Gluyas Williams Cartoons from “Ourselves as Others See Us.” 1920s
Gluyas Williams Cartoons for Cosmpolitan 1928.
Gluyas Williams was an American Cartoonist whose best work lasted from the 1920s to the 1940s. His most notable work was for Life, The New Yorker, and Cosmopolitan.
His unique style combined tiny, apparently fragile lines with solid, flat blacks without detail or shadows. The subjects were social situations where many people gathered, reaching their peak in the complex double pages. Some cartoons display hundreds of characters with mesmerizing compositions, anyone with a unique and robust personality.
We cannot write more without copying the splendid, ultimate essay of Robert C. Harvey. that we strongly encourage you to read. He called Williams the “Master of Complexity and Simplicity.”
This story features the entire run of double-page illustrations published in Cosmopolitan in 1928. This was the golden age of the magazine’s illustration, featuring splendid plates from artists such as Gluyas Williams, Charles Dana Gibson, and Anne Harriet Fish in the same issues. These masterpieces finally fell into the Public Domain on January 1, 2024.
Going to the Movies.
From “Ourselves as Others See Us” series. Published on Cosmopolitan in May 1928.
Bridge.
From “Ourselves as Others See Us” series. Published on Cosmopolitan in June 1928
The One-Arm Lunch.
Published on Cosmopolitan in July 1928.
The Picnic.
Published on Cosmopolitan in August 1928
The End of Vacation.
Published on Cosmopolitan in September 1928.
The After Dinner Speech.
Published on Cosmopolitan in October 1928.
Football.
Published on Cosmopolitan in November 1928.
In the Diner.
Published on Cosmopolitan in December 1928.
How we reproduced the double-page images.
During the 1920s, the Cosmopolitan magazine showcased the work of several renowned illustrators, including Charles Dana Gibson, James Montgomery Flagg, Anne Fish and Gluyas Williams. Many of the best illustrations were spread across double pages.
As the magazine had many pages and was stapled, it was necessary to add a blank gutter to ensure readability. To create this gutter, the original illustrations were cut into two parts. To maintain the integrity of the artworks, we digitally merged the two parts to create a seamless image without the blank gutter. See the final images above.
In the bound magazine, the image was visually correct. However, the plain reproduction of the two mages, including the blank gutter, was unacceptable.
Copyright, links and credits
All the works on this page are out of copyright because they were originally published in the United States before January 1, 1929.
These rules and dates apply regardless of whether the work was created by an individual author, a group of authors, or an employee (a work made for hire).
As the works were generated in the United States, they should be out of copyright in other countries.
Read More on
“United States. Copyright and Public Domain.”
Links:
Gluyas Williams – Wikipedia
Gluyas Williams: Master of Line and Shape and Subject, by Robert C. Harvey
About Gluyas Williams. A Short Bio.
Gluyas Williams (1888-1992) was an American Cartoonist notable for his contributions to The New Yorker, Life, and Cosmopolitan. Still, his work ran in over 70 newspapers, not counting many memorable cartoons for advertisements or books. His most notable work was for Cosmopolitan, Life, and The New Yorker, with subjects where many people gather, reaching their peak in the complex double pages.
Gluyas' drawings combined tiny, seemingly fragile lines with solid, flat blacks without detail or shadows.
