Ronald Searle’s James Thurber Medallion
Below is a Ronald Searle designed medallion that turned up on Ebay the other day. I know nothing about medallions, or Ronald Searle‘s part in designing them, so I’m recommending that you visit Attempted Bloggery‘s posts on them here.
I like the dog side of the medallion; the Thurber portrait side…not so much. Here’s the Ebay listing for the piece shown below.
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James Thurber’s A-Z Entry:
James Thurber Born, Columbus, Ohio, December 8, 1894. Died 1961, New York City. New Yorker work: 1927 -1961, with several pieces run posthumously. According to the New Yorker’s legendary editor, William Shawn, “In the early days, a small company of writers, artists, and editors — E.B. White, James Thurber, Peter Arno, and Katharine White among them — did more to make the magazine what it is than can be measured.”
Key cartoon collection: The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments (Harper & Bros., 1932). Key anthology (writings & drawings): The Thurber Carnival (Harper & Row, 1945). There have been a number of Thurber biographies. Burton Bernstein’s Thurber (Dodd, Mead, 1975) and Harrison Kinney’s James Thurber: His Life and Times (Henry Holt & Co., 1995) are essential. Website
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Latest Addition To The Spill Library: Spiegelman’s Co-Mix
It’s only taken me 13 years to get around to buying Art Spiegelman’s Co-Mix. The truth is, I wasn’t really aware of it until the other day. Mr. Spiegelman’s short New Yorker ride (1992-2003) was mostly focused on cover art. As long-time Spill readers know, the focus here is on the magazine’s cartoonists (New Yorker cover art is mentioned largely because a number of the magazine’s cartoonists — but mostly in the past — have contributed covers. Perry Barlow, mentioned below, is one shining example; then there’s the small number of cover artists who contributed a few cartoons. The great cover artist Arthur Getz is an example).
Mr. Spiegelman’s roots did not include The New Yorker (“… it must be said – I never read the earlier editions of the magazine.”) *– he came out of the underground comics world. Due to my early interest in underground comics,** the Spill library has on its shelves a small number of underground/comix-centric books and publications. I found Co-Mix to be an excellent addition to that part of the collection. The book includes a timeline (I love that form of capsule biography), as well as a selected bibliography. Much to digest there. There’s an interesting section on Spiegelman’s New Yorker covers (footnote: his wife was — and is currently — the covers editor). We are shown several covers as they developed (I guess that’s called “process”). I liked seeing a few rejected covers as well.
It’s highly unusual for an artist to leave (or as it’s described in this book, “drift away” from) The New Yorker. But that’s exactly what Spiegelman did in 2003. He “drifted away” in the form of not renewing his New Yorker contract. At the time, the non-renewal received some attention in the press. Speaking to The Observer in January of that year, Spiegelman said:
“I find as much fault with David Remnick’s New Yorker as I do with American media in general,” Mr. Spiegelman continued. “It’s insanely timid. But that’s a criticism I’m not leveling at David. It’s part of the zeitgeist right now. And it’s why I feel I’m in internal exile.”
*The Observer, Jan. 6, 2003, “Spiegelman Splits From The New Yorker“
Further reading:
** Ink Spill, June 23, 2024, “Personal History: A Graphic Family Tree”
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A New Yorker State Of Mind Looks At The Issue Of May 23, 1936
A Spill fave blog, A New Yorker State Of Mind: Reading Every Issue Of The New Yorker Magazine, as usual, does an excellent job of digging into a long ago issue of the magazine.
Cover by Perry Barlow. His A-Z Entry:
Perry Barlow ( photo above from barlowgeneology.com) Born 1892, McKinney, Texas. Died, Westport, Connecticut, December 26,1977. New Yorker work: 1926 -1974, with 1,574 drawings and 135 covers. According to Barlow’s obit in The New York Times (Dec. 27, 1977) William Shawn called him “one of the gentlest and most humane of all comic artists…he was also one of our three or four most prolific people.” In the same piece, James Geraghty (The New Yorker’s Art editor from 1939 thru 1973) said “he often tried to interest Mr. Barlow in publishing a book of his drawings ‘but he was halfhearted about it.’” Mr. Barlow’s wife, Dorothy Hope Smith, played a role in his work: she colored-in his covers because her husband was partly color blind.
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The post Tuesday Spill: Latest Addition to The Spill Library…Spiegelman’s “Co-Mix”; “A New Yorker State Of Mind” Looks At The Issue Of May 23, 1936 first appeared on Inkspill.
The Monday Tilley Watch takes a glancing look at the art and artists of the latest issue of The New Yorker
The Cartoonists and Cartoons
Fifteen cartoons, fifteen cartoonists. No newbies. One duo, that we know of (the Spill counts duos as one cartoonist). The longest active cartoonist contributor in the issue is Roz Chast, whose first New Yorker cartoon appeared in the issue of July 3, 1978.
This week’s cartoons (in a slideshow).
The Cartoon Caption Contest (Hartley Lin provides the drawing for this week’s contest).
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch
This week marks the 9th “anniversary” of Rea Irvin’s perfect Talk heading (above) disappearing from The New Yorker (only to be replaced — if you can believe it! — by a redrawn version courtesy of a contemporary illustrator). Using the word “anniversary” seems like a bad fit…here at the Spill it’s head shaking time. The abandonment of Mr. Irvin’s work continues to haunt. Read more here.
