How to Zip through "Herblock!" in 10 Minutes, Make that Meeting on the Hill
Posted by Mike Rhode on Feb. 1, 2010, at 11:50 am
Showing posts with label Library of Congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Library of Congress. Show all posts
Monday, February 01, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Little Nemo animation entered into Library of Congress Registry
Winsor McCay's Little Nemo animation entered into Library of Congress Registry, reports the Associated Press on the Washington Post website.
The Library's press release says:
Little Nemo (1911)
This classic work, a mix of live action and animation, was adapted from Winsor McCay’s famed 1905 comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Its fluidity, graphics and story-telling was light years beyond other films made during that time. A seminal figure in both animation and comic art, McCay profoundly influenced many generations of future animators, including Walt Disney.
This is not the 1990s Japanese animation of course. Speaking of McCay, I had an original of one of his political drawings in my hands this weekend. Hoo-hah!
Another cartoon I'm not familiar with was added as well:
Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)
"Quasi at the Quackadero" has earned the term "unique." Once described as a "mixture of 1930s Van Beuren cartoons and 1960s R. Crumb comics with a dash of Sam Flax," and a descendent of the "Depression-era funny animal cartoon," Sally Cruikshank’s wildly imaginative tale of odd creatures visiting a psychedelic amusement park careens creatively from strange to truly wacky scenes. It became a favorite of the Midnight Movie circuit in the 1970s. Cruikshank later created animation sequences for "Sesame Street," the 1986 film "Ruthless People" and the "Cartoon Land" sequence in the 1983 film "Twilight Zone: The Movie."
The Library's press release says:
Little Nemo (1911)
This classic work, a mix of live action and animation, was adapted from Winsor McCay’s famed 1905 comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Its fluidity, graphics and story-telling was light years beyond other films made during that time. A seminal figure in both animation and comic art, McCay profoundly influenced many generations of future animators, including Walt Disney.
This is not the 1990s Japanese animation of course. Speaking of McCay, I had an original of one of his political drawings in my hands this weekend. Hoo-hah!
Another cartoon I'm not familiar with was added as well:
Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)
"Quasi at the Quackadero" has earned the term "unique." Once described as a "mixture of 1930s Van Beuren cartoons and 1960s R. Crumb comics with a dash of Sam Flax," and a descendent of the "Depression-era funny animal cartoon," Sally Cruikshank’s wildly imaginative tale of odd creatures visiting a psychedelic amusement park careens creatively from strange to truly wacky scenes. It became a favorite of the Midnight Movie circuit in the 1970s. Cruikshank later created animation sequences for "Sesame Street," the 1986 film "Ruthless People" and the "Cartoon Land" sequence in the 1983 film "Twilight Zone: The Movie."
Herblock! exhibit review
Another one for the International J of Comic Art that you're getting to see first...
Herblock! Sara Duke, Martha Kennedy and Cynthia Wayne. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, October 13, 2009-May 1, 2010.
By the terms of Herbert “Herblock” Block’s will, the Library of Congress must mount an exhibit of his work every three years. In spite of Block’s staggering 72-year long professional career and four Pulitzer Prizes, this reviewer begins to feel a bit jaded. Fortunately, this is an excellent exhibition that is well worth seeing and is accompanied by an excellent companion book, Herblock by Haynes Johnson and Harry Katz (New York, Norton, 2009) that also has a cd of 18,000 of Block’s cartoons (produced by Warren Bernard). The occasion for the large scale of these events was Herblock’s 100th birthday.
The exhibit is in a new gallery, created recently from a reading room, and to get to it, one has to walk through a recreation of Thomas Jefferson’s library – a highlight for any book lover. The curators (who are my friends) cleverly chose 82 original drawings that have not bee on display before. These are out of the 14,460 cartoons and 250,000 roughs he left to the library. They also added the twelve books of his cartoons that Block published in his lifetime. These copies, unlike the ones originally added to the Library, have their dustjackets because they are a recent donation to the Prints and Photographs division from the Herb Block Foundation.
The exhibit opens with a précis of who Block was and includes some of his iconic images such as the footsteps leading from the Watergate break-in to Nixon’s White House. “The Approaching Perils” covers his early years. One can see Block’s early typical Midwestern cartoonist style using pen and ink – a style that is unrecognizable to us as Herblock. This style soon gives way to his familiar use of heavy crayon or graphite lines. Some notable works were “Winged Victory” (1938) in which he quoted the sculpture from Samothrace, and “What ‘Peace Now’ Would Mean” (1940) in which he showed Hitler armed with a machine gun and sitting on the globe.
