Rea Irvin: Difference between revisions

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'''Rea Irvin''' (August 26, 1881—May1881 – May 28, 1972), was an [[United States|American]] graphic artist. and cartoonist. Although never formally credited as such, he served [[de facto]] as the first art editor of ''[[The New Yorker]]''. He created the [[The New Yorker#Eustace Tilley|Eustace Tilley]] cover portrait and the ''New Yorker'' [[typeface]]. He first drew Tilley for the cover of the magazine's first issue on February 21, 1925. Tilley appeared annually on the magazine's cover every February until 1994.<ref>Dewan, Shaila K., et al. [httphttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E0D71430F936A25751C0A9679C8B63&scp=1&sq=%22Rea+Irvin%22 "PUBLIC LIVES"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 15, 2001. Accessed January 14, 2008. "Although no substantiation is offered for HENDRIK HERTZBERG'S claim on The New Yorker's new Web site that EUSTACE TILLEY, the persnickety snob created by REA IRVIN, is ''one of the most successful and recognizable corporate trademarks in the history of hype,'' Mr. Tilley does have a lengthy curriculum vitae. He appeared on The New Yorker's first cover on Feb. 21, 1925, and each February thereafter until 1994."</ref><ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/online/covers/slideshow_tilleycovers The Many Faces of Eustace Tilley: Online Only:] ''The New Yorker<!-- Bot generated title -->]''.</ref> As one commentator has written, "a truly modern bon vivant, Irvin (1881–1972) was also a keen appreciator of the century of his birth. His high regard for both the careful artistry of the past and the gleam of the modern metropolis shines from the very first issue of the magazine ..."<ref name=autogenerated4>[http://www.printmag.com/article/everybody_loves_rea_irvin PRINT Magazine - Everybody Loves Rea Irvin<!--] Bot''PRINT generated title -->]Magazine''.</ref>

Born in [[San Francisco]], he studied at the [[Mark Hopkins Art Institute]] for six months, started his career as an unpaid cartoonist for ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]''.<ref name=autogenerated2>[http://www.tomfolio.com/autographimg.asp?sigid=297&ret=AGIni TomFolio.com: Rea Irvin, Author Autograph Sample, Book List Link, Search Books Available] ''TomFolio.com''.<!--/ref> Bot''[[The generatedHonolulu titleAdvertiser]]'' was among the other newspapers art departments that he served in.<ref name=TTHOET>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcj.com/the-true->history-of-eustace-tilley/|title=The True History of Eustace Tilley|accessdate=November 11, 2023|date=August 31, 2017|author=Harvey, R.C.|work=[[The Comics Journal]]}}</ref> He also contributed to the ''[[San Francisco Evening Post]]''. He also worked as an itinerant actor (for both stage and screen), newspaper illustrator, and piano player.<ref name=autogenerated4 /> In 1906 he moved to the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]. In the 1910s he contributed many illustrations to both ''[[Redbook|Red Book]]'' magazine and its sister publication, ''[[Green Book (magazine)|Green Book]]''.<ref name=autogenerated2 />

However, Irvin had joined an advisory board to help launch ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and then worked on the staff of magazine''Thes New Yorker''staff as an illustrator and art editor. When Thehe magazine'shad first cover, oftaken athe [[dandy]] peering at a [[butterfly]] through a [[monocle]]job, wasIrvin drawnhad byassumed Irvin;that the dandymagazine replacedwould atfold the last minuteafter a drawingfew of theater curtains revealing the skyline of [[Manhattan]].issues,<ref name=autogenerated4autogenerated2 /> but Thehis gentlemanwork would ultimately appear on the original cover isof referred169 toissues as "Eustace Tilley," a character created forof ''The New Yorker'' bybetween 1925 and 1958.<ref name=autogenerated3>[[Corey Ford]]http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa398.htm Rea Irvin of The New Yorker]</ref>

