Cover Story: The New
Yorker in Westport
and
Can't Tell a Book by
its Cover...
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Who knew? Between
1925 and 1989, 13 New Yorker artists living in and around
Westport-Weston produced a remarkable 695 covers for The New
Yorker Magazine. Some 44 of the covers actually depict Westport
scenes. From Jan. 26 to April 26, 2014, The Westport Historical Society's next
two Exhibits:
Cover Story: The New Yorker in Westport
Find out what's happening in Westportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
and
Can't Tell a Book by its Cover...
share the covers and
the story-behind-the-story, focusing especially on the influence of The New
Yorker's "idea man" turned Art Editor , James
Geraghty, who--with wife Eva--first lived on Rayfield Rd, Westport before
moving to Old Redding Rd. in Weston. Throughout the Geraghty era (1939 to
1973), often with an element of wit, The New Yorker's cover
images mirrored the commuter lifestyle of his Connecticut-based artists,
including Garrett Price, James Daugherty, Perry Barlow, Alice Harvey, Helen
Hokinson, Edna Eicke, Arthur Getz, Reginald Massie, Whitney Darrow, Jr.,
Charles Saxon, Albert Hubbell, Donald Reilly and John Norment. Curator Eve
Potts draws from artifacts, anecdotes and correspondence provided by the
families of Geraghty and these artists, who also did innumerable
drawings for the magazine.
AND,
it's well known that New Yorker covers offer no clue to
the magazine's content.
Never,
as visitors will see in "Can't Tell a Book by its Cover..." in
the Mollie Donovan Gallery, was that more true than the Aug. 31, 1946 New
Yorker, a single-story issue. The story? Hiroshima,
by writer John Hersey, who shortly thereafter moved to Turkey Hill South (the
home later sold to Andy & Martha Stewart) in Westport.
Hersey ,
considered the "Father of the New Journalism," not only was a
member of Geraghty's local New Yorker Friday afternoon bowling
team (Westport Bowling Lanes, in winter) and golf team (Longshore, in summer),
he served for a period of time on the Town of Westport Board of Education.
The
opening reception for these two memorable exhibits is Sunday, Jan. 26, 3pm at
the Westport Historical Society, 25 Avery Place, Westport, CT 06880.
