April 13: Hess and Northrup on political cartoons at National Archives

Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrup speak on their new book, Drawn & Quartered: The History of American Political Cartoons tomorrow:

Wednesday, April 13, 7PM, National Archives, McGowan Theater

I'll be at this.

Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrup speak three times on editorial cartoons

Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrup speak on their new book, Drawn & Quartered: The History of American Political Cartoons in three places this spring:

 

Wednesday, April 13, 7PM, National Archives, McGowan Theater

Wednesday, April 27, 12PM, Library of Congress, 6th floor, Montpelier Room

Sunday, May 15, 2:30 PM, Newseum

American Political Cartoons, 1754-2010 book

Until I met them today, I didn't realize Stephen Hess & Sandy Northrup, the authors of American Political Cartoons, 1754-2010, were both in the DC area. Sandy tells me that they'll be making at least three appearances, "speaking at the National Archives, April 13th, 7PM; Library of Congress, April 27th, 12PM and; Newseum, May 15th, 2:30PM. It should be a lively discussion accompanied with a power point presentation." I plan to attend at least one and will buy the book, which is an update of the first edition (that I already have).

Jan 6: Political Cartoons of the Civil War and Their Role in Shaping History

Here's a tip from Warren Bernard. This is apparently a National Archives event and hopefully will be free, but it's not on their calendar yet. Thursday, January 6, at 7 p.m. Presented at the Newseum's Walter and Leonore Annenberg Theater 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. Political Cartoons of the Civil War and Their Role in Shaping History How do political cartoons from the Civil War era reveal what Americans thought about the war and how they participated in the politics of the day? Join us for an illustrated discussion focusing on political cartoons—whether humorous, clever, or scathing—and their role in providing insight into the economic, political and moral issues surrounding the Civil War. Featured will be both Union and Confederate political cartoons. Moderated by Harold Holzer, co-author of The Lincoln Image: Abraham Lincoln and Popular Print, panelists include Joshua Brown, author of Beyond the Lines: Pictorial Reporting, Everyday Life, and the Crisis of Gilded Age America, John Adler, who compiled for the online resource HarpWeek, Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines, and Richard West, co-author of William Newman: A Victorian Cartoonist in London and New York. The National Archives Experience is pleased to present tonight's program in partnership with the Newseum.

National Archives' Civil War manga style

Comic book-style exhibit tells Civil War saga has pictures from the interactive computer display in the new National Archives' exhibit.

AAEC's Cartoons for the Classroom features Berryman's lame duck

The AAEC's Cartoons for the Classroom feature, which links editorial cartoons to the news for students, uses Clifford Berryman's lame duck cartoon from the National Archives this week.

Oct 23: Canadian animation at National Archives

Note animation historian Charles Solomon's appearance.

National Archives, 9th and Constitution Ave, NW
Thursday, October 23, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
A Salute to the National Film Board of Canada

This program, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership with The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives, celebrates more than 50 years of Oscar(R)-nominated and -winning short subjects produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Hosted by renowned animation critic and historian Charles Solomon, the program will feature several films, including Neighbours (1952), Christmas Cracker (1962), Bob's Birthday (1993), and Ryan (2004). The program will be introduced by Academy President Sid Ganis. Joining us from the NFB will be Government Film Commissioner Tom Perlmutter and animation producer Marcy Page. Torill Kove, director of the 2006 Oscar(R)-winning animated short subject The Danish Poet, will also appear.

October 23: Canadian animated films at National Archives

Bruce Guthrie sent this in today:

Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives, 9th and Constitution Ave, NW

A Salute to the National Film Board of Canada

This program, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership with The Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives, celebrates more than 50 years of Oscar®-nominated and -winning short subjects produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Hosted by renowned animation critic and historian Charles Solomon, the program will feature several films, including Neighbours (1952), Christmas Cracker (1962), Bob’s Birthday (1993), and Ryan (2004). The program will be introduced by Academy President Sid Ganis. Joining us from the NFB will be Government Film Commissioner Tom Perlmutter and animation producer Marcy Page. Torill Kove, director of the 2006 Oscar®-winning animated short subject The Danish Poet, will also appear.

Clifford Berryman exhibit press preview remarks

Here's another audio file. I found this again as I wrote my review for the International Journal of Comic Art, so I figured I'd make it available. It features the Archivist of the United States Howard Weinstein and the curators of the exhibit when the exhibit was previewed for the press.

Press preview remarks to the Clifford Berryman exhibit, "Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman" at the National Archives, Washington, DC from February 8 - August 17th, 2008.

KAL photos from Archives

Bruce Guthrie, amateur paparazzi extraodinaire, has put a ton of shots of Kal's talk at the National Archives online.

