'The New Yorker' celebrates 70 years of the smart life
The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995 By Lee Lorenz Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. New York, 1995 208 Pages
JAKARTA (JP): Surely everybody interested in the arts is familiar with the weekly magazine The New Yorker. This distinguished magazine is famous for its varied literary fare and humor. Its initial focus was on New York City's amusements and social and cultural life, but gradually the magazine acquired a broader scope encompassing literature, current affairs and many other topics.
The New Yorker is well-known for its short stories, essays, foreign reporting and probing biographies. It is also well-known for its comics and detailed reviews of films, books, theater and other arts. Great contemporary writers have been contributors to The New Yorker including S.J. Perelman, Robert Benchley, Ogden Nash, E.B. White, John O' Hara, John Hersey, Edmund Wilson, J.D. Salinger, John Updike, Rebecca West and Dorothy Parker.
But the coffee-table book The Art of the New Yorker 1925-1995 scarcely mentions the magazine's contributors. Published to celebrate The New Yorker's 70th anniversary, this book contains more than 400 drawings and paintings (covers, spots, illustrations and caricatures) published in the magazine from its first edition in 1925 to its 70th birthday in 1995.
Since its inception, the magazine has published the works of hundreds of artists. Among The New Yorker's great cartoonists are world-class artists such as Charles Addams, James Thurber and Rea Irvin. Irvin created Eustace Tilley, the early American dandy which is the magazine's trademark. Eustace Tilley appears each year on The New Yorker's anniversary cover.
The New Yorker was founded by Harold Ross in 1925. Ross was the magazine's editor until he died in 1951. Ross once declared that the magazine "expects to be distinguished by its illustrations, which will include caricatures, sketches, cartoons, humorous and satirical drawings, in keeping with its purpose."
Ross' dream came true: The magazine's cartoons are art specifically and humorously describing the real world.
The New Yorker changed hands for the first time in 1985 when it was sold to publisher Samuel I. Newhouse Jr.
Besides reviewing the magazine's history, the book showcases the marvelous images that have enchanted the magazine's avid readers for 70 years. With a narrative full of jokes and anecdotes, Lee Lorenz highlights both the published and unpublished work of such longtime favorites as Peter Arno, Helen Hokinson, James Thurber, Saul Steinberg, William Steig, Charles Addams, George Booth, George Price, Edward Sorel, Roz Chast and their creative peers.
Lorentz shows and tells how the magazine's distinctive look gradually developed. He also writes on the trials and errors of its early years when Harold Ross and his staff worked to translate his original vision into reality. Lorenz reveals all about The New Yorker's art, giving readers an insider's account of the magazine.
The book shows how the magazine slowly affected a cartoon revolution by its constantly-changing pictorial commentaries on the world, the purpose and look of its covers, its use of various kinds of interior art and how the art was chosen.
Fully illustrated and containing 32 full-color pages, the book focuses on the magazine's art: its countenance and how it was produced. The book is a work of art, bearing superbly designed and illustrated pieces.
Undoubtedly, this book will be an inspiring treasure for cartoonists. It will also be useful for art critics, art students, art lovers, cartoon fans and would-be cartoonists.
Lee Lorenz first tried his hand at cartoon drawing in 1956, and was immediately successful. His work has appeared in many publications, including The Saturday Evening Post, Look, Playboy, Sports Illustrated and Esquire.
Lorenz began as a contract artist for The New Yorker in 1958, he was art editor from 1973 to 1993 and is now a cartoon editor. Besides being a cornet player and a leader of the Creole Cookin Jazz Band, he is also the author of a dozen children's books.
-- D. Muktiono