Joseph Farris, who contributed over 300 cartoons to the New Yorker has passed at the age of 90.
Fellow New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin writes:
Born in 1924, in Newark, NJ, Joe was a longtime Connecticut resident. In his early days he was a student of another Connecticut cartoonist, the great Richard Taylor. Joe contributed close to 300 cartoons to the magazine, including two covers. Collections of his work include Just A Cog In The Wheel, published in 1989, and UFO ? Ho Ho, published in 1968. His most recent book, A Soldier?s Sketchbook: From the Frontlines of World War II, was published in 2011 to excellent reviews.
Joe was a cartoonist?s cartoonist, able to deliver captionless cartoons, sometimes multi panelled, as well as cartoons of the moment, wrapping them up in a style that was his and his alone.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Joseph Farris was one of the best gag cartoonists out there. Terrific stuff.
Joseph Farris was much more than a “New Yorker” cartoonist. In the 1970’s, when I first started following magazine cartoons, his work was everywhere. Of course, this was back when there was an “everywhere” to be in. You’d see his cartoons in all the best gag cartoon markets, Saturday Review, New Woman, Ladies Home Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, etc. If my memory is accurate, I believe he was also syndicated for a couple of years with a topical panel through Tribune Media / Chicago Tribune – NY News Syndicate.
His cartoon memoir of his time on the front lines is a must-read – all of his work was SO DARN GOOD. His work always stood heads and shoulders above most, not just his superb draftsmanship, but also his sharp eye to the architecture, fashion, politics, etc – truly one of the great cartoonists to come out of the Greatest Generation…
Bob Mankoff, Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker, just posted this homage:
http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/bob-mankoff/joseph-farris-cartoons
A great cartoonist. One of my first book of cartoons as a kid featured his work.