Gary Viskupic, former Newsday illustrator, dies at 80

Gary Viskupic’s pen and ink artwork adorned titles near and far — from Newsday’s pages to international publications. But any old nearby napkin would do just fine for his occasional "touch of mad genius."

"If we went to a restaurant and there were paper napkins, I'd always take them away from him," Ernie Viskupic, his younger brother, said. "He'd get immersed in something, and I’d say ‘No Gary, come on, let's have fun at dinner."

Ernie Viskupic recalled how his brother’s shirt pockets always carried "a pen, or two, or three" so he could ink cars, airplanes and soldiers on a whim.

"He was the expert doodler," he said.

Gary Viskupic, who became a chief illustrator during his 36-year tenure at Newsday, died of a blood infection Saturday evening at Nassau University Medical Center. He had been living at The Bristal Assisted Living at East Meadow in recent years, Ernie Viskupic said. He was 80.

Bob Newman, another longtime illustrator at Newsday, recalled how Viskupic’s doodling often took place during meetings.

"He was very, very funny," Newman said.

Viskupic’s sense of humor imbued his art, which Ilene Barth, a former senior editor who oversaw Newsday’s Viewpoints and Sunday Ideas section, described as "sophisticated and wry."

She added that the Viewpoint’s illustrator’s job was "difficult" as they had to draw "intelligently" for pieces unpacking points of view regarding "anything from political campaigns to world issues happening in countries which most readers were not particularly familiar with."

Anthony Marro, Newsday's former editor, pointed to an illustration Viskupic made to accompany his story as a reporter on the second anniversary of the Watergate break-in as one of his personal favorites by the longtime illustrator.

"He had the Watergate building as a birthday cake with two candles on it that Nixon was trying to blow out," Marro recalled. "He was such a creative genius that his illustrations often were more memorable than the stories he was illustrating."

In 1970, Viskupic was tapped to be the art director of an all new Saturday supplement in Newsday that needed "a graphic signature unlike anything else in the paper," Howard Schneider, also Newsday's former editor, wrote in an email.

"Gary proved to be the perfect choice," Schneider said. "He was a brilliant illustrator, with a touch of mad genius, who filtered the world through his own idiosyncratic lens, producing bold, creative, at times hilarious illustrations that were also substantive."

"You never had to ask twice when you saw a Viskupic illustration," Schneider added. "You always knew it was him."

Viskupic was born in Brooklyn on Feb. 9, 1944. After his family moved to Deer Park, he attended Babylon High School. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at Cooper Union art school in 1965 and a masters of fine arts at the University of Illinois in 1968. That same year, he began his 36-year stretch at Newsday. Viskupic retired in 2004.

His work appeared in Time magazine, Life magazine, The New York Times and even international publications, including the Graphics Magazine and Annual, a Swiss publication, and the German international design magazine, Gebrauchsgraphik. While pen and ink was his forte, he made full-color posters and during his college years, explored sculpture and painting, the latter of which, Ernie Viskupic said, he picked back up in retirement.

Despite their 11-year difference, Ernie Viskupic said his older brother offered him guidance, introduced him to photographers at Newsday and even taught him photography — his future profession — when he was "floundering in junior high."

"That really set the tone for the rest of my life," Ernie Viskupic said. "I owe it to him."

Viskupic said he is still making arrangements for a "celebration of life" for his older brother at a later date.

Correction: A previous version of this story listed the wrong location where Gary Viskupic died.