If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am passionate for learning about history through looking at drawings, specifically the drawings from The New Yorker magazine.

Drawing by Barbara Shermund

I am teaching a virtual course on the history of The New Yorker Cartoon through the NY organization, 92NY. Here is a link to the course if you want to sign up! It starts March 16th and goes four consecutive Thursday evenings. Would love to see you there, and please spread the word.

Since it’s Women’s History Month, I thought I would share a few from women artists of the past. Through these drawings, sometimes one can see that things have changed; in many ways they have not. These artists chronicled their worlds with humor and drawing. Humor can reflect the zeitgeist of a time, and while sometimes we don’t “get” the reference, there are many that resonate 70 years later. It’s fascinating.

In my class, I will share New Yorker cartoons and talk about many different artists, both the men and women, as well as the few Black creators from the past (there was one that we know of before recent times, in the 1930’s, E. Simms Campbell). I talk about their work, their lives, the editors, and everything in between that I have learned. I taught this course last year in two sessions, and this year the 92NY agreed to extend it to four sessions, so I can take my time showing you things, and we can have questions after each class. We will discuss works up to present-day artists.

Enjoy!