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Jak Smyrl collection purchased by USC library
Smyrl - Self Portrait
Smyrl completed a number of self-portraits in this style. This one probably first appeared in 1982 in conjunction with advertising for an exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Art titled Thirty Years of Cartooning for the Columbia Newspapers.
The University of South Carolina (USC) Libraries is now home to a collection of more than 5,000 images, plus correspondence, sketchbooks, and even early elementary-school artwork Camden’s Oscar Jackson “Jak” Smyrl, The State newspaper’s first staff artist, who passed away in 2007. In 1949, while still a student at USC, Smyrl was hired by The State to perform a variety of duties, including writing and illustrating articles. He was named staff artist in 1955, a position he held until he retired in 1986.