Country Cartoonists
by Liza Donnelly

As far back as 1925, when The New Yorker magazine was founded, artists have flocked to New York City to start their careers in publishing. New York City is not an easy place to live, and many of them seek to escape to quieter places from time to time. Places to breathe, places to take in some sun, listen to grasshoppers and other outdoorsy things. Places to paint landscapes and places where they could have a house to spread out in—being an artist in a tiny apartment is a challenging thing. Where does one keep all the masterpieces?

Artists have always summered in the Hamptons—Jackson Pollock did it. Willem DeKooning did it. Robert Rauschenberg went to Florida. What about New Yorker cartoonists? Does the humor artist need peace and quiet?

The agitation of New York City is often a good thing for cartoonists. The city provides a constant smorgasbord of potential material for humor. Yet some seek refuge from the energy. And many of them have historically summered or in fact moved to the rural niches of the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. It is not necessary to live in the city to be a New Yorker cartoonist, particularly now with faxes and email and FEDEX.

The early cartoonists at The New Yorker all lived in New York. The postal system was not good enough for quick exchange of information for a weekly magazine. Alice Harvey, one of the first female cartoonists, was one of the first to move out of the city. She began at the magazine in 1925, and in her early years she lived with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Helen Hokinson at the Smith Club. Harvey got married soon after becoming a cartoonist and moved to Westport, Connecticut. In correspondence, Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker, and editor Katherine Angell, often remarked on her absence. In the first years of the fledgling publication it was crucial that artists be around the offices to go over rough drawings and captions. Harvey's cartoons may not have appeared as often as others because of her physical distance. Also, the subject of her cartoons shifted to being about country topics and raising children—not subjects that The New Yorker was interested in during the first few years. It was a magazine meant for the urban youth of New York City.

Helen Hokinson lived in the city, but eventually bought a summer home in Wilton, Connecticut. She lived in a little pink house where, with her mother, she gardened and entertained close friends. Hokinson loved the countryside, and many of her drawings poked fun at the garden and club ladies of the wealthy area. However, her life centered on The New Yorker and she maintained her residence in New York City for her entire life.

James Thurber and his first wife Althea summered in Silvermine, Connecticut. Later, he and his second wife Helen, chose to spend the summer months in Cornwall. At first they rented a house in the village for a few years during WWII, finding it an "ideal sanctuary" as Thurber was beginning to lose his eyesight. They were always on the lookout for the "Great Good Place," which they finally found in 1945 on a country road in Cornwall. They loved the town and the people—Thurber spent the rest of his life there. Although he could not see the house, his wife said he could feel the beauty and space, and could smell the wonderful pine trees that grew near their home. Here he was most at ease.

Other cartoonists moved to the northwest corner of Connecticut, and it became known as a haven for New Yorker artists. William Steig lived many years in Kent, Carl Rose lived in Rowayton. Frank Modell had a home until recently in Guilford, and Robert Weber still lives there. Stan Hunt and Richard McCallister both lived in New Milford. Charles Saxon lived in New Canaan, Dana Fradon has a house in Newtown, and his contemporaries Lee Lorenz (cartoonist and former art editor of The New Yorker) and Donald Reilly live in nearby Easton and Wilton.

Younger cartoonists have followed suit with the exodus: Queens native Jack Ziegler moved to New Milford during his early years as a cartoonist in the 70s. After a brief escape to live for a while in Las Vegas, he and his wife decided to return to Connecticut and settle in the countryside of Sharon. At first, lack of cable reception, headaches with contractors and bears on his property made him question his return. But he enjoys being close to the city, the magazine and cartoonist colleagues (or so he says). A few miles away is Peter Steiner and his wife, transplants from the Washington, D.C. area. Both Peter and Jack built spacious studios with the room that the country affords. Peter is an accomplished painter and published novelist and requires a lot of room for his endeavors. Roz Chast severed her Brooklyn roots, gave up her West Side studio and moved north to Ridgefield into a small house where she and her husband are raising her two children. Having lived all of her life in the city, it was in Connecticut where she finally learned how to drive a car.

