Edward Sorel (born Edward Schwartz, 26 March 1929) is an American illustrator,
caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfred Grévin (1827–1892)
* Alf ...
right-wing politics
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, author ...
and organized religion. Formerly a regular contributor to ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', ''
New York Magazine
''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...
'' and ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', his work is today seen more frequently in '' Vanity Fair''. He has been hailed by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. (May 16, 1993)."The Masters Series: Edward Sorel". ''Visual Arts Journal''. Fall 2011.
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
History
This school was started by ...
. Page 32 As a lifelong New Yorker, a large portion of his work interprets the life, culture and political events of New York City. There is also a large body of work which is nostalgic for the stars of 1930s and 1940s Hollywood when Sorel was a youth. Sorel is noted for his wavy pen-and-ink style, which he describes as "spontaneous direct drawing"."Edward Sorel," Hall of Fame biography /ref>
Early life
Sorel was born and grew up in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, the son of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants. His father was a door-to-door
dry goods
Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...
salesman, while his mother worked full-time in a hatmaking factory. Sorel became serious about drawing when a case of
double pneumonia
Pneumonia can be classified in several ways, most commonly by where it was acquired (hospital versus community), but may also by the area of lung affected or by the causative organism. There is also a combined clinical classification, which combi ...
confined him to bed for nearly a year. He attended the
High School of Music & Art
The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...
, and graduated from the Cooper Union in 1951.
As he explains in ''Mary Astor's Purple Diary'', he took his name from the character Julien Sorel of ''
The Red and the Black
''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (; meaning ''The Red and the Black'') is a historical psychological novel in two volumes by Stendhal, published in 1830. It chronicles the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing ...
'' by Stendhal, with whom he felt akin because both hated their fathers, the clergy and the corrupt society of their time.
Career
Sorel was a co-founder of
Push Pin Studios
Push Pin Studios is a graphic design and illustration studio founded by the influential graphic designers Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast in New York City in 1954. The firm's work, and distinctive illustration style, featuring "bulgy" three-dimen ...
with
Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 195 ...
,
Seymour Chwast
Seymour Chwast (born August 18, 1931) is an American graphic designer, illustrator, and type designer.
Biography
Chwast was born in the Bronx, New York City and in 1949 graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn where he was int ...
, and
Reynold Ruffins
Reynold Dash Ruffins (August 5, 1930– July 11, 2021) was an American painter, illustrator, and graphic designer. With Milton Glaser, Edward Sorel, and Seymour Chwast, Ruffins founded Push Pin Studios in 1954. An illustrator of more than t ...
in 1953.
In 1956 Sorel went freelance. His first published illustration was ''A War for Civilization'' was sold to the satirical magazine ''
The Realist
''The Realist'' was a Humor magazine, magazine of "social-political-religious criticism and satire", intended as a hybrid of a grown-ups version of Mad (magazine), ''Mad'' and Lyle Stuart's anti-censorship monthly ''The Independent.'' Edited and ...
''; in 1961. He then sold the magazine a cartoon satirizing the glamor of the Kennedy family, an early example of his parody movie posters.
Victor Navasky
Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor and academic. He is publisher emeritus of ''The Nation'' and George T. Delacorte Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism at Columbia University. H ...
appointed him art director for the satirical magazine ''
Monocle
A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string or wire. The other ...
'' in 1963. In the later 1960s he produced full-color satirical bestiaries for the left-wing '' Ramparts'', and a series called "Sorel's Unfamiliar Quotations" for ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
''. A profile of Sorel in ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' 15 October 1968 was instrumental in selling "Sorel's News Service" by
King Features
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial ...
to 44 syndicated newspapers for 14 months from later 1969 through 1970. Clay Felker founded ''New York'' magazine in the late 1960s and Glaser hired Sorel as its art director in the late 1970s.
