Artist/Maker Barney Tobey (American, 1906 - 1989)

Astor Place: gridded study for painting

Watercolor, gouache, ink and wash, and graphite on heavy art board

Unframed: 11 7/8 × 24 in. (30.2 × 61 cm)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David M. Tobey

2015.40.3

Barney Tobey’s preparatory cartoon, which is squared for transfer, is the final study for his oil painting Astor Place. The large nocturnal scene captures the bustling urban plaza with its subway entrance. Upon completing high school, Tobey received a scholarship to attend Parson’s New School for Design then called New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, an early leader in “commercial illustration” and the forerunner to today’s advertising and graphic design. Tobey did not stay in that program, leaving after his first year to take a position in the art department of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn. After six years at BBDO, Tobey became a freelance artist and cartoonist, continuing his artistic education at the Art Students League. The preparatory cartoon belongs to a trove of works by Barney Tobey, including: 103 cartoons, many of which were published in The New Yorker; 29 preparatory watercolors for Ian Fleming’s Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang; an early oil painting; and a watercolor study for a painting of Astor Place. A native New Yorker, Barney Toby was a prolific cartoon artist and illustrator. During his lifetime, Tobey designed four covers and more than 1,200 cartoons that were published in The New Yorker alone. His cartoons and covers also appeared in Collier’s Magazine, Saturday Evening Post, and Variety, among other periodicals. Magazine illustration was not his only form of artistic expression; his work also enlivened children’s books, such as Ian Fleming’s Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car and works by Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), theater posters, stationery, and book covers.

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