Fun/ No Fun
BRUCE MUSEUM HOLDS EXHIBIT ON PROLIFIC CARTOONIST
Looking through The New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson’s artwork for an exhibition at the Bruce Museum was an enjoyable experience for the two curators.
“We spent a lot of time giggling as we went through the material,” said the Bruce’s Kathy Reichenbach, the show’s co-curator.
Stevenson, a Greenwich resident who died in 2017 at age 87, had 2,000 cartoons published in the magazine over five decades.
He also wrote and illustrated many dozen children’s books, illustrated books for other
well-known children’s writers, such as Dr. Seuss, authored young adult novels and poetry books, and penned a regular column for The New York Times.
Kathleen Holko, the show’s other curator from the Bruce, said The New Yorker “considered him their most prolific cartoonist in their history.”
Holko said looking through original illustrations from his children’s books, rather than the refined versions that appeared in print, provided insight into Stevenson’s thinking.
“You can see what Jim’s personality was like in some of the notes he wrote to himself,” she said. “You felt a connection to him.”
The exhibit, “Fun / No Fun: Children’s Book Art by James Stevenson,” runs through April 18 at the Bruce in Greenwich. It features original illustrations of wellknown characters from his many children’s books, such as the grumpy Mr. Worst, whoppertelling Grandpa, goodhearted witch Emma, and all the animals from Mud Flat.
The show’s title comes from a 1994 autobiographical book Stevenson wrote about activities he enjoyed or didn’t enjoy growing up
The exhibit is organized by seasonal activities highlighted in his drawings, such as building a snowman in the winter, summer camp camaraderie and jumping into a pile of autumn leaves.
“There was such a trove to choose from, we needed a framework for the exhibit,” Reichenbach said. “The seasons seemed like a good fit, because it’s a family show and so many items we looked through focused on the seasons.”
Josie Merck Stevenson, his widow, exhibit honorary chair and a painter, said Stevenson “had a special way of looking at the world. He would delight in nature and in making people laugh.”
She said he’d be particularly excited about the new show because it allows visitors to see his work “from a children’s perspective.”
Stevenson and Merck, who married in 1993, lived in Greenwich’s Cos Cob section and would visit the Bruce Museum to view art. Earlier in his life, Stevenson raised nine children with his first wife on the shoreline in East Lyme.
In 1968 he collaborated with his son James, then age 8, on the first
THE SHOW’S TITLE COMES FROM A 1994 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL BOOK . STEVENSON WROTE ABOUT ACTIVITIES HE ENJOYED OR DIDN’T ENJOY GROWING UP.
children’s book he published, “If I Owned a Candy Store.”
Susan Hirschman, founder of Greenwillow Books, which published many of Stevenson’s works, called Stevenson prolific and unique.
“He was clever, witty, subtle, funny, tender and smart — and yet he never talked down to children,” she said. “(His) books are bursting with emotion — awaiting their readers with enthusiasm.”
Stevenson grew up in Westchester County, N.Y., graduated from Yale University and served in the Marines. He began his career as a reporter for Life magazine but soon switched to art.
His cartoons began appearing in The New Yorker in the late 1950s, and eventually were featured on 80 of the magazine’s covers.
His work was the focus of a 2019 documentary film, “Stevenson: Lost and Found,” named after the regular column he wrote for The New York Times.
Reichenbach said footage showed Stevenson constantly working at his craft. “He was always sketching, doodling, keeping his hands busy, doing something,” she said. “It was a way for him to come up with ideas. He had a good work ethic.”
Holko said Stevenson’s children remember the sound of their father sketching with his pen on a pad “was a constant in their household and a part of their childhood.”
In his picture books, according to the biography. jrank.org website of brief biographies of wellknown people, Stevenson created “gently humorous, animated stories that depict the world of childhood with understanding and wit. He chooses sibling rivalry, nighttime fears, boredom and other concerns of family life as subjects and approaches them from a child's point of view.”
Holden said many of his autobiographical books, no matter the age of the targeted audience, were “very nostalgic, looking back at growing up in the New York City suburbs.”
Through characters in his children’s books, she said, “you see the ultimate highs and good things that can happen in your life, as well as the lows. His characters are both happy and grumpy people.”
Reichenbach said his stories and illustrations are full of hilarious “twists and turns. When you really look at the drawings, you find these funny little nuggets in them.”
The Bruce, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, is open Tuesday to Sunday. Due to COVID-19, advance reservations are required, masks must be worn and capacity is limited. Find details at brucemuseum.org or call 203-8690376.