As one enters the New York townhouse which the Society of Illustrators calls home, one immediately encounters a striking art deco drawing by pioneering cartoonist Barbara Shermund. This looks to have once had a scathingly clever caption, but in the Society's own collection it bears only the descriptive title Formally Dressed Sophisticates With Long Cigarette Holders. Although it did not appear in The New Yorker and is not a part of the current show, "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration," it fits right in and sets the festive mood.
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| Formally Dressed Sophisticates With Long Cigarette Holders Barbara Shermund |
The exhibition is curated by New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly. Shermund's nine-panel gem is from the collection of Donnelly and her husband, fellow cartoonist Michael Maslin. It was published in 1928 but seems almost contemporary in its point of view.
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| "You're a very intelligent little woman, my dear!" Barbara Shermund Original art The New Yorker, May 19, 1928 |
Finally, a 1939 New Yorker cover shows a woman looking into the oval mirror on her vanity. Long ago the art was framed with a pretend oval vanity mirror, an unfortunate choice.
So here's the full magazine cover, including the strap on the left, as published. Really, am I asking too much? Don't answer that.
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| Barbara Shermund Original art The New Yorker, March 18, 1939 |
I do like the fact that Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, Caitlin McGurk's 2024 monograph on the artist, shows the preliminary art side by side with the published cover. But what I don't like is the way the bottom of the published art was cropped, eliminating an elbow, makeup, and part of the artist's signature.
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| From Caitlin McGurk's Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, 2024, p. 49 |
So here's the full magazine cover, including the strap on the left, as published. Really, am I asking too much? Don't answer that.
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| Barbara Shermund The New Yorker, March 18,1939 |
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