Gallery Show: Westport's New Yorker Magazine Ties

Linda Darrow, daughter of Whitney Darrow Jr., gazing at New Yorker magazine cover art the Westporter created at the opening Sunday, January 26, 2014 of Westport Historical Society's exhibits on the town's ties to the magazine over the years. Photo: Mike Lauterborn. Read his Westport News article about the show and reception here.

The gallery show features locals who were New Yorker magazine regular contributors; Helen Hokinson, Charles Saxon, Charles Addams, writer John Hersey to name a few. 

It's actually two shows. Here's the press release:

Cover Story: The New Yorker in Westport
and
“Can’t Tell a Book by its Cover…”

Between 1925 and 1989, 16 New Yorkerartists living in and around Westport-Weston produced a remarkable 761 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 share the covers and the story-behind-the-story, focusing especially on the influence ofThe 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.

Sarah Geraghty Herndon and Jim Geraghty, the late New Yorker magazine art editor James Geraghty's children, at the opening Sunday of Westport Historical Society exhibits showcasing local ties to the magazine. Photo: Mike Lauterborn