While Connecticut may have had more cartoonists per square mile over the years, New York State is not far behind. The area around Woodstock has always been attractive to artists of all kinds since the early 1900s. The artists' colony Byrdcliffe drew cartoonist Barbara Shermund for several summers in the 20s and 30s. Byrdcliffe was a place for artistic camaraderie and creative exploration. Barbara enjoyed refuge from the sometimes grueling work of coming up with ideas by creating art other than cartoons. This has been true of a number of cartoonists, past and present—they seek relief in other artistic media. Other cartoonists who have lived in the Woodstock area are Ed Arno, who has a home outside of Woodstock, and Stan Hunt (who also lived in New Milford).

Moving east across the Hudson back towards Connecticut, there is a cluster of New Yorker cartoonists in northern Dutchess County. In 1988, married cartoonists Liza Donnelly and Michael Maslin moved from New York City and settled in Milan. For them, the country means the freedom to have lots of animals—as well as two children. Liza and Michael live in an old house with adjacent barns, and just enough space for three dogs, two cats and two horses. Not long afterwards, Danny Shanahan followed them (not literally) with his family, moving from Santa Fe. They bought an old home in Rhinebeck, where Danny can often be spotted strolling around town. Danny puts the names of Rhinebeck businesses in his cartoons from time to time.

The New Yorker began as a publication that reported on New York City, but in the subsequent years, it became a national magazine read by non-New Yorkers around the world (even the little old lady in Dubuque!) The cartoons of the early years were most often about New York City life, but the best cartoons were and still are timeless and placeless. The artists who write and draw them live everywhere now—it is no longer necessary to live near the magazine, nor to do cartoons just about New York. The artists of the magazine may seek peace and quiet by living in remote areas, they may seek space to spread out literally and artistically. But cartoon ideas follow them everywhere, even in outdoorsy things.

Cartoonfest 2006

From Memorial Day until June 17, the Cornwall Free Library in James Thurber's adopted hometown will be sponsoring the first ever CartoonFest, featuring tri-state area cartoonists and their art. The cartoonists exhibiting include R. O. Blechman, Roz Chast, Liza Donnelly, Bob Englehart, Joe Farris, Dana Fradon, Mort Gerberg, Bill Griffith, Mark Hurwitt, Ed Koren, Cindy Kirk, Bill Lee, Robert Leighton, Lee Lorenz, Bob Mankoff, Michael Maslin, Geoffrey Moss, Diane Noomin, Victoria Roberts, Al Ross, Danny Shanahan, Marc Simont, Elwood Smith, Peter Steiner, and Jack Ziegler. The exhibit of original cartoon art, most of it for sale, is open regular library hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays 10am to 5pm; Wednesdays 12 noon to 8pm; Saturdays 10am to 2pm.

Most of the cartoonists will also be on hand on CartoonFest Day, Saturday June 3. All events take place around the Cornwall village green, which is a half-hour's drive from either Millerton (NY Rt. 44 to CT. Rt. 112 to Ct. Rt. 7 to Ct. Rt. 4) or Amenia (NY Rt. 343/CT Rt 4). For more information call 860-672-6874 or visit www.biblio.org/cornwall.

CartoonFest Day

Saturday, June 3, 10am to 9:30pm

10:00–7:00 pm: Art exhibit & book sale, Thurber show reprise, Library

10:15–11:45 am: Caricatures drawn by Marc Simont, Library

12:00 pm–1:15pm: "Political Cartooning Today" panel, Town Hall

1:30–2:45 pm: "But Is It Art? Cartooning as Creative Process" panel, Town Hall

3:00–4:00 pm: Jazz Jam Session w/Bob Parker Trio, Town Hall

4:00–6:00 pm: Opening reception and silent auction, Library

6:00–7:30 pm: Picnic on the Town Green

7:30 pm: Evening Cartoon Variety Show. Act I: New Yorker cartoonist Victoria Roberts in Nona, her one-woman cabaret show inspired by a cartoon character who was raised by a bumblebee. Act II: New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast, Liza Donnelly, Dana Fradon, Ed Koren, Robert Leighton, Bob Mankoff, Victoria Roberts, Danny Shanahan, Peter Steiner, Jack Ziegler in a free ranging forum discussion of New Yorker cartooning today. Congregational Meeting House. $20.

P. S. The CartoonFest is being organized by AboutTown's co-publisher and editorial director, Paul De Angelis.