What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine
June 8, 2024 through October 27, 2024
This exhibition explores the unforgettable art and satire of MAD, from its beginnings in 1952 as a popular humor comic book to its emergence as a beloved magazine that spoke truth to power and attracted generations of devoted readers through the decades. MAD’s influence and cultural impact will be explored in this landmark installation, which features iconic original illustrations and cartoons created by the magazine’s Usual Gang of Idiots—the many artists and writers who have been the publication’s mainstays for decades. These include Sergio Aragonés, David Berg, John Caldwell, Bob Clarke, Paul Coker, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Will Elder, Duck Edwing, Frank Frazetta, Kelly Freas, Al Jaffee, Bob Jones, Harvey Kurtzman, Don Martin, Norman Mingo, Harry North, Paul Peter Porges, Antonio Prohías, Jack Rickard, Irving Schild, Charles Schulz, John Severin, Marie Severin, Angelo Torres, Basil Wolverton, Wally Wood, and George Woodbridge. The art of next generation visual humorists will also be on view, including Emily Flake, Mark Fredrickson, Drew Friedman, Rick Geary, Keith Knight, Peter Kuper, Liz Lomax, Dave Manak, Hermann Mejia, Rick Meyerowitz, Teresa Burns Parkhurst, C.F. Payne, Roberto Parada, Tom Richmond, Johnny Sampson, Dale Stephanos, Mark Stutzman, Rick Tulka, P.C. Vey, Sam Viviano, James Warhola, and Richard Williams.
Richard Williams
Alfred E. Neuman and Norman Rockwell, 2002
Cover illustration for Mad Art: A Visual Celebration of MAD Magazine and the Idiots Who Create It (Watson Guptill, 2002)
Oil on canvas
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
It is difficult to imagine a time when satirical, irreverent humor was not common across media, but in the 1950s, anti-establishment humor was not the cultural norm. An iconic illustrated humor magazine that has been surreptitiously enjoyed by millions for more than seventy years, MAD was the first to ironically and humorously poke holes in all aspects of American life—from movies, television, music, art, and advertising to superheroes, celebrity culture, and the political scene of the day. Special features like Spy vs. Spy, MAD Fold-Ins, MAD’s Maddest Artists, and MAD’s Marginals, which have been longtime favorites, continue to delight.
First published in 1952, MAD originally launched as an EC comic book series founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, with its inaugural issue titled Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad. In 1955, with MAD No. 24, the comic was reimagined as an illustrated magazine, releasing it from the censure of the Comics Code Authority. The publication’s now legendary parodies of Superduperman and Starchie, takeoffs on the classic DC superhero and Archie comics, respectively, launched MAD into the stratosphere. Between 1952 and 2018, five-hundred-fifty magazine issues were published, along with a multitude of special issues, paperbacks, and compilation projects.
More than 150 original works of art will be on view, including a special highlight gallery devoted to the art of Mort Drucker, the award-winning caricaturist and illustrator who contributed to MAD for more than five decades. Paintings, drawings, cartoons, ephemera, artifacts, and media will tell MAD’s indelible story and explore the impact of this venerable publication on American humor, media, culture, and society.
This exhibition was made possible in part by generous support from
The Halperin Foundation
The Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation
Andrew J. Sordoni III
Media sponsor:
MAD MAGAZINE EXHIBITION ADVISORY
Steve Brodner, Exhibition Co-Curator
Steve Brodner is today’s foremost satirical illustrator and caricaturist. Acclaimed in the fields of journalism and the graphic arts as a master of the editorial idiom, he is a regular contributor to The Nation, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. Brodner’s art journalism has appeared in most major magazines and newspapers in the United States, such as Rolling Stone, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire, Time, Mother Jones, Harper’s, and The Atlantic. His newsletter, This Week, can be found daily at stevebrodner.substack.com and weekly in The Nation. Norman Rockwell Museum presented an exhibition of his work in 2008 titled Raw Nerve: The Political Art of Steve Brodner.
Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, Exhibition Co-Curator
Stephanie Haboush Plunkett is the Chief Curator of the Norman Rockwell Museum and the organizing curator of many exhibitions relating to the art of Norman Rockwell and the field of illustration. She leads the Rockwell Center for American Visual Studies, the first scholarly institute devoted to the study of illustration. Her recent publications include Leo Lionni: Storyteller, Artist, Designer; Tony Sarg: Genius at Play; Drawing Lessons from the Famous Artists School; and Norman Rockwell: Drawings, 1911 to 1973.
Sam Viviano, Lead Advisor
Sam Viviano is an award-winning humorous illustrator specializing in caricature and cartooning for magazines, books, and advertising. His first cover illustration for MAD appeared in issue # 223, in June, 1981, and he went on to become Art Director of MAD—a position that he held for nineteen years, from 1999 to December 2017. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Family Weekly, Reader’s Digest, Institutional Investor, HITS, Scholastic’s Dynamite, and Bananas, among others.
PANEL OF ADVISORS
IMAGES
Kelly Freas (1922-2005)
Alfred E. Neuman as Scarecrow, 1958
Cover illustration for MAD #43 (EC, 1958)
Acrylic on board
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Sam Viviano
Alfred E. Neuman for President, 2008
Cover illustration for MAD No. 495, November 2008
Digital
Design Director: Ryan Flanders
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Kelly Freas (1922-2005)
Quid, Me Vexari? (What, Me Worry?), 1959
Cover illustration for MAD #51 (EC, 1959)
Ink and gouache on illustration board
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Bill Elder (as “Eldder” in tribute to Charles Addams) (1921-2008)
It’s so funny the way Poppa’s eyes bug out because he doesn’t have the Sanofranized label, 1955
Illustration for MAD #26 (EC, 1955)
Ink and ink wash on paper
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Jack Davis (1924-2016)
Beware of Imitations, 1954
Illustration for MAD #11, (EC, 1954)
Pen and ink
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Norman Mingo (1896-1980)
Jack in the Box, 1967
Cover illustration for MAD #113, (EC, 1967)
Opaque watercolor over graphite
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Don Martin (1931-2000)
Pay Toll Fifty Feet, 1980
Back cover illustration for MAD #213, (EC, 1980)
India and colored inks on Bristol board
James Halperin Collection, Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
Al Jaffee (1921-2023)
What Simple Pastime is Becoming a Luxury that Many Americans Can No Longer Afford? 1979
Fold-In illustration for MAD #172, (EC, 1979)
Ink and gouache on board
Collection of Dr. Lewis Kaminester
MAD and all related elements ™ & © E.C. Publications. Courtesy of DC
PRESS HIGHLIGHTS
Sunday in the Park with MAD
August 20, 2024 – The Daily Heller – [Norman Rockwell Museum is] just far enough away from conventional art institutions to be uniquely suited to bring a wide spectrum of people together through their common interest in American popular art. Our nation has been so divided along social, political and cultural lines. It is uplifting to see Rockwell and MAD (both huge influences on my life) bring so many people together. READ MORE…
Review: ‘What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine”
August 11, 2024 – RadioRadioX – The exhibit effectively captures the essence of MAD Magazine, as a mirror reflecting the absurdities of contemporary life, while also serving as a time capsule of humor from the 1950’s to the present day. … In hindsight, regarding my initial thoughts on the mash-up on Norman Rockwell and MAD Magazine, I was incredibly mistaken. The two meld together perfectly! READ MORE…
What, Me Worry? and MAD at the Norman Rockwell Museum
July 13, 2024 – National Review – “What, Me Worry?” is the line that launched 550 issues of MAD, the current-events satire magazine. It’s the mantra of MAD, the fictional Alfred E. Neuman’s claim to literary fame, and the title of a show that offers a captivating look at MAD’s art, humor, and history. The show is at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass. The Rockwell Museum is a temple to the artist whose illustrations defined an age, but it covers all manner of illustration art. It’s a place that does everything right. READ MORE…
What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine
