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The Pigeon Files, Part the Second
Filed under: The Squib Report Tagged: art, Complete New Yorker, covers, Dana Fradon, Harry Bliss, Jackson Pollock, museums, Norman Rockwell, pigeons, sculpture, technology, YouTube
Squib Report bureau chief Martin Schneider continues his investigation into the worthy subject of pigeons in The New Yorker.
My new favorite New Yorker cover artist is Harry Bliss, and I have a feeling I’m not alone—Emily has already noted that his lovely, witty April 30 cover has drawn kudos from as far afield as New Zealand, since which time Jason Kottke has pointed out an interesting reaction to the cover, even leading to the discovery of a likely Norman Rockwell connection. Oh, that messy Jackson Pollock does attract satirists, does he not? (If I hadn’t temporarily misplaced my Complete New Yorker Disk 5, I could direct readers to Dana Fradon’s November 5, 1960, cartoon referencing Pollock in the full knowledge of its contents.)
That Bliss is poking fun at the YouTube generation does not seem in doubt. The interesting question is whether the young lady depicted partakes in the same technophilia as her companion or is, instead, nonplussed. The relevant data here seems to be the distance between the two, along with the subtle curvature of her shoulder away from him. Dissenters might point out that the gap is simply necessary for the reader to see the digicam.
Has Bliss weighed in? Or is he letting the picture speak for itself (without the help of digicams)? And while I’m asking questions, does anyone know the name of the Pollock painting in the image? Is it at MoMA?
All this is preamble to a Bliss-related pigeon item. Turns out my concern about the lack of pigeons in recent New Yorker covers was utterly unfounded, as this typically fanciful Bliss cover of June 3, 2002, demonstrates. It’s just as witty as the Pollock/digicam one.
As many New Yorkers and tourists are aware, the famous lions are known as Patience and Fortitude—they were once known as Lady Astor and Lord Lenox!—with Patience occupying the left-hand slot. So that makes it Patience depicted in the cover. Waiting more than ninety years to munch on some primo Columba livia (Latin for “lives near Columbia University,” as you know)—now that is patience, to be sure.
—Martin Schneider
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Hello! We're a small band of media enthusiasts, culture addicts, and journalists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, formerly a New Yorker fan site, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, politics, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Writing on theater: reviews (for Time Out Chicago; imperfect but workable search results)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
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- Carolita Johnson
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