Abe Birnbaum

Abe Birnbaum (1899– June 19, 1966) was an American illustrator and cartoonist in New York City. His work appeared in newspapers, magazines, and books, including the 1953 Caldecott Honor picture book Green Eyes. In his 39-year career, Birnbaum created about 150 covers for The New Yorker magazine.

Biography Abe Birnbaum was born in Manhattan in New York City. He studied illustration under Boardman Robinson and Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, and went on to a career in cartoons and illustrations, often selling his work to newspapers and magazines. Birnbaum's first drawing, sketch of Theodore Dreiser, was printed in the New York Herald Tribune. Birnbaum's illustrations and spot drawings appeared frequently throughout the New Yorker to punctuate and indent text columns. One drawing of a keyhole that accompanied a New Yorker story on burglary was described as "the most intensely keyhole keyhole there has ever been." Birnbaum was known to often say certain refrains: "Nothing is ugly" and "Everything is what it is."

Personal life and death On June 19, 1966, Birnbaum died at Lenox Hill Hospital at the age of 67, just three weeks after one of his New Yorker covers appeared. He was married to Frieda Roberts, who survived him in his death. His obituary in the New Yorker described him as "a burly, black-browed man with dark-bright eyes and a bantering, affectionate nature". The piece said that Birnbaum "painted and drew, if not as easily as he breathed, as naturally".

At the time of his death, the New Yorker had a large store of unpublished covers and drawings as a result of Birnbaum's "exceptional productivity" and the magazine could continue to print his work for years.