THE BRANDYWINE RIVER MUSEUM PRESENTS CARTOONS AND CARICATURES FROM THE COLLECTION
(September 2004 #23)

For Immediate Release

CHADDS FORD, PA—Beginning November 6 and continuing through February 13, 2005, the Brandywine River Museum presents Cartoons and Caricatures from the Collection. This exhibition features illustrations that examine and illuminate a variety of social, political and cultural issues from the 19th and 20th centuries. Included are approximately 45 watercolors and pen and ink drawings by 33 well-known humorists.

The art of the cartoon and caricature became popular in America during the second half of the 19th century. The common thread in early images is their focus on political events. Thomas Nast's "Let Him Go!" and "Bismarck Putting It in His Pipe to Smoke" were composed for Harper's Weekly in the late 1880s. Nast, famous for his biting humor, quickly gained a reputation as an enemy of scoundrels in public office. His assault on William Marcy Tweed, Chairman of New York's Democratic Party, incensed Tweed who complained, "I don't care so much what the papers write about me. My constituents can't read. But, damn it, they can see pictures!"

Like Nast, Edward W. Kemble also concentrated on political and economic ills. "Sole Owner and Proprietor," his 1902 cartoon for Life magazine, attacks trusts that manipulated votes in the U.S. Senate. Kemble and Nast worked together at the Daily Graphic during the 1880s, and their styles are similar. Kemble established the elephant and donkey as the symbols for the Republican and Democratic parties in "I Go, but Remember, I Will Return" (1913) and "I'm Afraid this is to be the Maddest, Merriest Inauguration of My Whole Career" (ca. 1900).

Prior to World War II, Rube Goldberg created Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, an inventor of complex contraptions that accomplish simple tasks. Goldberg's humorous and imaginative creations, such as "Perpetual Motion Machine—An Invention" earned him the title of "greatest engineering cartoonist." Also during this period, Barbara Shermund achieved recognition as an accomplished cartoonist for New Yorker magazine. Her drawings depict a world of young, affluent women. 

Cartoonists Albert Frueh and John Held Jr. focused on images of American culture. Frueh was famous for drawing popular performers such as "Caricature of Jimmie Powers" (late 1920s) with a few curved lines. Economy of line was also practiced by Held, whose cartoon strip "Joe Prep" (1930) features a chinless youth who buys a jacket for more than it is worth.

During and following World War II, artist-correspondent John Groth worked for the Chicago Sun and Esquire, covering the liberation of Paris, the surrender of Berlin, and the Korean War. His 1953 cartoon, "You Can Be Sure of One Thing—If there are Fantastic Weapons, They'll be Heavy," depicts two soldiers carrying trunks and weapons up a mountain. 

The exhibition also features cartoons and caricatures from the mid- and late-20th century by artists such as Ronald Searle, Al Hirschfeld, David Levine, Charles Addams and Charles M. Schulz. British born Searle poked fun at American culture in works such as "Florida" (1950) which depicts fat men and buxom ladies on a Miami beach. In "The Odd Couple" and "George C. Scott," Hirschfeld skillfully represents theater performers with very few flowing lines. Levine's masterful command of line drawing is apparent in "General Custer" (1971). 

In contrast, Charles Addams's predilection for morbid and macabre humor led him to create "Masterpiece Theater" (1984) satirizing historic figures with delightful wit. Later, his "Addams Family" cartoons inspired a television series and became the subject of successful feature films. Finally, the collection includes Charles M. Schulz's inimitable "Peanuts" cartoon strip featuring Snoopy as a vulture receiving advice from Linus. 

Located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, the Brandywine River Museum is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Christmas Day. Admission is $8 for adults; $5 for seniors ages 65 and over, students with I.D., and children ages 6 to 12; and free for children under six and Brandywine Conservancy members. For more information, call 610-388-2700 or visit the museum's web site at www.brandywinemuseum.org.