight covers to The New Yorker Magazine, then went on to become a mainstay at Esquire, four sentences seems a bit slight. Here then is another notice, a little late, and a little longer.
Born in San Francisco in 1899 to artistic parents (her father was an architect), Ms. Shermund studied at The California School of Fine Arts before heading east, at the age of twenty-six, to New York. She told Colliers that her initial visit east became permanent “after she had eaten up her return fare.” In June of that very year, she made her debut at the four month old New Yorker with a cover of a young woman sporting a hip hairdo, eyes closed, resting her arm over a railing, against a black sky peppered with stars. In a year’s time her cartoons, many if not most of which were written by her, were appearing in nearly every issue of the magazine.
Her style had a sway to it that fit the times. Her subjects, executed in pen and ink and wash, were often hip young women, just a bit jaded – the sort that famously inhabited F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise. She once offered up this brief glimpse into her private life, saying she liked “fancy dancing and dogs.”
Liza Donnelly, author of Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Greatest Women Cartoonists and their Cartoons, had this to say about Ms. Shermund:
“Barbara Shermund was one of the more prolific cartoonists of the early New Yorker. Her breezy drawing style and humor reflected the new attitudes of urban women in the twenties and thirties, and she can be considered one of the early feminist cartoonists. The New Yorker sought to appeal to both men and women with its humor, and Shermund, along with other women cartoonists of the magazine, were ground breakers in that regard, creating cartoons from a woman’s perspective that could be enjoyed by all. Her cartoons were irreverent, sassy, and a true reflection of her times.”
Shermund traveled widely – Donnelly wrote of her that “she was something of a wanderer, living with friends in the city and the upstate town of Woodstock [NY], never really having a set address.” Eventually she settled down in Sea Bright, New Jersey, a barrier beach town, just about an hour’s drive from New York.
The last of her five hundred and ninety-seven drawings in The New Yorker appeared September 16, 1944; her last cover appeared August 5, 1944. Although her relationship with The New Yorker fizzled in the mid 1940s, she participated in an Irving Penn group photo of eighteen New Yorker cartoonists ( it ran in the August 1947 issue of Vogue). Ms. Shermund, dressed in dark clothing and wearing a great wide brimmed hat, stares directly at the camera. Sitting directly in front of her is George Price, and Steinberg; overhead, reclining on a platform is Charles Addams. Off to Ms. Shermund’s right is Helen Hokinson, looking just a little apprehensive.
The discs accompanying The Complete New Yorker allow one to see all of Barbara Shermund’s work in their natural habitat. Nine of her drawings appear in the The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, and of course all of her work can be seen on the discs accompanying the book.
The Spill’s A-Z Barbara Shermund entry
Barbara Shermund (self portrait) Born, San Francisco. 1899. Studied at The California School of Fine Arts. Died, 1978, New Jersey. New Yorker work: June 13, 1925 thru September 16, 1944. 8 covers and 599 cartoons. Shermund’s post-New Yorker work was featured in Esquire. (See Liza Donnelly’s book, Very Funny Ladies — a history of The New Yorker’s women cartoonists — for more on Shermund’s life and work)
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Ward Sutton’s “Adams Family”
Ward Sutton, who began contributing to The New Yorker in 2007, posted his Addams Family-esque cover for City & State NY.
Ward Sutton’s A-Z Spill entry:
Ward Sutton (Photo by Liza Donnelly) Born, Edina, Minnesota. New Yorker work: October 22, 2007 – .Website: suttonimpactstudio.com
Charles Addams’s A-Z Spill entry:
Charles Addams (Born in Westfield, New Jersey, January 7, 1912. Died September 29, 1988, New York City. New Yorker work: 1932 – 1988 * the New Yorker has published his work posthumously. One of the giants of The New Yorker’s stable of artists. Key cartoon collections: While all of Addams’ collections are worthwhile, here are three that are particular favorites; Homebodies (Simon & Schuster, 1954), The Groaning Board (Simon & Schuster, 1964), Creature Comforts (Simon & Schuster, 1981). In 1991 Knopf published The World of Chas Addams, a retrospective collection.
A biography, Charles Addams: A Cartoonist’s Life, by Linda Davis, was published in 2006 by Random House (a new edition was published by Turner in 2021). Visit the Addams Foundation website for far more information : charlesaddams.com
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Peter Kuper Is Herblock Prize Finalist
Peter Kuper, who began contributing to The New Yorker in 2011 is the 2022 Herblock Prize Finalist. The top prize went to Lalo Alcaraz.
Visit Mr. Kuper’s website here.
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Book Review Of Interest: Hilary Campbell’s Murder Book
From The Guardian, March 5, 2022, “Daffy drawings and jokes about serial killers? Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell makes the macabre seem merry in this shocking true-crime memoir”
Ms. Campbell began contributing to The New Yorker in 2017. Visit her website here.
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Booth Discussed
An online panel, via Ben Katchor’s New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium, recorded February 15, 2022, discusses George Booth’s work, and the recent Booth documentary film. Cartoonists on the panel (besides Mr. Katchor): Brendan Loper and Seth Fleishman.
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The Tilley Watch Online: The Week OF February 28 – March 4, 2022
An end of the week listing of work by New Yorker artists who have contributed to newyorker.com features
The Daily Cartoon: Avi Steinberg (twice), Colin Tom, Jeremy Nguyen, Tom Toro.
Daily Shouts: J.A.K. (with Luke McGarry).
…and Barry Blitt’s Kvetchbook:“Volodymyr Vs. Vlad.”
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Didn’t Know About This Til It Was Over, But…
…as you can see, Ms. Allenby will be back at it next Friday at 9am (EST).
Kendra Allenby began contributing to The New Yorker in 2016. Visit her website here.