“Abstract Circle” (original New Yorker spot piece)

No place, 1930. Original spot illustration for The New Yorker by Barbara Shermund, a bold and abstract circular design. The “flapper-like” cartoonist Shermund was hired by New Yorker editor Harold Ross in 1925, fresh out of art school. She became a mainstay of the new magazine over the next two decades, contributing over a thousand drawings and cartoons: “Her distinct style was woven through nearly every issue during the most crucial years of establishing and securing the magazine’s look and reputation.” Spot illustrations like this one were used to fill the space between articles and create a sense of visual flow through the magazine. Shermund’s (truncated) graphic black-and-white drawings “straddle a line between art deco and tribal art, and it is in their regular repetition that a reader could absorb the specific aesthetic brand unique to The New Yorker.” See Caitlin McGurk, Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund. Provenance: The Estate of Barbara Shermund; private collection, N.J. We have yet to identify the publication date of this particular image. An original spot piece for the New Yorker, by an important early contributor enjoying renewed critical attention. Brush, dip pen, and ink, gouache and graphite on board, image measuring 4.5 inches in diameter, board measuring 13.75 x 8 inches. Unsigned. Penciled printer’s measurements in margin, New Yorker stamp and run numbers to verso, light marginal soiling. Archival window mat. (Inventory #: 1004044)