Other sections were “Psychopathic Ward” on the Depression, fascism and World War II, “White is Black, Black is White, Night is Day—“ on the Cold War, “Naughty, Naughty” on McCarthyism, “Everything’s [Not] Okay” on the 1960s, “Here He Comes Now” on Richard Nixon, “It Gets Into Everything” on the 1970s and terrorism, “Joy to the World” on Ronald Reagan, “Closing Years, Contrasting Styles of Leadership” on Clinton and the elder George Bush, and “Classic Cartoons by a Master” to catch anything that might have been missed.
One could easily select favorite drawings from each section – my notebook is full of notations such as “Man’s Reach” (1968) in which he drew, apropos of Apollo 8, a white hand with its finger and thumb meeting to encircle the moon on top of a black layer covering most of the paper. By the end of his life, and thus the end of the exhibit, Block’s ability was slipping somewhat and the images are covered with Avery labels and ink redrawings. “Creationism or Evolution – That’s Up to the States” has Bush’s head reworked and pasted on, but the final image in print would have looked fine.
During the press tour Harry Katz noted that in the future “you’re not going to see cartoons on the wall – newspapers are changing” and “With Herblock missing, we need to get the voice of the cartoonist out there and revitalizing the art form” – two sentiments that most readers of IJOCA (and this blog!) can agree with and hope for the best.
Herblock! Sara Duke, Martha Kennedy and Cynthia Wayne. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, October 13, 2009-May 1, 2010.
By the terms of Herbert “Herblock” Block’s will, the Library of Congress must mount an exhibit of his work every three years. In spite of Block’s staggering 72-year long professional career and four Pulitzer Prizes, this reviewer begins to feel a bit jaded. Fortunately, this is an excellent exhibition that is well worth seeing and is accompanied by an excellent companion book, Herblock by Haynes Johnson and Harry Katz (New York, Norton, 2009) that also has a cd of 18,000 of Block’s cartoons (produced by Warren Bernard). The occasion for the large scale of these events was Herblock’s 100th birthday.
The exhibit is in a new gallery, created recently from a reading room, and to get to it, one has to walk through a recreation of Thomas Jefferson’s library – a highlight for any book lover. The curators (who are my friends) cleverly chose 82 original drawings that have not bee on display before. These are out of the 14,460 cartoons and 250,000 roughs he left to the library. They also added the twelve books of his cartoons that Block published in his lifetime. These copies, unlike the ones originally added to the Library, have their dustjackets because they are a recent donation to the Prints and Photographs division from the Herb Block Foundation.
The exhibit opens with a précis of who Block was and includes some of his iconic images such as the footsteps leading from the Watergate break-in to Nixon’s White House. “The Approaching Perils” covers his early years. One can see Block’s early typical Midwestern cartoonist style using pen and ink – a style that is unrecognizable to us as Herblock. This style soon gives way to his familiar use of heavy crayon or graphite lines. Some notable works were “Winged Victory” (1938) in which he quoted the sculpture from Samothrace, and “What ‘Peace Now’ Would Mean” (1940) in which he showed Hitler armed with a machine gun and sitting on the globe.
Other sections were “Psychopathic Ward” on the Depression, fascism and World War II, “White is Black, Black is White, Night is Day—“ on the Cold War, “Naughty, Naughty” on McCarthyism, “Everything’s [Not] Okay” on the 1960s, “Here He Comes Now” on Richard Nixon, “It Gets Into Everything” on the 1970s and terrorism, “Joy to the World” on Ronald Reagan, “Closing Years, Contrasting Styles of Leadership” on Clinton and the elder George Bush, and “Classic Cartoons by a Master” to catch anything that might have been missed.
One could easily select favorite drawings from each section – my notebook is full of notations such as “Man’s Reach” (1968) in which he drew, apropos of Apollo 8, a white hand with its finger and thumb meeting to encircle the moon on top of a black layer covering most of the paper. By the end of his life, and thus the end of the exhibit, Block’s ability was slipping somewhat and the images are covered with Avery labels and ink redrawings. “Creationism or Evolution – That’s Up to the States” has Bush’s head reworked and pasted on, but the final image in print would have looked fine.