Sorel also contributed covers and features to early issues of '' National Lampoon''. When Felker bought the ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' in 1974 Sorel was given a weekly spot there, which lasted for most of the 1970s. By the mid-1980s Sorel moved to ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', now edited by his old colleague Navasky, and to which he contributed for the next decade. Sorel joined ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' in late 1992 contributing a cover to the first issue edited by new editor
Tina Brown
Christina Hambley Brown, Lady Evans (born 21 November 1953), is an English journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host, and author of ''The Diana Chronicles'' (2007) a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, '' The Vanity Fair Diarie ...
. He has contributed many illustrations, features, and 44 covers to ''The New Yorker''.
He has contributed many features to '' Vanity Fair''. His art has also appeared on the covers of '' Harper's Magazine'', '' Fortune'', ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', '' American Heritage'', '' Atlantic Monthly''. Sorel also had a lengthy association with '' Penthouse'', often lavishly reworking earlier drawings and ideas from his work for ''The Village Voice'' and ''
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
''.
In 2007 he completed the celebrated mural for the Waverly Inn in New York's Greenwich Village, which was published as a book, ''The Mural at the Waverly Inn'' in 2008. In 2009 he completed the mural for the redesigned Monkey Bar Restaurant in New York City.
As a writer, Sorel has reviewed books and exhibitions of fellow cartoonists and illustrators for such publications as ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
The New York Observer
''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
'', and '' American Heritage'' magazine.
In February 2010 he was named to the
Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...
's Honorary Board of distinguished achievers.
In 2016, Sorel published "Mary Astor's Purple Diary," which was received with praise. In late December 2016, Sorel receive rave book review by
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
.
Personal life
Sorel has been married twice. He met his second wife, Nancy Caldwell, in 1963 at a
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...
MorningsideFriends Meeting, and married her in 1965. Sorel and Caldwell have collaborated on two books, with Caldwell writing the text and Sorel doing the illustrations. Sorel has four children: Madeline Sorel Kahn, Leo Sorel, Jenny Sorel, Katherine Sorel; and six grandchildren: Saskia Kahn, Sabella Kahn, Walter Sorel, Adam Sorel, Dulio Sorel, and Thelonious Sorel.
Exhibitions
In 1998 the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, devoted several rooms to an exhibition of his caricatures. Other one-man shows include the Graham Gallery and the Davis and Langdale Gallery in New York City, the Susan Conway Gallery in Washington, DC, the Art Institute of Boston, Galerie Bartsch & Chariau in Munich, Germany, and Chris Beetles Gallery in London.
Awards
He is a recipient of the Auguste St. Gaudens Medal for Professional Achievement from Cooper Union (his alma mater), the Hamilton King Award from The
Society of Illustrators
The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition.
History
Founding
The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...
, the Page One Award from the
Newspaper Guild
The NewsGuild-CWA is a trade union, labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's busin ...
George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
for Satiric Drawing, and the "Karikaturpreis der deutschen Anwaltschaft" from the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover, Germany."Edward Sorel" Author Bios, ''The Nation'' magazine website. Accessed Sept. 12, 2010. He received the National Cartoonist Society Advertising and Illustration Award for 1993. In 2001, Sorel was given the Hunter CollegeJames Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001 the
Art Directors Club of New York
The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award for ...
elected him to their Hall of Fame, the first cartoonist since John Held Jr. to be so honored. Ed Sorel serves as an Honorary Board Member of the
Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many ...
."FFRF Honorary Board" FFRF website accessed Dec. 18, 2012.
In 2011, the
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
History
This school was started by ...
in Manhattan honored Sorel as part of their Masters Series, an award and exhibition that honors great visual communicators. The SVA produced a documentary about Sorel entitled ''Nice Work if You Can Get It'' directed by his son, Leo. The documentary is now streaming on Vimeo.
In 2022, he was awarded the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society.