WhenThe hemagazine's hadfirst takencover, theof joba [[dandy]] peering at ''Thea New[[butterfly]] Yorker''through a [[monocle]], Irvinwas haddrawn assumedby thatIrvin; the magazinedandy wouldreplaced foldat afterthe last minute a fewdrawing of theater curtains revealing the issues,skyline of [[Manhattan]].<ref name=autogenerated2autogenerated4 /> but hisThe work would appeargentleman on 169the coversoriginal ofcover ''Theis Newreferred Yorker''to betweenas 1925"Eustace and 1958)Tilley,<ref" name=autogenerated3>[http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa398.htma Thecharacter Talkcreated of the Town; Rea Irvin offor ''The New Yorker<!--'' Botby generated[[Corey title -->Ford]</ref>]. including, forAnother example, is the piece known as ''The Unity of the Allied Nations''. , Thiswhich appeared on the cover forof the July 1, 1944 issue, and depicts the [[national personifications]] of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] (the American Eagle, the Chinese Dragon, the [[Russian Bear]] and the British Lion).<ref name=autogenerated3 />

Besides covers for the magazine, Irvin also drew various illustrations, department headings, caricatures, and cartoons.<ref name=autogenerated4 />

''The New Yorker'' signature display typeface, used for its nameplate and headlines and the masthead above ''The Talk of the Town'' section, is called "Irvin" or "Irvin type," after him.<ref>[http://www.allworth.com/American_Type_Design_and_Designers_p/1-58115-320-1.htm Consuegra, David. ''American Type Design and Designers''. New York: Allworth Press, 2004.]</ref> An [[alphabet]] drawn by the American etcher Allen Lewis, who had received training in [[woodcut]]ting in [[Paris]], was used as the typographical basis for the "Irvin type."<ref name=autogenerated4 /> Irvin may have spotted Lewis’Lewis' lettering, which was drawn to imitate a woodcut, in a pamphlet entitled "Journeys To Bagdad", and liked it so much that Irvin asked Lewis to create the entire alphabet.<ref name=autogenerated4 /> Uninterested in this project, Lewis suggested that Irvin create the alphabet himself –this became the "Irvin type."<ref name=autogenerated4 />

He also added the ''New Yorker's'' squiggly column rules; these provide a delineation between the text and illustrations.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> He was also responsible for the vertical “cover"cover strap”strap" that was used for the magazine's margins.<ref name=autogenerated4 />

According to [[James Thurber]], "the invaluable Irvin, artist, ex-actor, wit, and sophisticate about town and country, did more to develop the style and excellence of ''The New Yorker's'' drawings and covers than anyone else, and was the main and shining reason that the magazine's comic art in the first two years was far superior to its humorous prose.”"<ref>Quoted in http://www.wolfsonian.fiu.edu/exhibitions/past/talkoftown.html</ref> Emily Gordon has written that “Irvin’s"Irvin's own intimacy with classic form and craft, and his genial willingness to share that expertise…expertise ... allowed him to create a complete device: a design, a typeface, a style, and a mood that would be instantly recognizable, and eminently effective, almost a century later.”"<ref name=autogenerated4 />

==''The Smythes''==

{{Quotation|Last week famed Cartoonist Rea Irvin broke into the "funnies" with a new full-page Sunday series ... His title is "The Smythes;" his characters, the conventional father, mother, small son & daughter, [[Pekinese]] pup; his theme, the conventional burlesque of U. S. middleclassmiddle-class home life. Sample episode: Mrs. Smythe insists upon buying Pekinese, to utter disgust of Mr. Smythe who snorts, "I don't know what you can see in that mutt." Mrs. Smythe, in desperation, goes to bed. Later, Tootums (the Pekinese) awakes and sneezes. Unable to arouse his wife, Smythe arises, grudgingly walks the floor with Tootums, finally melts, talks baby-talk to Tootums, nurses it back to sleep. Whereupon Mrs. Smythe, awake, triumphantly mocks her husband: "I don't know what you can see in that mutt!"|''Life'', June 23, 1930|<ref name=autogenerated1 />}}

Six years before his death, Irvin and his wife retired to a home in [[Frederiksted]], [[Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands]].<ref>[http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=71481 Rea Irvin -– Biography Rea Irvin<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He died of a stroke there at age 90 on May 28, 1972.

{{Reflist|2}}

* [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa398.htm The Talk of the Town; Rea Irvin of The New Yorker]

* [http://www.timeprintmag.com/timedesign_articles/magazineeverybody_loves_rea_irvin/articletabid/0,9171,739658,00379/Default.htmlaspx Emily Gordon, "StripperEverybody Loves Rea Irvin," Time''Print'', Monday,August Jun2008. 23, 1930]

[[Category:American editorial cartoonists]]

[[Category:American comics artists]]

[[Category:PeopleArtists from San Francisco, California]]

[[Category:WearersAmerican of monoclesillustrators]]