During the press tour Harry Katz noted that in the future “you’re not going to see cartoons on the wall – newspapers are changing” and “With Herblock missing, we need to get the voice of the cartoonist out there and revitalizing the art form” – two sentiments that most readers of IJOCA (and this blog!) can agree with and hope for the best.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
That darn Herblock!
Herblock was a liberal?! Shocking!!
Library of Congress Spins Lefty Cartoonist Herblock as an 'Independent Spirit'
By Scott Whitlock
Newsbusters November 23, 2009
Library of Congress Spins Lefty Cartoonist Herblock as an 'Independent Spirit'
By Scott Whitlock
Newsbusters November 23, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Library of Congress' Poetry site appreciates Archie
Scoop noticed that the Library of Congress' Poetry site appreciates Archie. Or at least his taste in poetry. No word on its opinion about his taste in women.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Progress in the Library of Congress' grand scheme of things
On the GN-LIB list for librarians, it's reported As of last month, "Superhero comic books, strips, etc." is now an official LC Subject Heading, and thus is also usable as an LC genre heading.
Unlike Moses, I may get to see the Promised Land.
Unlike Moses, I may get to see the Promised Land.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Library of Congress serials chief mentions comic books
The 3-minute interview: Mark Sweeney
Washington Examiner Staff Writer
November 1, 2009
“I'm responsible for a division of about 50 people who work with the library's newspaper collection, our current periodicals, government publications and the library's comic book collection.”
The world is changing…
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Herblock exhibit covered by Tom Sherwood
NBC TV reporter (and former Wash Post writer iirc) Tom Sherwood also beat me to covering the Herblock exhibit -
He interviews my friends Martha Kennedy and Sara Duke, and you get a good sense of what the exhibit looks like.
ABC has a text story on the exhibit - "Herblock: Cartoonist Who Coined 'McCarthyism' Honored at Library of Congress; Master of Editorial Cartooning: Herbert Block Cartoons on Display," By LINDSEY ELLERSON, Oct. 13, 2009.
As does the sadly-diminished Syndicate World section of Editor and Publisher - "Library of Congress Opens 'Herblock!' Exhibit," By Elaine Williams, E& P Online October 13, 2009.
He interviews my friends Martha Kennedy and Sara Duke, and you get a good sense of what the exhibit looks like.
ABC has a text story on the exhibit - "Herblock: Cartoonist Who Coined 'McCarthyism' Honored at Library of Congress; Master of Editorial Cartooning: Herbert Block Cartoons on Display," By LINDSEY ELLERSON, Oct. 13, 2009.
As does the sadly-diminished Syndicate World section of Editor and Publisher - "Library of Congress Opens 'Herblock!' Exhibit," By Elaine Williams, E& P Online October 13, 2009.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
October 20: Chinese cartoonist and caricaturist Ding Cong at Library of Congress
| Chinese cartoonist and caricaturist Ding Cong To comprehend a tumultuous history like that of twentieth century China, we can benefit greatly from the acute observations of a creative artist active during the period. Ding Cong (1916-2009), until recently China’s most famous living cartoonist and artist, offers that perspective. The Library of Congress and George Mason University are sponsoring a one day symposium and exhibition showing Ding Cong’s life and work. The morning conference at the Library of Congress will include speakers intimately familiar with Ding’s life and work. In the afternoon, the Mason Gallery at GMU will display 50 cartoons and artwork and include more commentary. These events will celebrate the life and works of this artist whose cogent insights illuminate China’s volatile century. October 20, 2009 Conference: 8: 30 a.m. - Noon Exhibition: 1:45 p.m. – 4: 30 p.m. |
Marcia Ristaino
Researcher
Kluge Center for Scholars
Library of Congress
Washington, DC 20540
Email: mris@loc.gov
"Herblock!" Opens Oct. 13
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540
September 17, 2009
Public contact: Sara Duke (202) 707-3630, sduk@loc.gov
Martha Kennedy (202) 707-9115, mkenn@loc.gov
"Herblock!"
New Exhibition at Library of Congress Opens Oct. 13
He was a fearless crusader who condemned corruption and exposed injustice, inequality and immorality. Artfully and effectively wielding his pen, he influenced public opinion and jarred the lives of many elected officials. He was Herblock, the master of editorial cartooning.
