My Favorite Illustrators of the Past: Ilonka Karasz

I’ve been a longtime fan of Ilonka Karasz’s work, frequently pinning illustrations of hers on Pinterest. She’s inspired a lot of my work, not just as a talented artist but as someone who blazed the path for women in illustration.

What inspired me to write this article is that my mom recently bought me a puzzle of one of her New Yorker covers, knowing how much I love her work. I’m making the puzzle now, and her illustration is bringing me so much joy. It’s of ice skaters in NYC (as seen below). I realized I haven’t mentioned Ilonka on my blog before, and I’m disappointed in myself. She deserves credit for the major impact she’s had on my art. When researching Ilonka Karasz for this post, the word “overlooked” kept coming up. And that makes me sad. Hopefully I can do a little to fix that here today. This incredible woman deserves a lot more than that.

The puzzle I’m currently making of her work.

Ilonka Karasz was born in Hungary on July 13, 1896. She began her career at the Royal School of Arts and Crafts in Budapest. She was one of the first women admitted. After school, she journeyed to New York in 1913 at the age of 17. She settled into life as an artist in Greenwich Village. Ilonka first gained notoriety for her textiles shown in the “Designed in America” campaign, sponsored by Women’s Wear Daily. Her wallpaper designs for the firm Katzenbach and Warren eventually gained national exposure. In addition to textiles, she was also skilled in furniture design and metalwork. Her highest profile work was perhaps her many covers for The New Yorker (my personal favorites).

This is all very impressive, but I’m still not finished listing this women’s amazing accomplishments. She was the founder-director of Design Group Inc., which was composed of craftsmen, designers and artists. Ilonka even taught textile design at the Modern Art School in New York. And she was a co-founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka MOMA).

In 1920, Ilonka married Dutch chemist Willem Nyland, and they had two children. They built a home in Brewster, New York where Ilonka lived there most of her life. The home was featured in a 1928 spread in House Beautiful magazine. Even into the 1970s, she continued illustrating covers for books and magazines inspired by her home in the NY suburbs.. She died in her daughter’s home on May 26, 1981 at the age of 84.

What impresses me most about Ilonka is not even her work. It’s the impact she had. She did so much in the time she was given - mastering so many mediums, and reaching so many people. I wish I could have met her to ask her how she was able to do it all.

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Ilonka Karasz’s work was featured on the cover of The New Yorker 186 TIMES. All between 1924 and 1973. Life goals, right? Obviously, I won’t show all the covers, but here are a few of my favorites:

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Below, I’ve gathered some of her textile designs as well, which are equally impressive. I just love her unique voice.

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She also has a collection of household items in the MOMA archives.

I could go on and on about how amazing Ilkona’s life and work is, but all this makes me feel like I need to get to work myself. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I have. Let me know which is your favorite piece in the comments below.