URBAN EXPLORER / RESTAURANT ART OF ARTHUR GETZ

AS SEEN ON THE COVERS

OF NEW YORKER MAGAZINE

GUEST BLOG—By Lee Lorenz, former New Yorker art editor and cartoon editor--In 50 years at New Yorker magazine, Arthur Getz (1913 to 1996), produced 210 covers--more than any other contributor.

Getz on Getz, 1950

He drew inspiration equally from the restaurants and nightclubs of Manhattan; street scenes of New York City and the apple orchards of New England, but his covers, taken as a group, seem really to be about the joy of painting itself. He preferred a high-keyed palette and laid on his colors with energy and a directness that often led him to the edge of Abstract Expressionism.

The apparent spontaneity of his work was deceptive; numberless sketches preceded each cover, and often three or more "finished" versions were offered to New Yorker decision makers.

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