KAL at NARA

Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher spoke at the National Archives tonight for an hour and a half. Kal's always a great entertainer. While I've seen him before, I always enjoy watching him. Tonight he began with his singing nun drawing (see below), went through a selection of Baltimore Sun and Economist cartoons, showed an animated video he did for a UK newspaper over twenty years ago and then went on to talk about his new animation work. He does animation by sculpting a politician's caricature, scanning that and then animating it with motion capture technology. He showed us his newest video animation of Obama, Clinton and GW Bush and I'll try to figure out how to embed it here. In the meantime, here's some photos.


KAL reproducing his very first childhood drawing of the singing nun for the audience at the National Archives. Look how fast he draws! His arm's a blur!




Off to sign books for the crowd.

May 8: KAL at National Archives REPOST

I'm going to try to be there... feel free say hello.

Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives, 9th and Pennsylvania Ave, NW
An Evening with Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher: Moving Political Cartoons from Page to Screen

Tonight, Berryman Award–winning editorial cartoonist Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher will present an illustrated lecture tracing the evolution of political cartoons from two-dimensional print to 3D animation. Kallaugher's work for the Baltimore Sun and the Economist has appeared in more than 100 publications worldwide. In 2007 he launched Kaltoons LLC, which pioneered the development of animated, 3D digital caricatures. Kaltoons' first video, Dancin' Dubya, was released on the web in August 2007. A signing of his latest collection of cartoons, KAL Draws Criticism, published in June 2006, will follow the program.

May 8: KAL at National Archives

Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives, 9th and Pennsylvania Ave, NW
An Evening with Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher: Moving Political Cartoons from Page to Screen

Tonight, Berryman Award–winning editorial cartoonist Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher will present an illustrated lecture tracing the evolution of political cartoons from two-dimensional print to 3D animation. Kallaugher's work for the Baltimore Sun and the Economist has appeared in more than 100 publications worldwide. In 2007 he launched Kaltoons LLC, which pioneered the development of animated, 3D digital caricatures. Kaltoons' first video, Dancin' Dubya, was released on the web in August 2007. A signing of his latest collection of cartoons, KAL Draws Criticism, published in June 2006, will follow the program.

More Berryman exhibit coverage

The Clifford Berryman exhibit that is opening later this week at the National Archives continues to generate press. You can see my post about the exhibit here.

And the previously mentioned article in the Washington Post:
"Caricaturing Campaigns: Exhibit of Cartoonist's Sketches Links Politics Then and Now," by Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post Sunday, February 3, 2008; C03.

and this one that snuck by me until today, "National Archives unveils political cartoons," By Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, January 31, 2008.

Jennifer Rios of the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire wrote one too "After 60 years, political cartoons in exhibit remain relevant," - you can register for free to view it, or see it here.

Berryman exhibit at National Archives preview UPDATED

Thanks to my colleague Miriam (we bonded over stories of St. Elizabeth Hospital records), I got to see the new National Archives exhibit on Clifford Berryman today. Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman is open at the downtown branch from February 8 - August 17th. A formal review will appear in the fall issue of the International Journal of Comic Art, but here's some notes.

The exhibit was curated by Jessie Kratz and Martha Grove. They looked through the 2,400 pieces of artwork that the Senate was given after the cartoons were found in garbage bags in Berryman's daughter's house in the early 1990s. The curators looked through all of the drawings for cartoons that related to the campaign process. They divided the exhibit into sections: Throwing Your Hat in the Ring!, Narrowing the Field, Running for Congress, The Campaign, The Voter, Candidate William Jennings Bryan, The Homestretch and The Results Are In! I'd guesstimate that about 50 cartoon are displayed including a self-portrait with teddy bear. Berryman's lasting claim to fame, beyond being a professional cartoonist for 53 years, is drawing a bear cub that Teddy Roosevelt refused to shoot. The teddy bear became an icon of his drawings.

Berryman was a consummate professional. There's barely any visible underlying pencil or scraping out of unwanted lines. His characters are clearly recognizable, although more as portraits than caricatures as Warren Bernard pointed out. However, as Richard Baker, a Senate Historian noted in his introduction, Berryman "...combined a fine skill in caricaturing Senators with a gentle humor..." The gentle humor means that these cartoons are very gentle indeed, especially when compared to Nast and Oliphant at the opposing ends of Berryman's career.
Ahh, the lame duck!

Still, I like his work. His drawing of Roosevelt as Shakespeare's Hamlet is fantastic. Henry Ford was satirized as wearing a bathing suit, but refusing to dive into the 'presidential pool'. His elephant and donkeys symbols are excellent pen and ink works. His line is clear and easy to understand, even with his use of a massive amount of crosshatching.

The curators made a good selection of cartoons - most are still easily understandable. A reproduction of a front page of Washington's Evening Star shows how these cartoons would have appeared originally - far smaller, but on the front page of the paper. Berryman was considered the dean of Washington cartoonists, and a visit to this exhibit can show you why.

