Outgoing

This event is in the past.It took place on May 7, 2026 at Society of Illustrators.

Upcoming at Society of Illustrators
Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker 1
Fine Arts Talk
Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker 2
Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker 3
Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker 4
Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker 5

Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker

At Society of Illustrators

Lenox Hill

Before Eustace Tilley became The New Yorker's dandy mascot, Rea Irvin created The Smythes, a 1930s comic strip about social climbers that satirized suburban ambition with graceful, elegant line work. Join cartoonist R. Kikuo Johnson and scholar Caitlin McGurk for a conversation about this recently rediscovered masterpiece and the legacy of the magazine's founding art editor.

New Yorker history
comic strip revival
suburban satire
cartoon scholarship

Tips

🎤with R. Kikuo Johnson & Caitlin McGurk
⚠️stairs only — no elevator access
📚book reprint just released

Society of Illustrators

128 E 63rd St, New York, NY 10065, USA

+1 212-838-2560

$10-$15

societyillustrators.org

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Rea Irvin’s The Smythes: a 1930s Unsung Masterpiece of Cartooning by the First Art Director at The New Yorker - Outgoing