The Library of Congress will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Herbert L. Block, widely known as Herblock, with an exhibition that looks at his entire 72-year career, which began in 1929 under President Herbert Hoover and concluded in 2001 during the presidency of George W. Bush.
"Herblock!" opens on Tuesday, Oct. 13, the birthday of the four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, and runs through Saturday, May 1, 2010. The exhibition is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day), in the second-floor South Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C.
A companion book, "HERBLOCK: The Life and Works of the Great Political Cartoonist" has been published by the Library of Congress and the Herb Block Foundation, in association with W.W. Norton & Co. Written by Haynes Johnson and Harry L. Katz, the 304-page hardcover book features a DVD that contains more than 18,000 cartoons. (The authors will discuss the book from noon to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Library's James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.) Arranged chronologically, the book illustrates the influence of history on Block's work as well as his influence on historical events as they unfolded.
The exhibition is organized similarly, with a chronological layout. The sections include: Herblock's early years, under the title "The Approaching Perils"; the rise of fascism and World War II, "Psychopathic Ward"; the Cold War, "White is Black, Black is White, Night is Day—"; McCarthyism, "Naughty, Naughty"; the 1960s, "Everything's [Not] Okay"; Richard Nixon, "Here He Comes Now"; the 70s and terrorism, "It Gets Into Everything"; Ronald Reagan, "Joy to the World"; Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, "Closing Years, Contrasting Styles of Leadership"; and some special pieces, "Classic Cartoons by a Master."
The 82 original drawings in this exhibition are new to the walls of the Library—they have never been previously displayed. The cartoons have been selected from the Library's Herb Block Collection, with a few iconic drawings loaned from the Washington Post collection. In 2002, the foundation donated Block's archive to the Library, and the collection includes more than 14,000 finished cartoons, in addition to preliminary sketches, files and manuscripts. The Library mounted displays of Herblock's work in 2000, 2003 and 2006.
Born in Chicago on Oct. 13, 1909, Block began his career as a professional cartoonist in 1929, working for the Chicago Daily News and the Newspaper Enterprise Association Service. In 1946, he joined the Washington Post, where he remained for 55 years until his death in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 7, 2001. Block won Pulitzer Prizes in 1942, 1954 and 1979. He shared a fourth Pulitzer with Washington Post colleagues for coverage of the Watergate scandal in 1973.
To view the Herblock collection on the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, visit http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hlbhtml/hlbabt.html.
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library's rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.
# # #
PR09-169
9/17/09
ISSN: 0731-3527
Saturday, August 15, 2009
William Gropper and a Semi- Secret History of Comics
I ran across the above at a flea market recently. Gropper sounded familiar, so I picked it up.
According to William Gropper Papers: An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University, Gropper was a leftist cartoonist, but he apparently had to make a living like everyone else and the library has a clippings file of:
New York American 1934, undated - includes Robert Benchley columns (2 folders)
I assume this drawing is for Benchley's column, but when Benchley's collection My Ten Years in a Quandry, and How They Grew came out, it was illustrated by the great Gluyas Williams. So my guess, and it's just a guess, is that nobody's really seen Gropper's illustrations for Benchley since they were done. In the book, one can find The Rule of 87, doubtless the work of fanatical reformers, is as follows: "One twin birth occurs to approximately 87 single births; one triplet to about 7,569 singles (87 squared); one quadruplet to about 658,503 singles (87 cubed); one quintuplet to about 57 million singles (87 to fourth power); one sextuplet to about five billion singles (87 to fifth power)". that's the rule. That's what we are supposed to abide by, whether we want to or not.
I'm sure modern fertility drugs have completely changed the rule.
This post benefited greatly from the help of Sara Duke of the Library of Congress. A search of the Library of Congress collections brings up 34 pieces by Gropper - to see them, go to http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pphome.html and type in "William Gropper".
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
National Digital Newspaper Program adds millionth page and expands
The Library of Congress has sent out a press release about the National Digital Newspaper Program which should interest us as it will provide free sources for scans of comics strips and articles about cartoonists. Quotes from the PR follow -
Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities to Announce Expansion of Historic Newspaper Digitization Program
The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 16 at the Newseum’s Knight Studio, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. in Washington, D.C., to announce the posting of the millionth historic newspaper page in the National Digital Newspaper Program and the expansion of the program.
