#OTD in 1939
(alternatives)
Cover of The New Yorker, March 18, 1939
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #makeup
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Hashtag
#barbarashermund
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Spot drawing of a chorus line by Barbara Shermund.
A Century of The New Yorker at the New York Public Library attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-cent… #BarbaraShermund #TheNewYorker
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American artist Barbara Shermund presents herself as a light-skinned adult woman turning her head over her left shoulder to meet us with a steady, assessing gaze. Her green eyes are sharply outlined beneath dark, arched brows. Her lips are painted a vivid red that echoes a bold red scarf wrapped high around her sandy blonde hair. The scarf, knotted with darker accents, crowns her head like a flourish that is part practical covering, part statement. She wears a white, buttoned blouse loosely modeled in translucent washes that let the paper’s brightness show through, with sketchy lines describing seams and folds rather than fully sealing them. Her posture suggests she is seated. Behind her, an interior of quick, vertical and rectangular strokes infer doorframes or window casings, a muted wall, and a chair back. The palette is restrained with grays, olives, and smoky mauves so the reds (scarf and lips) read as deliberate punctuation. The overall effect is intimate and immediate, as if the artist worked quickly from a mirror, letting the drawing breathe and the watercolor pool, thin, and streak where the brush moved fast. Shermund was a cartoonist and illustrator best known for her early, influential work for The New Yorker. By 1935, she was already an established, high-output magazine cartoonist including other major magazines of the era (e.g., Esquire, Life, Collier’s). This portrait aligns with Shermund’s 1930s shift into her “breezy, painterly, loose” signature style. This self-portrait is not a softened likeness, but a modern, self-possessed persona that knows it is being looked at … and looks back. The turned body with the direct eyes suggests both independence and performance, as though she’s stepping into view on her own terms. The red scarf operates like a visual signature: a banner of confidence, a touch of theatricality, and a refusal to fade into the background tones of the room. It’s a portrait insisting that wit and authority can live in the same face.
“Self-portrait with red head scarf” by Barbara Shermund (American) - Watercolor on paper / c. 1935 - Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (Columbus, Ohio) #WomenInArt #BarbaraShermund #Shermund #art #artText #BillyIrelandCartoonLibraryMuseum #SelfPortrait #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists
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"We had a terrible argument. I told him lots of girls kept right on with their jobs after marriage."
Pictorial Review, June 1, 1947
Barbara Shermund: Working Girl attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/11/barbar… #BarbaraShermund
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Friday Spill: Auctioned Drawings Of Interest…Barbara Shermund, Charles Addams, Peter Arno; Video Of Interest…Bob Eckstein On Jason Chatfield’s “Draw Me Anything” | #Inkspill michaelmaslin.com/friday-spill-a… #BarbaraShermund
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"We had a terrible argument. I told him lots of girls kept right on with their jobs after marriage."
Original art
Pictorial Review, January 1949
Barbara Shermund: Working Girl attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/11/barbar… #BarbaraShermund #KissingBooth
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#OTD in 1925
Cover of The New Yorker, October 3, 1925
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #harvest
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#OTD in 1941
Cover of The New Yorker, September 6, 1941
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund
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Last Night's Swann Salon attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/06/last-n… #BarbaraShermund #TomToro #JBHandelsman
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Barbara Shermund's cartoons are great - smart, sharp, elegant.
#thenewyorker
#lizadonnelly
#barbarashermund
#cartooning
lizadonnelly.substack.com/p/the-cartoo...
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#OTD in 1944
Cover of The New Yorker, August 5, 1944
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #beach #beachlife #beachbody #suntan #tanning
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A woman holds a copy of the book "Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins," by Caitlin McGurk (Fantagraphics, 2024). She is in front of a mural by Jason Brammer.
Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins. Model: Ardis
The mural behind the model is by Jason Brammer and Chicago Truborn. The book, by Catilin McGurk, is about cartoonist Barbara Shermund, and is published by @fantagraphics.bsky.social.
#barbarashermund #caitlinmcgurk #photography #portraits
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#OTD in 1933
(penthouse neighbors)
Cover of The New Yorker, July 29, 1933
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #penthouse #terrace #womensfashion
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#OTD in 1935
(at the drugstore)
Cover of The New Yorker, June 29, 1935
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #drugstore
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"Women like you, Geoff."
"Say, did you notice that, too?"
Barbara Shermund
The New Yorker, November 20, 1926
Peter Arno: The Whoops Sisters in Need of Mothballs attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/06/peter-… #BarbaraShermund #TheNewYorker
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#OTD in 1940
(‘On the Daisy Chain’ at Vassar - & its hazards)
June 8, 1940
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #VassarCollege #graduation #commencement
(Select juniors, named by the senior class, held a daisy chain between which the girls graduating marched.)
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Barbara Shermund at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration" attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/02/barbar… #BarbaraShermund
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Four cartoons
My Copy of Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/02/shermu… #BarbaraShermund
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@womensartbluesky.bsky.social A fabulous show at the Brandywine Museum has been extended until July. Be sure to see it. Was on CBS Sunday Morning show. Let’s not forget such #BarbaraShermund #artist #feminist A #womanartist timeless & memorable! www.brandywine.org/museum/exhib...
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Original art
March 18, 1939
Barbara Shermund at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration" attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/02/barbar… #BarbaraShermund #TheNewYorker
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This show #BrandywineArtMuseum closes soon & going to see it Thursday. #feminist #BarbaraShermund #artistlife www.brandywine.org/museum/exhib...
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"Yes, we're going to Europe—Henry's drinking too much"
1930s
Barbara Shermund at "Drawn From The New Yorker: A Centennial Celebration" attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/02/barbar… #BarbaraShermund
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My Copy of Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund attemptedbloggery.blogspot.com/2025/02/shermu… #BarbaraShermund #TheNewYorker
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#OTD in 1939
(alternatives)
Cover of The New Yorker, March 18, 1939
Barbara Shermund
#TheNewYorkerCover #BarbaraShermund #makeup
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