Mary Petty: A Reader’s Privilege, A Woman’s Place

American cartoonist Mary Petty (1899-1976) helped define New Yorker cartoons—illustrations of poised, genteel men and women having witty interactions in New York high society. But there is more to Petty’s work than satiric punchlines. A self-taught artist, Petty is best known for illustrating the lives of the wealthy Peabody family and their maid, Fay. While Petty frequently illustrated New York’s Victorian-era elites, she also illustrated working class women with similar wry wit. Petty’s artistic career took off just as the Great Depression reshaped American life, though her cartoons remained crystalized in Victorian decadence. Drawing from the museum’s large collection of her artwork, this exhibition considers Petty’s illustrations of working class and aristocratic women to explore how Petty represented (or omitted) race, gender, and class in a rapidly changing America. Curated by Kelli Fisher G’22

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