The two cultural agencies have collaborated to bring the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) to the Internet through a website, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). The site offers a searchable database of historically significant American newspapers published between 1836 and 1922, based on original material from libraries or other agencies in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American People. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov, and via interactive exhibitions on myLOC.gov.
The National Digital Newspaper Program is part of the Endowment’s We the People program, which is designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles.
Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities to Announce Expansion of Historic Newspaper Digitization Program
The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 16 at the Newseum’s Knight Studio, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. in Washington, D.C., to announce the posting of the millionth historic newspaper page in the National Digital Newspaper Program and the expansion of the program.
The two cultural agencies have collaborated to bring the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) to the Internet through a website, Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). The site offers a searchable database of historically significant American newspapers published between 1836 and 1922, based on original material from libraries or other agencies in Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is the world’s preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American People. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov, and via interactive exhibitions on myLOC.gov.
The National Digital Newspaper Program is part of the Endowment’s We the People program, which is designed to encourage and enhance the teaching, study, and understanding of American history, culture, and democratic principles.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Spider-Man at the Library of Congress now online video
Sara Duke says, "Last year I was filmed for history.com about the Library's acquisition of the original drawings for Amazing Fantasy #15 - the film clip is here: http://www.history.com/content/hiddentreasures/a-legend-is-born. (Burning through my 15 minutes of fame, one sound bite at a time.)
And yes, you may make an appointment with me to see the original drawings for Amazing Fantasy, or other cartoon art in our collection ... I'm generally available Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 am - 3:00 pm for appointments. (You can't see all 128,000 works of cartoon art on paper from your computer, but visit http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html to see a selection.)"
And yes, you may make an appointment with me to see the original drawings for Amazing Fantasy, or other cartoon art in our collection ... I'm generally available Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 am - 3:00 pm for appointments. (You can't see all 128,000 works of cartoon art on paper from your computer, but visit http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/catalog.html to see a selection.)"
Sunday, May 10, 2009
May 12: Yuko Ota,, A Japanese comic illustrator at Library of Congress
Asian Pacific American History Month at the Library of Congress has a cartoonist appearing -
PROGRAM II: Japanese Illustrators Then and Now
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 12, 12:00 noon
Location: Dining Room C
"Then" Speaker - James Miho, A Bauhaus Illustrator (a "lost art" of Japanese illustration)
"Now" Speaker - Yuko Ota,, A Japanese comic illustrator
2009 Webportal Link: http://www.asianpacificheritage.gov/index.html
- thanks to Sara Duke for the tip.
PROGRAM II: Japanese Illustrators Then and Now
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 12, 12:00 noon
Location: Dining Room C
"Then" Speaker - James Miho, A Bauhaus Illustrator (a "lost art" of Japanese illustration)
"Now" Speaker - Yuko Ota,, A Japanese comic illustrator
2009 Webportal Link: http://www.asianpacificheritage.gov/index.html
- thanks to Sara Duke for the tip.
Monday, April 06, 2009
On finally seeing the first Spider-Man
After breaking the news almost exactly a year ago, I finally got around to seeing the first Spider-Man original art by Steve Ditko in Amazing Fantasy #15.
The art was lovely, but it was somewhat anti-climactic since I'd read the story literally hundreds of times. Foolish, I know. There's a small bit of new information to be gleaned from the artwork, where Stan Lee asked for changes, but Ditko followed his pencils very closely so there's not a lot of underlying drawing.
The entire comic book art is there, so there are three other stories with Ditko art that aren't seen nearly as often.
I really can't think of any better home for this than the Library. Lee and Ditko's creation has become an American icon over almost 50 years now. More pictures are here.
The art was lovely, but it was somewhat anti-climactic since I'd read the story literally hundreds of times. Foolish, I know. There's a small bit of new information to be gleaned from the artwork, where Stan Lee asked for changes, but Ditko followed his pencils very closely so there's not a lot of underlying drawing.
The entire comic book art is there, so there are three other stories with Ditko art that aren't seen nearly as often.
I really can't think of any better home for this than the Library. Lee and Ditko's creation has become an American icon over almost 50 years now. More pictures are here.
