The New Yorker magazine will feature a courtroom sketch on its cover for the first time in history when its April 17 cover story about former President Donald Trump’s arraignment is released, the New York Post reported.
The New Yorker confirmed on Wednesday that its April 17 issue will feature the courtroom sketch of the former president drawn by artist Jane Rosenberg, one of the three sketch artists permitted in the courtroom last Tuesday for Trump’s arraignment.
According to art director François Mouly, while the magazine frequently asks artists to create cover art that reflects the “events of the day,” The New Yorker has never used a courtroom sketch until now.
In the sketch that will be featured on the April 17 cover, Trump is sitting with his arms crossed while grumpily staring over his right shoulder.
Rosenberg, who is also known for her plein-air paintings, has been a sketch artist in some of the highest-profile courtroom trials, including the trial of infamous mobster John Gotti and the custody hearing between director Woody Allen and actress Mia Farrow.
Her 2015 sketch of quarterback Tom Brady went viral on social media because its horrible depiction of his high forehead made him look more like a caveman than a star athlete.
Rosenberg told The New Yorker that in her 43 years as a courtroom sketch artist, Trump’s arraignment was her “most stressful assignment yet.”
Artist depictions of Trump have been featured on the cover of The New Yorker several times in the past.
In a cover story titled “Blowhard” after white supremacists marched in Charlottesville in August 2017, artist David Plunkert depicted Trump sitting in a sailboat and powering the sail (shaped like a Klan hood) using his own breath.
In May 2020, Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Barry Blitt skewered Trump’s COVID response by depicting him as an inept surgeon.
