Series V: Artwork, 1928-2006, undated

Scope and content:

The artwork is done in pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, pastel, and watercolor, and includes caricature and straight portraiture, scenes, maps, and collages. The artwork stored in document boxes is most often undated, untitled, and unsigned, and is sorted alphabetically by subject. It includes international leaders such as Indira Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Margaret Thatcher. American presidents are well-represented, among them Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. There are two groups of scenes, one depicting the U.S. and the other foreign countries, which are sorted alphabetically by subject. Several boxes of oversized artwork containing similar material are also sorted alphabetically by subject.

The remaining oversized artwork is more often dated and signed. It is sorted alphabetically by artist and divided into covers, mechanicals (including design and promotional mockups and posters), and pieces from an exhibit at the New York Public Library (some of which were selected but not used in the exhibit).

Figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Jack Kerouac, as well as scenes from the United States and other countries such as China and the Soviet Union, also appear. The artwork also includes posters and mechanicals for covers and promotional materials. The earliest art in the collection is a series of cartoons, published by The New Leader and drawn by Art Young, which satirizes the 1928 presidential election between Al Smith and Herbert Hoover.

The New Leader's physical appearance underwent a transformation in 1961 when editor Myron Kolatch persuaded noted graphic designer Herb Lubalin to redesign the magazine and stay on as art director. Several artists whose work appeared frequently in The New Leader, Barry Geller, Gerry Gersten, and Joan Berg Victor, worked with Lubalin at Sudler, Hennessey & Lubalin in the early 1960s.

Some artists will appear in all three groups of oversized artwork, and some subjects are dispersed through all sections of the artwork series. Researchers should be aware of this and must consult all the subseries to ensure they have found all relevant artwork.

Contents

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