Herblock award at Library of Congress
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Herblock award ceremony at the Library of Congress where the award was presented to Pat Bagley. Ted Koppel was the featured speaker and spoke first as he was catching a plane. Koppel was quite entertaining, but Bagley did a good job, and then we saw a new short film on Herblock's life, that I guess will be on the Foundation's website at some point. At the reception, there was a large cake for Block's 100th birthday.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
March 25: Library of Congress Swann talk on Nast
Thomas Nast and French Art
The Topic of Swann Grantee’s Talk on March 25
Swann Foundation grantee Marie-Stéphanie Delamaire will present a lecture entitled, "The Artist as Translator: Thomas Nast and French Art,” Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at 12 noon, in the West Dining Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC.
In her illustrated talk, Delamaire will examine American cartoonist Thomas Nast’s appropriation of the visual language used in prints and photographs of grand manner and history paintings in his political cartoons of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The analysis of Nast’s cartoons suggests that they functioned much like visual, cultural, and political translations of the era’s leading issues and articulated the cartoonist’s artistic identity.
Thomas Nast (1840-1902) began his career as a newspaper illustrator in the antebellum era for the growing illustrated press of the 1850s in New York. During the Civil War years, Nast developed a new style of large-scale cartoons that made extensive use of the visual vocabulary of old masters and contemporary French academic painters, particularly those whose works were reproduced in prints then being disseminated by the American branch of Goupil & Cie in New York. Nast referenced or alluded to specific French paintings as a means of capturing and engaging his viewers’ interest in major political developments of the day as seen in such cartoons as “Democracy” or “The Tammany Tiger Loose” (published respectively in Harper’s Weekly on November 11, 1865 and November 11, 1871). In so doing, Nast not only translated “facts into black and white,” as suggested by Clarence Cook (Putnam Magazine, July 1869), but also transformed history painting into a mass medium and appropriated the significance of foreign images into the American national or local political sphere.
Delamaire contends that looking closely at Nast’s cartoons demonstrates that the artist deliberately emphasized the discontinuity between the original painting and his final image in order to construct the cartoon’s underlying meaning. Nast’s translations of history paintings into cartoons can thus be seen to question the authority and priority commonly associated with the grand tradition of European history painting. Delamaire suggests that Nast’s appropriations reveal a shift from his role as a newspaper illustrator to that of a translator of fine art’s visual language mediating the political significance of foreign works of art widely
disseminated in print form to his American audience.
Delamaire is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at Columbia University. Her dissertation project entitled, “Art in Translation: Franco-American exchanges in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era,” has been awarded a Terra Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution and a Swann Foundation grant. Her research interests focus on transnational exchanges in relation to the development of reproductive technology in nineteenth century visual culture, the international art market and the emerging apparatus of international exhibitions. She completed a Master’s Degree in Egyptian Archaeology. She has published several essays on the American perception of ancient Egypt, the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle, and the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition.
This presentation is part of the Swann Foundation’s continuing activities to support the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world. The Swann Foundation’s advisory board is composed of scholars, collectors, cartoonists and Library of Congress staff members. The foundation strives to award one fellowship annually (with a stipend of up to $15,000) to assist scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. Applications for the academic year 2009-2010 are due Feb. 15, 2010. More information about the fellowship is available through the Swann Foundation’s Web site: www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swannhome or by emailing swann@loc.gov.
The Topic of Swann Grantee’s Talk on March 25
Swann Foundation grantee Marie-Stéphanie Delamaire will present a lecture entitled, "The Artist as Translator: Thomas Nast and French Art,” Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at 12 noon, in the West Dining Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC.
In her illustrated talk, Delamaire will examine American cartoonist Thomas Nast’s appropriation of the visual language used in prints and photographs of grand manner and history paintings in his political cartoons of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The analysis of Nast’s cartoons suggests that they functioned much like visual, cultural, and political translations of the era’s leading issues and articulated the cartoonist’s artistic identity.
Thomas Nast (1840-1902) began his career as a newspaper illustrator in the antebellum era for the growing illustrated press of the 1850s in New York. During the Civil War years, Nast developed a new style of large-scale cartoons that made extensive use of the visual vocabulary of old masters and contemporary French academic painters, particularly those whose works were reproduced in prints then being disseminated by the American branch of Goupil & Cie in New York. Nast referenced or alluded to specific French paintings as a means of capturing and engaging his viewers’ interest in major political developments of the day as seen in such cartoons as “Democracy” or “The Tammany Tiger Loose” (published respectively in Harper’s Weekly on November 11, 1865 and November 11, 1871). In so doing, Nast not only translated “facts into black and white,” as suggested by Clarence Cook (Putnam Magazine, July 1869), but also transformed history painting into a mass medium and appropriated the significance of foreign images into the American national or local political sphere.
