Tilley Watch Online, The Week of April 27–May 1, 2026

An end of the week listing of New Yorker artists whose work has appeared on newyorker.com features

Daily Cartoon: Lynn Hsu, Enrico Pinto, (the duo of) Sophie Lucido Johnson and Sammi Skolmoski, Sarah Kempa, Hilary Campbell. See them here (in a slideshow).

Barry Blitt’s Kvetchbook: “Charles And Donald See Eye To Eye”

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Pomp And Circumstance: A slideshow of graduation cartoons (the below, from the great Warren Miller,* is just one of many in this online special feature.

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*Warren Miller’s A-Z Entry:

Warren Miller (photo by Liza Donnelly, NYC, Sept. 1997) Born 1936, Chicago, Ill. The following biographical information comes from The Phoenix Gallery site which hosted a group exhibit of NYer cartoonists work (Lorenz, Harris, Modell, and Miller) in 2007: “Warren Miller studied commercial and fine art at the American Academy of Art, Chicago. He started selling cartoons to Playboy and The New Yorker in 1961 and moved to New York City later that year. Miller’s work has also appeared in Esquire, Punch, Rolling Stone, Audubon, Harvard Business Review, Barrons, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, and the London Sunday Times. Mr. Miller is a painter and a sculptor as well. He has exhibited his work in a number of shows in the New York area and in the Midwest.” Key collections: All Thumbs (Bobbs-Merrill,1967); Prince and Mrs. Charming (Bobbs-Merril, 1970). New Yorker work: 1959 -.

                                                  Happy Birthday, Liza Donnelly!

The Spill sends birthday greetings to long-time New Yorker contributor, Liza Donnelly, seen above attempting to take it easy for a few minutes in Maine a few years ago.

Born in Washington, D.C., then high-tailing it asap to New York City, she has been contributing to The New Yorker since 1979. Among the many hats she wears, the most recent is filmmaker. Her documentary on The New Yorker‘s women cartoonists, Woman Laughing, co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, is making the rounds, festival-wise this year.

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— Drawing above: Donnelly’s first drawing bought by The New Yorker). Although sold in 1979, the magazine didn’t run it until November 22, 1982.

–Photo above: taken by this cartoonist 

Exhibit Of Interest: Edward Sorel & Madeline Sorel 

Sorry I missed the opening date of this exhibit, but there are still two weeks left to see it. Edward Sorel and his eldest daughter, Madeline Sorel in a joint exhibit of their work. From Kingsborough Community College’s Linkedin :

Father and daughter are now launching a unique joint-show at the college where Madeline has taught illustration for the past 25 years. The Family Line: Edward and Madeline Sorel, seeks to tell the story through each artist’s work of overcoming external influences to develop one’s own voice and in doing so, develop their own sense of self.

The exhibit is at the Kingsborough Art Museum (KAM) at Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard, Brooklyn, NY. The show, free and open to the public, runs through May 20.

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 Madeline Sorel, an illustrator, collagist, felt artist and, the past 25 years, professor in Kingsborough Community College’s art department.

Edward Sorel’s A-Z Entry:

Edward Sorel (self-portrait above from a strip appearing in The Nation following the death of Marlene Dietrich. Drawing used by permission of Mr. Sorel). Born 1929. New Yorker work: 1990 – . All of Mr. Sorel’s books are of great interest; Unauthorized Portraits (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) is particularly essential. Website: edwardsorel.net

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

A Message to General Gracias

Tobasco is Red, Paprika is too;
Dear General Gracias,
Happy Birthdays to You.

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Now That’s A Cover!

Here’s a beauty from C.E.M. (Charles E. Martin) who contributed 434 cartoons and 187(!) covers in his 49 year run at the magazine. Interesting (to me) that he began his New Yorker career strictly as a cover artist (his first was the issue of August 6, 1938, signed “Chas. Martin”). His first cartoon did not appear until February of 1947.

What I love about the October 22, 1966 cover is the easy to overlook old building at the bottom. Martin is giving us a familiar New York City site: the old hanging in despite the forward march of the new.

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C.E.M.’s A-Z Entry

Charles E. Martin ( C.E.M.) (photo left above from Think Small, a cartoon collection produced by Volkswagon. Photo right, courtesy of Roxie Munro) Born in Chelsie, Mass., 1910, died June 18, 1995, Portland, Maine. New Yorker work: 1938 – 1987.

Paper based printables offer a wide range of creative possibilities and are the easiest to produce and sell. Many of the following  ideas can be created using home printing equipment. Online printing costs have drastically reduced as printing technology has advanced, giving cartoonists  the  opportunity to have their art professionally printed at a cost that […]

The post 26 Ideas for Paper Based Printables You Can Create And Sell appeared first on .

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

Thirteen cartoons, thirteen cartoonists. No newbies, No duos, that we know of. The longest active contributing cartoonist 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).

This Week’s Cartoon Caption Contest (Benjamin Slyngstad provides the drawing for this week’s contest)

The Rea Irvin Talk Watch

Back in May of 2017, Rea Irvin’s perfect Talk design, shown here, was displaced by — gasp! — a redrawn version executed by a contemporary illustrator. The Spill continues to hope that Mr. Irvin’s work returns. Read more here.

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Rea Irvin’s A-Z Entry:

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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Upcoming Women Laughing Screenings 

Women Laughing, Liza Donnelly and Kathleen Hughes documentary film about New Yorker women cartoonists past and present, will be screened at a number of venues beginning this Spring and into the Fall. You can see the schedule here.

Please note that three screenings are happening within the next few days:

Portland Museum of Art
May 9, 2026 Portland, ME

The Moviehouse
May 9, 2026 Millerton, NY
Followed by conversation with Liza Donnelly, Kathleen Hughes, Amy Hwang. 

The Church
May 15, 2026 Sag Harbor, NY
Followed by conversation with Liza Donnelly, Kathleen Hughes and Emma Allen.

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Update: Thurber Prize For American Humor In Writing Awarded

Congrats to Shalom Auslander for being awarded the 2026 Thurber Prize for American Humor in Writing … and congrats once again to Emily Flake the (previously announced) 2026 Thurber Prize winner for American Humor In Cartoon Art.