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Rea Irvin’s A-Z:
Rea Irvin (pictured above. Self portrait above from Meet the Artist) Born, San Francisco, 1881; died in the Virgin Islands,1972. Irvin was the cover artist for the New Yorker’s first issue, February 21, 1925. He was the magazine’s first art and only art supervisor (some refer to him as its first art editor) holding the position from 1925 until 1939 when James Geraghty assumed the title of art editor. Irvin then became art director and remained in that position until William Shawn officially succeeded Harold Ross in early 1952. Irvin’s last original work for the magazine was the magazine’s cover of July 12, 1958. The February 21, 1925 Eustace Tilley cover had been reproduced every year on the magazine’s anniversary until 1994, when R. Crumb’s Tilley-inspired cover appeared. Tilley has since reappeared, with other artists substituting from time-to-time. Number of New Yorker covers (not including the repeat appearances of the first cover every anniversary up to 1991): 179. Number of cartoons contributed: 261.
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The New Yorker’s 1st Basketball Cartoon and 1st Basketball Cover
With basketball fever gripping Gotham City, I thought it was time to take stock of New Yorker basketball 1sts (cartoon and cover). According to the magazine’s database, the very first New Yorker basketball cartoon appeared in the issue of December 23, 1933. The artist: Robert Day.
Robt. Day’s A-Z Entry:
Robert Day (photo from This Week anthology, 1954) Born, 1900, San Bernardino, California. Died, February, 1985, Gravette, Arkansas. New Yorker work: 1931 -1976. Collection: All Out For the Sack Race! (Random House, 1945).
And according to the database, the first basketball themed cover appeared March 10, 1951. Cover artist: the great Abe Birnbaum:
Abe Birnbaum’s A-Z Entry:
Abe Birnbaum Born, New York City, 1899. Died June 19, 1966, New York City. New Yorker work: 1929 -1974. Mr. Birnbaum began at the New Yorker as a cartoonist, contributing a handful before switching to cover work, of which he produced 141. He also provided spot drawings and illustrations. According to Mr. Birnbaum’s New York Times obit, his work was exhibited at The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Carnegie Institute.
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MAD‘s Addams & Peter Arno Parodies
Thanks to a Facebook post by the EC Fan-Addict Club, this 1955 MAD Magazine parody of Charles Addams famous Family came to my attention. When I sought out the entire magazine online (MAD No.26 1955), I found this great site that allows us to see every page of back issues. What I found, when paging through, was a Peter Arno parody sitting right next to the Addams parody. Both drawings were executed by MAD artist, Will Elder.
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The post Wednesday Spill: The New Yorker’s 1st Basketball Cartoon And 1st Basketball Cover; “MAD’s Addams & Peter Arno Parodies first appeared on Inkspill.
In memory of Scott Adams who was not only an unusual eccentric genius but also a Tech Nostradamus.
The Episode called "The Dupey" is an oracle on the coming of the Smartphone.
All these predictions were around the year Y2K or year 2000.
(visit link below to see all the 31 episodes)
https://archive.org/details/dilbert-season-1-episode-05-testing/
Simon Fieldhouse’s Latest 3D Portrait Sculpture: Peter Arno
Next up in artist Simon Fieldhouse‘s New Yorker series: Peter Arno. See the sculpture in various settings here.
And here are his other New Yorker 3D sculptures:
To see all of his 3D sculptures, go here.
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Frank Cotham Returns As Guest On Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast
Frank Cotham, who began contributing to The New Yorker in 1993, returns to the CCCP in this episode (#248 for those keeping track). Listen here.
photo: clockwise, from top left…Frank Cotham, then the co-hosts Paul Nesja, Vin Coca, Nicole Chrolavicius, Beth Lawler.
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Paul Karasik Presents…
From The Vineyard Gazette, April 23, 2026, “Film Noir Takes Center Stage” — this piece on films and Mr. Karasik, who began contributing to The New Yorker in 1999. Visit his website here.
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The post Friday Spill: Simon Fieldhouse’s Latest 3D Portrait Sculpture: Peter Arno; Frank Cotham Returns As Cartoon Caption Contest Podcast Guest; Paul Karasik Presents… first appeared on Inkspill.
Another in a series of quick looks at an artist’s very first New Yorker cartoon and their last.
Here’s one of the 80 or so New Yorker artists who had but one cartoon in the magazine. I call them “One Clubbers” in the Spill‘s A-Z; this fellow appears on every One Clubber’s entry: 
Fougasse’s first and his last New Yorker cartoon appeared in the issue of March 28, 1925.
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Fougasse’s A-Z Entry:
Cyril Kenneth Bird 
Born, London, December 17, 1887. Died, 1965. New Yorker work: 1 cartoon, March 28, 1925. Known professionally under the name Fougasse, Bird became art editor of Punch in 1937, and assumed the title of editor in 1949. Key book: The Good-Tempered Pencil, A Survey of Modern British and American Humorous Art (Max Reinhardt, 1956).
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More Fougasse: here and here. A goodly number of original work here at the Chris Beetles Gallery.
The post Friday Spill: First And Last…”One Clubber” Fougasse first appeared on Inkspill.
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