The Drawings of One of New York’s Original 'Mad Men'
Sunday, September 14, 2014
WNYC
Illustration for "How Do You Love Me" in Woman's Home Companion, August 1950. Gouache on illustration board. © Mac Conner.
(© Mac Conner. Courtesy of the artist)
A new exhibit highlights the work of one of New York’s original “Mad Men.”
Illustrator Mac Conner's drawings are at the Museum of the City of New York.
Conner worked from the 1940s to the 1960s doing drawings for magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, and ads for companies such as United Airlines and General Motors.
Terrence Brown, guest curator of the show and former director of the
Society of Illustrators, said Conner's advertising and editorial
illustrations helped shape the popular image of postwar America.
"To see the way your hair is supposed to be, that you have lipstick on, that matches your nails and you wear gloves,that a man was well dressed, his hat was just so, his tie was contemporary," he said. "He didn't go to Vogue or Vanity Fair to see what women were wearing, he looked on the streets."
Brown said that Conner's work made it to the first important book about the field, called "The Illustrator in America," published in 1962 by Walt Reed.
"That tells me, from 1950 to 1960, Mac's team was in the top 20 and that, that is saying a lot in any industry," he said.
Conner is still alive, and will turn 101 years old in November.
"Mac Conner: A New York Life" will be on view until January 11, 2015.
Illustrator Mac Conner's drawings are at the Museum of the City of New York.
Conner worked from the 1940s to the 1960s doing drawings for magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, and ads for companies such as United Airlines and General Motors.
Illustration for "All The Good Guys Died" in Cosmopolitan, January 1951. © Mac Conner (Courtesy of the artist)
"To see the way your hair is supposed to be, that you have lipstick on, that matches your nails and you wear gloves,that a man was well dressed, his hat was just so, his tie was contemporary," he said. "He didn't go to Vogue or Vanity Fair to see what women were wearing, he looked on the streets."
Brown said that Conner's work made it to the first important book about the field, called "The Illustrator in America," published in 1962 by Walt Reed.
"That tells me, from 1950 to 1960, Mac's team was in the top 20 and that, that is saying a lot in any industry," he said.
Conner is still alive, and will turn 101 years old in November.
"Mac Conner: A New York Life" will be on view until January 11, 2015.
Illustration
for "The Girl Who Was Crazy About Jimmy Durante" in Woman's Day,
September 1953. © Mac Conner (Courtesy of the artist)
Illustration for "Killer in the Club Car" in This Week Magazine, November 14, 1954. © Mac Conner (Courtesy of the artist)
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Gisele Regatao, Senior Editor, Culture, WNYC News
Gisele Regatao is the Senior Editor for Culture for WNYC News, where she reports, edits and curates features, news and criticism across the creative arts and the sweeping intellectual terrain that make New York one of the most fascinating places in the universe.
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