Rea Irvin
Born	August 26, 1881 San Francisco, United States
Died	May 28, 1972 Frederiksted, Saint Croix, U. S. Virgin Islands
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Illustrator, cartoonist, art editor

Rea Irvin (August 26, 1881—May 28, 1972) was an American graphic artist. Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1881 ( MDCCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He was the first art editor of the The New Yorker. The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry He was the creator of the Eustace Tilley cover portrait and the New Yorker typeface. The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry In Typography, a typeface is a set of one or more Fonts designed with stylistic unity each comprising a coordinated set of Glyphs A typeface usually comprises He first drew Tilley for the cover of the magazine's first issue on February 21, 1925. Events 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. 1245 - Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Tilley appeared annually on the magazine's cover every February until 1994. ^[1][2]

Contents 1 Early career 2 Career at The New Yorker 3 The Smythes 4 Retirement 5 References 6 External links

Early career

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. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Founded in 1871 the San Francisco Art Institute ( SFAI) is one of the U The San Francisco Examiner is a US daily Newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since ^[3] He also contributed to the San Francisco Evening Post. He also worked as an itinerant actor and in 1906 he moved to the East Coast. The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard" refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern In the 1910s he contributed many illustrations to both Red Book magazine and its sister publication, Green Book. The 1910s decade ran from January 1 1910 through December 31 1919 For other uses see Red Book. Redbook is an American women's magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. ^[4]

Before World War I, Irvin contributed illustrations regularly to Life, and rose to the position of art editor. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All (Life the humorous weekly, and not to be confused with the more famous magazine of the same name published by Henry Luce). Henry Robinson Luce ( April 3, 1898 &ndash February 28, 1967) was an influential American publisher Irvin also contributed to Cosmopolitan when it was still a serious literary publication. Cosmopolitan is the best-selling young women's magazine in the world He illustrated Wallace Irwin's "Letters of a Japanese Schoolboy" in Life. Wallace Irwin (March 15 1875-February 14 1959 was a prolific and extraordinarily wide-ranging American writer ^[5] He would later incorporate Japanese imagery in satirical kakemono for The New Yorker. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. A, more commonly referred to as a, is a Japanese Scroll painting or Calligraphy mounted usually with Silk fabric edges on a flexible backing so that it can be rolled ^[6]

He also created a series of humorous advertisements for Murad cigarettes. Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand A cigarette ( French "small Cigar " from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through Smoking and manufactured ^[7]

He was fired from his position as art editor at Life in 1924.

Career at The New Yorker

However, Irvin had joined an advisory board to help launch The New Yorker and then worked on the staff of The New Yorker as an illustrator and art editor. The magazine's first cover, of a dandy peering at a butterfly through a monocle, was drawn by Irvin. A dandy (also known as a beau gallant or flamboyant person is a man who places particular importance upon Physical appearance, refined language and leisurely hobbies A butterfly is an Insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a A monocle is a type of Corrective lens used to correct the vision in only one Eye. The gentleman on the original cover is referred to as "Eustace Tilley," a character created for The New Yorker by Corey Ford. Corey Ford ( April 29, 1902 - July 27, 1969) was an American humorist author outdoorsman and screenwriter

When he had taken the job at The New Yorker, Irvin had assumed that the magazine would fold after a few issues^[8], but his work would appear on 169 covers of The New Yorker between 1925 and 1958)^[9], including, for example, the piece known as The Unity of the Allied Nations. This appeared on the cover for the July 1, 1944 issue, and depicts the national personifications of the Allies (the American Eagle, the Chinese Dragon, the Russian Bear and the British Lion). Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A national personification is an anthropomorphization of a Nation; it can appear in both Editorial cartoons and Propaganda. The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Russian Bear is a National personification for Russia, used in cartoons and articles at least since the 19th century and relating alike to Tsarist ^[10]

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. James Grover Thurber ( December 8, 1894 &ndash November 2, 1961) was an American Humorist and Cartoonist. ”^[11]

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. ^[12] He also added the New Yorker's squiggly column rules; these provide a delineation between the text and illustrations. ^[13]

The Smythes

Irvin also created the comic strip The Smythes. A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist It ran in the New York Herald Tribune during the early 1930s. The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. ^[14][15]

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. middleclass 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, ^[16]

Retirement

Six years before his death, Irvin and his wife retired to a home in Frederiksted, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Frederiksted is a town on the west end of St Croix, US Virgin Islands. ^[17] He died of a stroke there at age 90 on May 28, 1972. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

References

External links

• The Talk of the Town; Rea Irvin of The New Yorker
• New Yorker Store: Rea Irvin Covers
• "Stripper Irvin," Time, Monday, Jun. 23, 1930
• X-Rea (column on a New Yorker-themed blog, devoted to Irvin and sightings of his signature typeface)

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