Delamaire contends that looking closely at Nast’s cartoons demonstrates that the artist deliberately emphasized the discontinuity between the original painting and his final image in order to construct the cartoon’s underlying meaning. Nast’s translations of history paintings into cartoons can thus be seen to question the authority and priority commonly associated with the grand tradition of European history painting. Delamaire suggests that Nast’s appropriations reveal a shift from his role as a newspaper illustrator to that of a translator of fine art’s visual language mediating the political significance of foreign works of art widely
disseminated in print form to his American audience.
Delamaire is a Ph.D. candidate in Art History at Columbia University. Her dissertation project entitled, “Art in Translation: Franco-American exchanges in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era,” has been awarded a Terra Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution and a Swann Foundation grant. Her research interests focus on transnational exchanges in relation to the development of reproductive technology in nineteenth century visual culture, the international art market and the emerging apparatus of international exhibitions. She completed a Master’s Degree in Egyptian Archaeology. She has published several essays on the American perception of ancient Egypt, the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle, and the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition.
This presentation is part of the Swann Foundation’s continuing activities to support the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation of original works of humorous and satiric art by graphic artists from around the world. The Swann Foundation’s advisory board is composed of scholars, collectors, cartoonists and Library of Congress staff members. The foundation strives to award one fellowship annually (with a stipend of up to $15,000) to assist scholarly research and writing projects in the field of caricature and cartoon. Applications for the academic year 2009-2010 are due Feb. 15, 2010. More information about the fellowship is available through the Swann Foundation’s Web site: www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swannhome or by emailing swann@loc.gov.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Spider-Man on WAMU on Friday
Listen to "Spidey at the Library of Congress" on WAMU's Metro Connection tomorrow.
Last year, an anonymous donor gave the Library of Congress original drawings of the first comic book appearance of Spider-Man. The pen and ink illustrations made by creator Steve Ditko in 1962 are available for Spidey-scholars to peruse - and the acquisition was an instant hit. Sara Duke is Curator of the graphic arts division of the Library. Back in May of last year, Stephanie Kaye spoke with Duke, as she opened the long, flat archive boxes these Spider-Man images now call home.
I'm not sure why it took them 9 months to get the story on the air though - Sara doesn't usually need that much editing.
Last year, an anonymous donor gave the Library of Congress original drawings of the first comic book appearance of Spider-Man. The pen and ink illustrations made by creator Steve Ditko in 1962 are available for Spidey-scholars to peruse - and the acquisition was an instant hit. Sara Duke is Curator of the graphic arts division of the Library. Back in May of last year, Stephanie Kaye spoke with Duke, as she opened the long, flat archive boxes these Spider-Man images now call home.
I'm not sure why it took them 9 months to get the story on the air though - Sara doesn't usually need that much editing.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wanna work on Herblock cartoons this summer?
Sara Duke tells me "you would like hands-on experience working with cartoon art this summer, the Junior Fellows who come to the Prints and Photographs Division will be working with our Herb Block Collection - more than 14,000 original drawings. Come to this page: http://www.loc.gov/hr/employment/index.php, and click on "Internship, Fellowship, and Volunteer Programs". The information for the 2009 Junior Fellows Program has just gone online. The deadline is March 11, 2009."
Friday, January 30, 2009
Swann Fellowship at Library of Congress deadline approaching
Feb. 13 is the deadline for receiving Swann Fellowship applications here at the Library. The Swann Foundation awards up to $15,000 annually to a qualified graduate student applicant (or smaller awards to several) to support scholarly work in caricature and cartoon. For guidelines and application forms, please see http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swann-fellow.html . Email swann@loc.gov if you have questions.
Martha H. Kennedy
Associate Curator, Popular & Applied Graphic Art
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20540-4730
Ph.: 202/707-9115 Fax: 202/707-6647
Martha H. Kennedy
Associate Curator, Popular & Applied Graphic Art
Prints and Photographs Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20540-4730
Ph.: 202/707-9115 Fax: 202/707-6647
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