Rea Irvin

Infobox Comics creator
name = Rea Irvin


imagesize = 200px
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = August 26, 1881
location = San Francisco, United States
deathdate = May 28, 1972
deathplace = Frederiksted, Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
nationality = American
area = Illustrator, cartoonist, art editor
alias =
notable works =
awards =

Rea Irvin (August 26, 1881—May 28, 1972) was an American graphic artist. He was the first art editor of the "The New Yorker". He was the creator of the 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. [Dewan, Shaila K., et. al. [http://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."] [ [http://www.newyorker.com/online/covers/slideshow_tilleycovers The Many Faces of Eustace Tilley: Online Only: The New Yorker ] ] 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..." [http://www.printmag.com/design_articles/everybody_loves_rea_irvin/tabid/379/Default.aspx PRINT Magazine - Everybody Loves Rea Irvin ] ]

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". [http://www.tomfolio.com/autographimg.asp?sigid=297&ret=AGIni TomFolio.com: Rea Irvin, Author Autograph Sample, Book List Link, Search Books Available ] ] 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. In 1906 he moved to the East Coast. In the 1910s he contributed many illustrations to both "Red Book" magazine and its sister publication, "Green Book".

Before World War I, Irvin contributed illustrations regularly to "Life", and rose to the position of art editor. ("Life" the humorous weekly, and not to be confused with the more famous magazine of the same name published by Henry Luce). Irvin also contributed to "Cosmopolitan" when it was still a serious literary publication. He illustrated Wallace Irwin's "Letters of a Japanese Schoolboy" in "Life". [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739658,00.html Stripper Irvin - TIME ] ] He would later incorporate Japanese imagery in satirical kakemono for "The New Yorker".

He also created a series of humorous advertisements for "Murad" cigarettes.

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; the dandy replaced at the last image a drawing of theater curtains revealing the skyline of Manhattan. The gentleman on the original cover is referred to as "Eustace Tilley," a character created for "The New Yorker" by Corey Ford.

When he had taken the job at "The New Yorker", Irvin had assumed that the magazine would fold after a few issues, but his work would appear on 169 covers of "The New Yorker" between 1925 and 1958) [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa398.htm The Talk of the Town; Rea Irvin of The New Yorker ] ] , 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).

Besides covers for the magazine, Irvin also drew various illustrations, department headings, caricatures, and cartoons.

"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. [ [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.] ] An alphabet drawn by the American etcher Allen Lewis, who had received training in woodcutting in Paris, was used as the typographical basis for the "Irvin type." Irvin may have spotted 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. Uninterested in this project, Lewis suggested that Irvin create the alphabet himself –this became the "Irvin type."

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

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.” [Quoted in http://www.wolfsonian.fiu.edu/exhibitions/past/talkoftown.html] Emily Gordon has written that “Irvin’s own intimacy with classic form and craft, and his genial willingness to share that 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.”

The Smythes

Irvin also created the comic strip "The Smythes". It ran in the "New York Herald Tribune" during the early 1930s. [ [http://lambiek.net/artists/i/irvin_r.htm Comic creator: Rea Irvin ] ]

Retirement

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

References

External links

* [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/1aa/1aa398.htm The Talk of the Town; Rea Irvin of The New Yorker]
* [http://www.printmag.com/design_articles/everybody_loves_rea_irvin/tabid/379/Default.aspx Emily Gordon, “Everybody Loves Rea Irvin,” "Print", August 2008.]
* [http://www.thenewyorkerstore.com/search_results_category.asp?sitetype=1&artist=Rea+Irvin&section=prints&advanced=1&title=Rea+Irvin New Yorker Store: Rea Irvin Covers]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,739658,00.html "Stripper Irvin," Time, Monday, Jun. 23, 1930]
* [http://emdashes.com/x-rea/ X-Rea] (column on a New Yorker-themed blog, devoted to Irvin and sightings of his signature typeface)