All the Art That's Fit to Print (And Some That Wasn't): Inside The New York Times Op-Ed Page

About this book

All the Art Thats Fit to Print reveals the true story of the worlds first Op-Ed page a public platform thatin 1970prefigured the Internet blogosphere. Not only did the New York Timess nonstaff bylines shatter tradition but the pictures were revolutionary. Unlike anything ever seen in a newspaper Op-Ed art became a globally influential idiom that reached beyond narrative for metaphor and changed illustrations very purpose and potential. Jerelle Kraus whose thirteen-year tenure as Op-Ed art director far exceeds that of any other art director or editor unveils a riveting account of working at the Times. Her insider anecdotes include the reasons why artist Saul Steinberg hated the Times why editor Howell Raines stopped the presses to kill a feature by Doonesburys Garry Trudeau and why reporter Syd Schanburgwhose story was told in the movie The Killing Fieldsstated that he would travel anywhere to see Kissinger hanged as well as Krauss tale of surviving two and a half hours alone with the dethroned peerless outlaw Richard Nixon. All the Art features a satiric portrayal of John McCain a classic cartoon of Barack Obama by Jules Feiffer and a drawing of Hillary Clinton and Obama by Barry Blitt. But when Frank Rich wrote a column discussing Hillary Clinton exclusively the Times refused to allow Blitt to portray her. Nearly any notion is palatable in prose yet editors perceive pictures as a far greater threat. Confucius underestimated the number of words an image is worth; the thousand-fold power of a picture is also its curse. Op-Eds subject is the world and its illustrations are created by the worlds finest graphic artists. The 142 artists whose work appears in this book hail from thirty nations and five continents and their 324 pictures-gleaned from a total of 30 000-reflect artists common drive to communicate their creative visions and to stir our vibrant cultural-political pot.