Cover Story: Nine for Ninety

Cover Story: Nine for Ninety

From The New Yorker website, February 16, 2015

new-yorker When the magazine’s editor, David Remnick, asked me months ago to think of ways to celebrate our ninetieth anniversary, I knew at least where to start: with the cover of the very first issue, from February of 1925, by the art editor Rea Irvin. That image, of a “starchy-looking gent with the beaver hat and the monocle,” so effectively established the magazine’s tone that it was published, nearly unchanged, every February until 1994. Later dubbed Eustace Tilley, the magazine’s presiding dandy has since been parodied, subverted, or deconstructed on most of our anniversary covers. Contributions by our artists—and by readers participating in Eustace Tilley contests–have included comic-strip Tilleys, dog Tilleys, tattooed Tilleys, emoji Tilleys, and twerking Tilleys.

To celebrate the fact that we’re entering our tenth decade, we turned, as we do every week, to our artists for ideas, and this time we decided to publish more than one. We picked nine covers for our ninety years, selecting images that reflect the talent and diversity of our contributors and the range of artistic media they use: oil painting for Kadir Nelson and Anita Kunz; pen and ink with watercolor for Roz Chast, Barry Blitt, and Istvan Banyai; oil pastel for Lorenzo Mattotti; collage for Peter Mendelsund; and digital art for Christoph Niemann. Some of these artists are regulars—this is Barry Blitt’s eighty-eighth New Yorker cover and Lorenzo Mattotti’s thirtieth. Others are newcomers. Each brings Eustace Tilley squarely into the twenty-first century, and proves that art is as alive on the cover of the magazine today as it was in 1925.

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Medium
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Whispers of Light

16" x 8" / 40.6 x 20.3cm
Watercolor on Aquabord

Golden Reverie

20" x 16" / 50.8 x 40.6cm
Watercolor on Aquabord

Echoes of Porcelain

24" x 24" / 61 x 61cm
Watercolor on Aquabord

The Wake

16" x 20" / 40.6 x 50.8cm
Oil on canvas

Study for “The Guest”

7" x 5" / 17.8 x 12.7cm
Acrylic on panel

Study for “The Courtiers”

20" x 16" / 50.8 x 40.6cm
Drawing on artist paper

Power – Limited Edition Framed A/P Print

35.5 x 32.25 in

PURCHASE

Serenity

20" x 20" / 50.8 x 50.8cm
Watercolor on Aquabord

Far Away – Limited Edition Unframed Print

24 x 19.25 in

PURCHASE

Her Thoughts They Hum – Limited Edition Unframed Print

24 x 20 in

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Memory Weaver – Limited Edition Unframed Print

24.5 x 20 in

PURCHASE

In the Hollow – Limited Edition Unframed Print

27 x 20 in

PURCHASE

Her Fancy – Limited Edition Unframed Print

13.5 x 20 in

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The Sentinel – Limited Edition Unframed Print

20 x 13.25 in

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The Window – Limited Edition Unframed Print

20 x 13.5 in

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Wood Fire – Limited Edition Unframed Print

20 x 20 in

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No Turning Back – Limited Edition Unframed Print

10 x 20 in

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Thaw – Limited Edition Unframed Print

20 x 25 in

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Flight – Limited Edition Unframed Print

8 x 8 in

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The Road She Walks – Limited Edition Unframed Print

16 x 20 in

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The Travelers – Limited Edition Unframed Print

20 x 20 in

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No Trespassing – Limited Edition Unframed Print

20 x 16 in

PURCHASE

Beyond Here – Limited Edition Unframed Print

24 x 20 in

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Beyond Here

48" x 60" / 121.9 x 152.4cm
Acrylic on canvas

Recollection

24" x 30" / 61 x 76.2cm
Acrylic on canvas

Bloom – Limited Edition Unframed Print

8 x 8 in

PURCHASE

The Eclosion of a Butterfly – Limited Edition Unframed Print

12 x 24 in

PURCHASE

Shades of Black – Limited Edition Unframed Print

8 x 8 in

PURCHASE

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