Cartoon -- From Life's Collection of Old Prints.

Irvin, Rea. (1881- 1972)

1913-04-10

Periodicals -- Illustrations.

Caricatures and cartoons.

American wit and humor, Pictorial.

Life magazine covers were on a variety of topics. Each issue had a theme that was introduced by the cover and reflected throughout the issue. The theme of this issue was Evolution.

Rea Irvin was born in San Francisco in 1881, He began his career as an unpaid cartoonist for the San Francisco Examiner. His formal art training was at the Hopkins Art Institute, where he stayed for 6 months. He moved to New York at the age of 25 and became a contributor to several publications, including Life. He rose to the position of art editor at Life. He also worked as a commercial artist. Irvin was fired from Life in 1924, but was soon hired by the New Yorker, where he was responsible for much of the design of the magazine, and was also responsible for the first cover of the magazine as well as the New Yorker typeface. For Life Magazine, he did a number of themed series that appeared over several months, mostly with historical themes. He retired to the Virgin Islands and died there in 1972 at the age of 90.

Quarter page cartoon from Irvin's series on Old Prints. Most of these were humorous illustrations of Bible stories.

Volume 61, number 1589, page 730.

Scholars wishing to cite this item should include item title, volume and issue, Life, New York, N.Y: Life, date, Jen Library Archives and Special Collections periodical collection, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and the item's url.

Life, New York, NY: Life, 1883-1936

Image

Illustration

9 1/2 x 11 inches

Print on paper

Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.