A rescued archive of vintage New York City from a forgotten ash can artist
After cartoonist, educator, and editor James Sturm discovered the vintage book Mopey Dick and the Duke, he set off to find out more about the author, the deceased and unknown cartoonist Denys Wortman. Sturm immediately took note of the masterful drawings—casual, confident, and brimming with personality—and wondered how this cartoonist escaped his radar. After some online sleuthing, Sturm connected with Wortman’s son, who relayed that an archive of more than five thousand illustrations was literally sitting in his shed in dire need of rescuing. For more than thirty-five years, the illustrations had been fighting such elements as hungry rodents, rusty paper clips, and even a blizzard. Wortman’s son also had drawers full of his father’s correspondence, including letters and holiday cards from William Steig and Walt Disney. Original artwork by artists and personal friends—including Peggy Bacon, Milt Gross, Isabel Bishop, and Reginald Marsh—were also saved. The fact that Wortman’s luminary peers held him in the highest regard, coupled with his artistic prowess, makes his absence from both fine art and comics history puzzling. So Sturm and Brandon Elston set out to create a beautiful tribute to the forgotten master.
Denys Wortman’s New York is not only a tribute to Wortman; it is a tribute to New York, the city that sparked Wortman’s voracious creative output. From coal cellars to rooftops, from opera houses to boardinghouses, Wortman recorded the sailors, dishwashers, con artists, entertainers, pushcart peddlers, construction workers, musicians, hoboes, society matrons, young mothers, secretaries, and students who collectively made the city what it was and is today.
| ||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Denys Wortman (1887–1954) was born in Saugerties, New York. He studied at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, where his classmates included George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, and Edward Hopper. In 1924, he took over the comic feature Metropolitan Movies in the pages of the New York World and found his true passion as a cartoonist.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
|
Length:
1:13
Mins
Going through the drawings in this book is like time traveling back into the 30s and 40s New York. You get that sense of nostalgia if you've been to New York, or that element of surprise if you have not - just like a tourist.
There are over 200 pencil drawings selected from the 5000 drawn by Denys Wortman, a cartoonist, born in 1887.
Each drawing is a beautiful snapshot of the life back them, captured in time. You can really feel how the New York city was like. You can see the roads jammed with classic Henry Ford cars, beach goers at Coney Island, roses were 2 cents then, workers at their old offices filled with papers and forms, Grand Central Station and how it has not changed, rainy day with running pedestrians on the streets, the ceiling fan on the subway train, Radio City wasn't finished yet, and so many more. There are so many interesting people to see.
The drawings filled with details waiting to be discovered. There are also captions with each but they are hand written and difficult to read (at least to me). The pictures speak for themselves anyway.
This book is a gem, highly recommended, especially to sketchbook lovers.
(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
There are over 200 pencil drawings selected from the 5000 drawn by Denys Wortman, a cartoonist, born in 1887.
Each drawing is a beautiful snapshot of the life back them, captured in time. You can really feel how the New York city was like. You can see the roads jammed with classic Henry Ford cars, beach goers at Coney Island, roses were 2 cents then, workers at their old offices filled with papers and forms, Grand Central Station and how it has not changed, rainy day with running pedestrians on the streets, the ceiling fan on the subway train, Radio City wasn't finished yet, and so many more. There are so many interesting people to see.
The drawings filled with details waiting to be discovered. There are also captions with each but they are hand written and difficult to read (at least to me). The pictures speak for themselves anyway.
This book is a gem, highly recommended, especially to sketchbook lovers.
(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Denys Wortman's single panel newspaper feature depicted 1930s and 40s New York street and domestic life with great humor and affection. His drawings all have the ring of truth about them, rich with wonderful graphic detail. The full page drawings in this excellent collection are reproduced from original art, so things lost in newspaper printing are all restored here. Another great "lost" cartoonist brought back from the brink!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By meltone
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
You often wonder how great books about insignificant people hit the market. At the recent opening of the presentation of this book (Denys Wortmans' New York) at the Museum of the city of New York,Denys Worthman (the son) said that for years no one was interested in the 5000 or so original cartoons he had in storage,until the editor of the book heard of them and realised the treasure to be uncovered. If you would like to see what NYC looked like and sounded like 60 - 70 years ago, buy the book or go to the Museum and see a fraction of the originals that are displayed in the book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
not what i thought
amusing cartoons, not great. was looking for more photographic material. kind of like New Yorker cartoons. very accomplished artists though.
Published 2 months ago by Carol
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book has opened a wonderful world of observation!
The editors & family of Dennys Wortman deserve ultimate praise for sharing this artist in book form.
It is amazingly current in thought and circumstance... Read more
It is amazingly current in thought and circumstance... Read more
Published on December 25, 2010 by Beatrice L. Wotherspoon
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
