Where Have All the Great "New Yorker" Illustrators Gone?

Riccardo Vecchio, "Bill Knott" (2017)

It pains me to say this, but New Yorker illustration isn’t as consistently interesting as it used to be. I miss the brilliant work of Luis Grañena, Robert Risko, André Carrilho, Edward Sorel, Ralph Steadman, Jorge Arevalo, Riccardo Vecchio, Marcellus Hall, David Hughes, Gerald Scarfe, Laurie Rosenwald, Edwin Fotheringham, Conor Langton, Marc Aspinall, Kirsten Ulve, among others. 

Remember this great Ralph Steadman?

It’s from James Wood’s “A Fine Rage” (The New Yorker, April 6, 2009), a critical essay on George Orwell.

Remember Edward Sorel’s wonderful flying, letter-shedding, double portrait of Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop for Dan Chiasson’s “Works on Paper” (The New Yorker, October 27, 2008)?

Here’s a beauty by Luis Grañena, from Anthony Lane’s “Command Performances” (The New Yorker, November 21, 2010), a review of Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.

Remember the superb David Hughes portrait of Les Murray in Dan Chiasson’s “Fire Down Below” (The New Yorker, June 4, 2007)?

And who could forget the marvelous André Carrilho portrait of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé that appeared in “Goings On About Town,” June 27, 2011)?

And how about Conor Langton’s eye-catching, fractured-faced, multi-hued seance for David Denby’s “Under the Spell” (The New Yorker, July 20, 2014), a review of Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight)?

I could go on and on – so many inspired images to pick from. But in the last few years the overall quality has slipped. There are still pearls to be found [e.g., Riccardo Vecchio’s “Bill Knott” (2017); Andrea Ventura’s “Jenny Erpenbeck” (2017); this year’s Bendik Kaltenborn portrait of former Trump fixer Michael Cohen], but not as abundantly as before. 

Best of 2015: Illustrations

Illustration by Roman Muradov

Here are my favorite New Yorker illustrations of 2015:

1. Conor Langton’s “Meredith Monk,” for Alex Ross’s "Guided By Voices," January 5, 2015.

2. Riccardo Vecchio’s “Matteo Renzi,” for Jane Kramer’s "The Demolition Man," June 29, 2015.

3. Daniel Krall’s “Molly Rankin,” for "Goings On: Spring Preview," March 9, 2015.

4. Chang Park’s “Kazuo Ishiguro,” for James Wood’s "The Uses of Oblivion," March 23, 2015.

5. Roman Muradov’s “Celebrating the Holidays,” for "Goings On About Town," November 30, 2015.

6. Barry Blitt’s “Donald Barthelme, Mavis Gallant, John Updike, J. D. Salinger, Muriel Spark,” for Deborah Treisman’s "Nine Decades of the Magazine: 1965-1975," February 23, 2015.

7. Rebecca Monk’s “Holiday Cocktail Lounge,” for Sarah Larson’s "Bar Tab," May 11, 2015.

8. Matthew Hollister’s “Lazy Point,” for Emma Allen’s "Bar Tab," August 10, 2015.

9. Ping Zhu’s “Cianciolo’s Kit,” for Andrea K. Scott’s "Boxing Days," June 29, 2015.

10. André Carrilho’s “Jeb Bush,” for Ryan Lizza’s "What Would Jeb Do?," October 26, 2015.

Credit: The above illustration, by Roman Muradov, is from Ian Frazier's "Greetings, Friends!," The New Yorker, December 23, 2015.

May 4, 2015 Issue

When did Colin Firth’s nose turn terra cotta? Why is the area above his left eye teal-colored? Why are Meredith Monk’s cheeks bandaged with strips of coral, lemon chiffon, puce, and aquamarine? When did Helen Mirren’s face develop all those cracks and fissures? What is the meaning of that turquoise dab under Penelope Fitzgerald’s left nostril? These are just some of the questions that run through my mind as I gaze at Connor Langton’s beguiling, eye-catching, delectable New Yorker illustrations. Consider his arresting “Thomas Cromwell,” an illustration for Emily Nussbaum’s "Queens Boulevard," in this week’s issue: fractured alabaster visage daubed with clay paints; subtle backdrop of pastel Tudor imagery and pattern. Langton’s portraits are among the most strikingly original artworks to appear in the magazine in the last five years.

Conor Langton, "Thomas Cromwell"

Postscript: The two pieces in this week’s issue I found most absorbing are Dana Goodyear’s "The Dying Sea" and James Wood’s "Circling the Subject." Goodyear’s piece is about California’s shrinking Salton Sea, “one of the last significant wetlands remaining on the migratory path between Alaska and Central America.” It’s sort of a companion to Goodyear’s great "Death Dust" (The New Yorker, January 20, 2014). Wood’s piece is a review of Amit Chaudhuri’s novel Odysseus Abroad. It touches on a couple of Wood’s preoccupations – the representation of undramatic life (“there is no obvious plot, no determined design, no faked ‘conflict’ or other drama”), and homelessness (“Each immigrant deals with the loss of his home, and the quest for a new one, in his own way”). 

Photos and Illustrations 2014

Riccardo Vecchio, "The Fugitive" (Detail)

The New Yorker is, of course, a great read. But it’s also an immense pleasure to look at. From 2014’s rich yield of New Yorker photos and illustrations, I’ve chosen twelve favorites:

1. David Black’s “Seu Jorge” (“Goings On About Town,” November 17, 2014)

2. Bendik Kaltenborn’s “The New Music Bake Sale” (“Goings On About Town,” March 17, 2014)

3. Pari Dukovic’s “Scarlett Johansson” (for Anthony Lane’s “Her Again,” March 24, 2014)

4. Michael Gillette’s “Jo Nesbø” (for Lee Siegel’s “Pure Evil,” May 12, 2014)

5. Grant Cornett’s “Jason Mleczko” (for Tad Friend’s “Thicker Than Water,” February 10, 2014)

6. Riccardo Vecchio’s “Elizabeth Harrower” (for James Wood’s “No Time For Lies,” October 20, 2014)

7. Ethan Levitas’s “Hospitality and Pannonia Quartet” (“Goings On About Town,” February 3, 2014)

8. Leo Espinosa’s “The Office Through the Ages” (for Jill Lepore’s “Away From My Desk,” May 12, 2014)

9. Dan Winters’s “Pardis Sabeti and Stephen Gire” (for Richard Preston’s “The Ebola Wars,” October 27, 2014)

10. Edwin Fotheringham’s “The Trip to Italy” (for David Denby’s “Lasting Impressions,” September 1, 2014)

11. Carolyn Drake’s “Anya Fernald” (for Dana Goodyear’s “Élite Meat,” November 3, 2014)

12. Conor Langton’s “Magic in the Moonlight” (for David Denby’s “Under the Spell,” July 28, 2014)