July 9, 2024 – Art New England Magazine – In a fraught election season, this retrospective on the art of pioneering counter-cultural MAD magazine illustrates how laughter can be a tool for social and political change. Co-curated by the Rockwell’s chief curator Stephanie Haboush Plunkett and illustrator/art journalist Steve Brodner, it showcases over 250 images by more than thirty artists in a dense, yet comic, multilayered exhibition that says as much about artistic collaboration as it does about lampooning American culture. READ MORE…
A history of satire, lampoons and lawsuits: Rockwell Museum celebrates Mad magazine’s 72nd year with first major retrospective
June 27, 2024 – Daily Hampshire Gazette – The Norman Rockwell Museum’s current exhibit provides a nostalgic voyage for Baby Boomers, a gold mine for pop historians and a wellspring of ideas and images for graphic artists. Continuing through Oct. 27, the Stockbridge institution is showing the first major retrospective of Mad. Five galleries display some 250 original works of illustration accented with interactive touch screen artwork and video interviews. READ MORE…
An Appreciation of MAD and Its Usual(ly Jewish) Gang of Idiots
June 17, 2024 – Jewish Federation of the Berkshires – As a consumer of creative work, my tastes run decidedly toward the “trying to figure it all out” parts of a creator’s output than the “telling it like it is, man” parts of their oeuvre. The figuring-things-out works are often raw products of youthful exuberance. As artists mature, too many can’t resist the urge to foist the very important truths they’ve come to understand upon their audiences. Though I understand that impulse, I much prefer (for example) listening to the figuring-it-all-out Beatles tunes like “I Should Have Known Better” to the telling-it-like-it-is-man Beatles anthems like “All You Need is Love.” As I approach my golden years, I will take lightness, yearning, and cheek over weighty messages eight days a week. READ MORE…
MAD MAGAZINE EXHIBITION AT THE ROCKWELL MUSEUM
June 12, 2024 – Illustration Art Blog – Fans of the art of MAD shouldn’t miss the first comprehensive museum exhibition of MAD art, on display from June 8 through October 27 at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Anyone who is not a fan of MAD art should see the exhibit to learn why they’re mistaken.
Room after room is densely packed with beautiful originals from the classic years of MAD. READ MORE…
The Daily Heller: How Harvey Kurtzman & Alfred E. Neuman Changed My Life
June 11, 2024 – The Daily Heller – When Harvey Kurtzman, the godfather of alternative comics, walked into a nondescript classroom in SVA’s main building back in the early fall of 1970, the din of student chattering instantly stopped. We all sat anxiously waiting for him to start critiquing, one-by-one, the previous week’s assignment. For a little under a year I was among this pack of mostly 18–20-year-old boys, a sophomore in the illustration and cartooning program, and arguably one of the least illustrious students in the bunch. READ MORE…
Norman Rockwell Museum’s Summer Exhibition Goes MAD!
February 8, 2024—Norman Rockwell Museum is pleased to announce this summer's landmark exhibition exploring the art, satire, and cultural impact of MAD Magazine, one of the longest-running humor publications in America. Opening June 8 and running through October 27, What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine presents iconic original illustrations and cartoons from MAD's longtime regular contributors, dubbed the "Usual Gang of Idiots," as well as next-generation visual satirists.
MEDIA
Virtual Program: Coming of Age with MAD
Recorded: September 28 @ 3:00 pm EDT
The Art of Mad: with Exhibition Co-Curator, Stephanie Plunkett
Recorded: July 18 @ 5:00 pm EDT – 7:30 pm EDT
Growing Up Mad
Published: June 27, 2024
What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine
Published: June 4, 2024
MAD: Making a Magazine
Published: June 4, 2024
Take A Tour Of MAD Magazine With Their Idiot-In-Chief
Published: May 18, 2016
Mad Magazine: Inside Look Behind the Scenes (1987)
Published: October 24, 2017
Mort Drucker & John Reiner – The NCS Masters Collection
Published: © 2015 NCSF ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Who is Jack Davis – MAD Magazine
Published: © 2003 Nowhere Productions Athens, GA
VENUE(S)
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, MA June 8, 2024 through October 27, 2024
This exhibition is available to be hosted at your venue. For more information, please contact travelingexhibitions@nrm.org.
DIRECTIONS
Norman Rockwell Museum
9 Glendale Road Route 183
Stockbridge, MA 01262
413-931-2221
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