Edward Sorel’s wonderfully loose and gestural cartoon illustrations have been featured on the covers and interiors of magazines like The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Harpers, Forbes, The Nation, Esquire and The New York Times Magazine for a number of years.
His pen and ink and watercolor images capture personalities, places and situations with wry humor and an uncanny sense of place.
Sorel studied at Cooper Union and was one of the con-founders of the legendary Push Pin Studios. He has had a number of one-man shows, including a 1998 multi-room show at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC (see my post on The National Portrait Gallery).
A collection was published in conjunction with the show, Unauthorized Portraits from 1997. He has also illustrated a number of books and created numerous posters.
There is an interview here, conducted by artist Zina Saunders, along with Saunders’ portrait of Sorel. (Here’s my post on Zina Saunders.)
Sorel’s work has been compared to other modern masters of caricature like David Levine, and even to historic figures like Daumier and Hogarth.
A sucker for anything with animals, I really like this post! I’m a big fan of checking out all of the fabulous illustrators featured on the cover of the New Yorker. You are accurate in your description of the loose, gestural style. I like both of the drawings you posted – maybe it is that I like an earthy palette and dig his sketchy ink lines.
… and that little chimp with the pacifier is awesome!
Thanks for sharing this illustrator’s work.
I am an intermediate artist, and I too love anything that has to do with animals. I enjoyed reading this post, and I even bookmarked this site into my browser. Thanks a bunch!
Art is my life, without it I am just an existing shell. I love all the articles here, and I too am a big fan of the New Yorker, mainly because of the vivid illustrations on the cover.