The Legendary Peter Arno - Sex~Kitten.net

With the publication of that first spot illustration on June 20, 1925, Peter Arno began a 43 year relationship with The New Yorker, for his work appeared in the magazine from 1925 until his death in 1968. Arno was more than 'just a cartoonist' at The New Yorker. He can be credited with having helped the publication develop its reputation and tradition of sophisticated humor, for Arno had arrived at The New Yorker when it was but a few months old and he provided the publication a vital link to the world of cabarets and speakeasies.

Both notable and recognizable, Arno's drawing style featured heavily outlined figures. But it wasn't just this look which made them distinctive and popular, it was his topical subject matter. His clever characterizations drew on (or out) the most prominent features of the sexually charged society of the 1920's.

His early cartoons featured the Whoops Sisters. The first of these cartoons featured two drink-befuddled ladies. There was a great response and in the second published cartoon, one of the ladies employed the phrase "Whoops Dearie!". Three weeks later the Whoops Sisters were a national institution. Despite their popularity, he abandoned them and began a more worldly series of cartoons that satirized society.

While there was a celebration of liberated spirits in the 20's, there was also the undercurrent of discomfort and anxiety as well. In Arno's words, "At no time in the history of the world have there been so many damned morons gathered together in one place as here in New York right now. The town squirms with them. Vain little girls with more alcohol in their brains than sense... Yes, those people make me mad, the young ones more than the old ones."

What better way to illustrate these times than with the faces and forms of the people, male and female. Arno became famous for his characters which in single panel cartoons, summed up and mocked society and even the New York society crowd -- the very persons who read the publication.

His classic characters were the the pompous executive and the generously endowed woman. Arno's women are either being chased by lecherous old wealthy men or wooed by hapless, decadent young men. His sexually charged cartoons with voluptuous chorus girls and kept women have led critics to call Arno's drawings 'sexist', and even former New Yorker art editor Lee Lorenz described Arno as having "kept The New Yorker's testosterone level well-above the national average." To me, Arno's work is urbane, witty and beautiful. But then, I love libertines.

Lois Long, the New Yorker's "resident flapper journalist," must have been similarly inclined.

Click To See Larger Peter Arno Illustration

Lois, aka "Lipstick", was the writer of "Tables for Two", the nightlife column at The New Yorker. As Lipstick, she dished racy revues of speakeasies and dance halls both uptown and downtown. With sharp wit Lipstick taught female readers vital information on how to order cocktails, how to hold their cigarettes, and how to handle men in clubs. She had acid retorts, documented in her reports, for those observed who did not have such etiquette. She and Peter quickly became party buddies and eventually the first and only New Yorker glam couple.

In early 1927, Long became a fashion columnist in her new column entitled "On and Off the Avenue". For this column her byline was simply "L.L." ~ but there was nothing simple about the column. As with her nightlife reviews & gossip, she broke the rules with this new column. She focused on ready-to-wear clothing and jewelry lines, as well as department stores; this at the expense of the exclusive boutiques and expensive design houses. For the first time, middle-class women who had the means but not the know-how were educated in the latest looks.

Later that year, just 2 years after Arno sold the magazine his first illustration, Lois and Peter (each a catch) were married. And their party life continued.

Harold Ross, the magazine's editor, had created a staff club in hopes of keeping his columnists nearer their typewriters ~ Lipstick and Arno took full advantage of it. Lois recalled that she and Arno were found "stretched out nude on the sofa and Ross closed the place down." As for an explanation, she said, "Maybe we began drinking and forgot that we were married and had an apartment to go to."

In 1929, the couple had a small daughter, Patricia. According to the Times (June 10, 1929), the couple had the baby vaccinated on the sole of her foot and Lois Long ("Lipstick") Arno, mom, happily gave reporters the reason: "Even if she becomes a second Lady Godiva, no one will think of finding a vaccination scar there."

They seemed to be a match made in hedonistic heaven.

But if there is an edge to Arno's art, there's a dark side to his life as well.

Reportedly Arno and Long had violent fights which sometimes resulted in Long's coming into the office with a black eye. They divorced in 1931 and further evidence of Arno's status as a ladies man with violent tendencies piled up.

It is difficult to decide if this violence was typical. Perhaps the marriage and its violence was a problem specific to the pairing and alcohol, and the ensuing violence a product of the trying circumstance of the lost relationship and divorce. While I certainly do not excuse domestic violence in any circumstance, the only female victim seems to be Lois, and she herself characterized her former marriage to Arno as "one long, glorious hoop-la". Not exactly the words of a woman scorned or abused...

Then again, there is little evidence of Arno's personal life. He is listed as having been engaged to Mary Livingston Lansing, a Manhattan socialite, in 1935, and a marriage was likely as Arno is mentioned as having more than one failed or unhappy marriage. If the two married, they must have divorced by 1940, for Arno is at this time linked with wealthy socialite Brenda Frazier. Rumors of their engagement circulated, but I found no evidence of a marriage.

His personal life and relationships are not well documented, but his art is. In the 1940s and 1950s The New Yorker was in its prime. If any magazine was worth emulating, The New Yorker certainly was. The Yale Record was one of many publications that 'borrowed' the magazine's style. If writers wanted to be James Thurber, cartoonists wanted to be Peter Arno.

New Yorker Cover, 1940, Art by Peter Arno

Arno's illustrations held the power, for the words were (and still are) completely dependent upon the pictures for any comedic sense. His work embodied the spirit of the magazine as no other cartoonist had. Not only do Arno's cartoons reign supreme in the Golden Age of Satiric Art, but his lecherous gentlemen and voluptuous young women established a genre and a legacy for publications like Esquire and Playboy to follow.

While Peter Arno was best known for his cartoons and illustrations, he was also involved in theater, including a forgotten Broadway show he produced with financier Jock Whitney, called Here Goes The Bride. The show ran at the 46th Street Theater from November 3-7, 1931, with a mere 7 performances. Arno is also credited with scene, costume design, and writing music and lyrics in three other shows. However, as noted in the IMDB, Arno's connection to the theatre does not include being the son of actor Sig Arno.

While it may be confusing to some, given the name and the character actor's ability to paint and draw (and Sig's quirky signature shown at the site linked above), character actor Sig Arno (birth name Siegfried Aron) was a German native who emigrated to America to avoid Hitler. They had no family ties, let alone a father-son relationship.

In the later years of his life, Arno moved from his beloved New York City to upstate New York. Forsaking his family and friends, he became a recluse who rarely, if ever, left his home. In another complete turn-around, Arno apparently became quite a miser. So it seems that the dashing ladies man and party boy who lived beyond his means died rather alone, a very unhappy man.

Peter Arno died on February 22, 1968. He is buried in Kensico Cemetery in Westchester (NY) County.

The best way to see Arno's work (and Lois Long's) is with the The Complete New Yorker: Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine, a hardcover book & 8 DVD-ROM set.