Bibliography
Adults' books
* ''How to be President: Some Hard and Fast Rules'' (Grove Press, 1960)
* ''Moon Missing'' (Simon & Schuster, 1962)
* ''Sorel's World's Fair'' (McGraw-Hill, 1964)
* ''Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy'' (Swallow Press, 1972)
* ''Superpen: the Cartoons and Caricatures of Edward Sorel'' (Random House, 1978)
* ''Unauthorized Portraits'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997)
* ''Literary Lives'' (Bloomsbury, 2006)
* ''Just When You Thought Things Couldn't Get Worse: The Cartoons and Comic Strips of Edward Sorel'' (W.W. Norton, 2007)
* ''The Mural at the Waverly Inn: A Portrait of Greenwich Village Bohemians'' (Pantheon, 2008)
* ''
Mary Astor
Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...
's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936'' (Liveright Publishing, 2016)
*
* ''Word People'', by Nancy Caldwell Sorel (American Heritage Press, 1970)
* ''First Encounters: a Book of Memorable Meetings'', by Nancy Caldwell Sorel (Knopf, 1994)
As Illustrator
* ''King Carlo of Capri'', by Warren Miller (Harcourt, Brace & Comp., 1958)
* ''Pablo Paints a Picture'', by Warren Miller (Little, Brown, 1959)
* ''The Goings-on at Little Wishful'', by Warren Miller (Little, Brown, 1959)
* ''Gwendolyn the Miracle Hen'', by Nancy Sherman (Golden Press, 1961)
* ''Gwendolyn and the Weathercock'' by Nancy Sherman (Golden Press, 1963)
* ''What's Good For A Five-Year-Old'', by William Cole (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969)
* ''The Duck in the Gun'', by Joy Cowley (Doubleday, 1969)
* ''Jay Williams' Magical Storybook'' (American Heritage Press, 1972)
* ''The Pirates of Penzance,'' by Ward Botsford (Random House, 1981)
* ''Jack and the Beanstalk,'' by Eric Metaxas (Rabbit Ears Books, 2006)
* ''The Complete Fables of la Fontaine: A New Translation in Verse'', by Jean de la Fontaine and Craig Hill (Arcade Pub., 2008)
* ''Certitude: A Profusely Illustrated Guide to Blockheads and Bullheads, Past and Present'', by Adam Begley (Harmony Books, 2009)
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...
, and
David Levine
David Levine (December 20, 1926 – December 29, 2009) was an American artist and illustrator best known for his caricatures in ''The New York Review of Books''. Jules Feiffer has called him "the greatest caricaturist of the last half of the ...
of ''The Undressed Art: Why We Draw'' of 18th century caricature of 19th century caricature Review of caricaturist
Miguel Covarrubias
Miguel Covarrubias, also known as José Miguel Covarrubias Duclaud (22 November 1904 — 4 February 1957) was a Mexican painter, caricaturist, illustrator, ethnologist and art historian. Along with his American colleague Matthew W. Stirling, h ...
Gluyas Williams
Gluyas Williams (July 23, 1888 – February 13, 1982) was an American cartoonist, notable for his contributions to ''The New Yorker'' and other major magazines. He was also syndicated in a number of newspapers, including the ''Boston Globe'' ...
James Thurber
James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' and collected ...
Herblock
Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October13, 1909October7, 2001), was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentaries on national domestic and foreign policy.
During the course of a career stretch ...
William Steig
William Steig (November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books, best known for the picture book '' Shrek!'', which inspired the film series of the same name, as well as others that i ...
Ludwig Bemelmans
Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austrian-American writer and illustrator of children's books and adult novels. He is known best for the ''Madeline'' picture books. Six were published, the first in 1939.
Early life
...
Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer
''Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer'' is a weekly comic strip written and drawn by Ben Katchor since 1988. It is published in ''The Jewish Daily Forward'' and various alternative weekly newspapers.
Katchor embodies his love of the fading ...
'' by
Ben Katchor
Ben Katchor (born November 19, 1951) is an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for the comic strip '' Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer''. He has contributed comics and drawings to ''The Forward'', ''The New Yorker,'' ''Metro ...