The Permanent Collection of the Museum of Illustration at the Society of Illustrators is one of the most comprehensive collections of this genre in the world. Comprised of over 2,500 works by many of the greatest names in illustration and comic and cartoon art, this celebrated collection is ever expanding thanks to purchase and donation from our membership, art patrons and estates. These works are fully cataloged with portions of the collection constantly on rotating display.
Since the establishment of the Society’s Permanent Collection in the mid-1930s, the holdings have included many examples by noted comic and cartoon illustrators: Thomas Starling Sullivant, Charles Dana Gibson, Orson Byron Lowell, Otto Soglow’s “The Little King,” Denys Whortman, Frederick Burr Opper, Fontaine Fox, Thomas Nast, Roy Crane, Alex Raymond, Bill Gallo’s and Willard Mullin’s sports cartoons, George Baker’s “Sad Sack,” Bernard Thompson’s “Hop-A-Long Cassidy,” Arthur Burdett Frost, Charles Addams, James Thurber, Jack Davis, Brian Walker, Mort Walker’s “Beetle Bailey,” Al Capp’s “Li’l Abner,” Al Smith’s “Mutt and Jeff,” Dale Messick’s “Brenda Starr,” Peter C. Vey, Liza Donnelly, Michael Maslin, Sal Buscema, Leonard Starr’s “Annie” and “Mary Perkins, On Stage,” Burne Hogarth, Bill Griffith’s “Zippy the Pinhead,” Larry Lieber’s “Spider-Man,” Geoff Isherwood’s “Conan the King,” Whitney Darrow, Jr., Arnold Roth, Steve Brodner, George Herriman, José Pepe Gonzalez’s “Vampirella,” Reed Crandell, John Severin, Marie Severin, Milton Caniff’s “Terry and the Pirates” and “Steve Canyon,” Edward Kemble, Ken Bald’s “Dr. Kildare” and “Dark Shadows,” Cliff Sterrett, Rose Cecil O’Neill, Raeburn Van Buren’s “Abbie and Slatz,” Rube Goldberg, Barbara Shermund, Alex Raymond’s “Rip Kirby,” Roy Crane’s “Buz Sawyer,”
In 2012, the assets of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) were transferred to the Society of Illustrators and included original artworks by Mark Texiera, Alex Blum’s “Chip Collins,” Alison Bechdel’s “Dykes to Watch Out For,” Barbara Brandon-Croft’s “Where I’m Coming From,” Barbara Smaller, Bill Plympton, Bill Sienkiewicz, Bob Fingerman’s “Minimum Wage,” Chip Zdarsky’s “Monster Cops,” Craig McCracken’s “Powerpuff Girls,” Dan DeCarlo’s “Betty and Veronica,” Dik Browne’s “Hagar the Horrible,” Elwood H. Smith, Gahan Wilson, Gary Baseman, Jack O’Brien’s “Sad Sack and the Sarge,” Joe Staton’s “Scooby Doo,” Kaz’s “It Was a Dark and Silly Night,” Milton Caniff’s “Terry and the Pirates,” Peter Kuper, Raina Telgemieier, Robert Mankoff, Reuben Bolling’s “Tom the Dancing Bug,” Stan Goldberg’s “Archie,” Steve Ellis’ “Silencers,” Vatche Mavlian, Walt Ditzen’s “Fan Fare,” Walt Kelly’s “Pogo.”
The Society also houses a significant collection of books about comic and cartoon art in its Library and is presently sorting through a large amount of comic books that were part of MoCCA’s holdings.
Behind–the-scene tours are available to accredited art school groups by appointment. Contact Steve Compton, Director of Exhibitions & Collections, for more information.