The exhibit has a small brochure, and a catalogue which appears very well done. Full of color reproductions, it's for sale at the Archives; gift shop. Remember that there's a program with Oliphant, Stephen Hess, Telnaes, Matt Davies and Clay Bennet on the evening of February 7th.

For a week from February 1, you can download the prefatory comments by the Archivist of the US, a historian of the Senate, the curator and Miriam here. I made the recording to help writing a review.

National Archives press release on exhibit and panel discussion

NATIONAL ARCHIVES PRESENTS POLITICAL CARTOONISTS PANEL DISCUSSION AND A FILM SCREENING FOR OPENING OF NEW EXHIBIT “RUNNING FOR OFFICE”

Washington, DC. . . On Thursday, February 7, at 7 p.m. the National Archives presents a group of Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoonists, including Pat Oliphant, in a special panel discussion celebrating the opening of the new exhibition “Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman.” Also in conjunction with the opening, the National Archives will offer a screening of The Great McGinty on Saturday, February 16, at noon.

The exhibition opens in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. on Friday, February 8 and runs through August 17, 2008. Winter hours (through March 14) are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Spring hours (March 15 through Labor Day) are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily.

The “Running for Office” exhibition includes 41 exceptional pen-and-ink drawings that highlight timeless aspects of the American campaign and election process. Clifford K. Berryman, staff political cartoonist for The Washington Post and the Washington Evening Star during the first half of the 20th century, drew thousands of cartoons commenting on Presidential and congressional candidates, campaign issues, and elections of his era. The cartoons are part of the official Records of the U.S. Senate housed in the National Archives Center for Legislative Archives.

The programs are free and open to the public. For information on National Archives Public Programs, call 202-357-5000, or view the Calendar of Events online at: www.archives.gov. The William G. McGowan Theater is located in the National Archives Building on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC. Use the National Archives Building Special Events entrance on the corner of 7th Street and Constitution Avenue.

Running for Office: Cartooning and Politics
Thursday, February 7, at 7 p.m.
William G. McGowan Theater
Award-winning editorial cartoons are often characterized by their originality, editorial effectiveness, and quality of drawing and dramatize a wide range of social and political issues with style and humor. Join moderator Stephen Hess, Distinguished Research Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University and co-author of Drawn & Quartered: The History of American Political Cartoons, as he welcomes four Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoonists: Pat Oliphant, the most widely syndicated political cartoonist in the world; Ann Telnaes, freelance editorial cartoonist with CartoonArts International/NY Times Syndicate and Women’s eNews; Matt Davies, editorial cartoonist for the Journal News, Westchester, NY, syndicated internationally in more than 80 newspapers by Tribune Media Services; and Clay Bennett, editorial cartoonist with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The panelists will discuss their work, what inspires and motivates political cartoons, and the effect of these cartoons on the political community and the public.

Running for Office Film Series—The Great McGinty
Saturday, February 16, at noon
William G. McGowan Theater
Writer-director Preston Sturges’s first film tells of the rise and fall of Dan McGinty, which begins when he endears himself to the political machine by voting 37 times in a single election and ends with him working as a bartender in a banana republic. In between, he is pushed by a ruthless political boss into the governor’s chair as the stooge to end all stooges. The film stars Brian Donlevy and won an Academy Award® for Best Screenplay. (1940, 82 minutes)

Feb 8: Clifford Berryman's Running for Office exhibit opens at National Archives

Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman

Introduction

The exhibit “Running for Office: Candidates, Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman,” which opens in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, February 8, 2008, and runs through August 17, 2008. The exhibit features 42 original pen-and-ink drawings including all of the cartoons seen here. Timed to coincide with the Presidential primaries and the 2008 campaign season, the exhibit highlights both specific and timeless aspects of the American campaign and election process.

The cartoons, drawn by renowned cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman, illustrate campaigns beginning with the candidates’ decision to run for office and ending with the ultimate outcome of the election. Although many political procedures have changed, these cartoons show that the political process has remained remarkably consistent; Berryman’s cartoons from the early 20th century remain relevant today.

All of these cartoons appeared on the front page of Washington newspapers from 1898 through 1948. They are part of a collection of nearly 2,400 pen-and-ink drawings by Berryman. In 1992, in honor of former Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, the Charles Engelhard Foundation purchased the drawings and donated them to the U.S. Senate.

Feb 7: Oliphant, Telnaes, Davies and Bennett at National Archives

A tip from Bruce Guthrie... I'll try to be there.

The Center for the National Archives Experience is pleased to present programs in celebration of our new exhibit "Running for Office: Candidates,Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman" which opens February 8 in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery.

Thursday February 7 at 7pm
William G McGowan Theater
Running for Office: Cartooning and Politics
Join moderator Stephen Hess, Distinguished Research Professor of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University and co-author of Drawn & Quartered: the History of American Political Cartoons, as he welcomes four Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonists: Pat Oliphant, the most widely syndicated political cartoonist in the world; Ann Telnaes, freeland editorial cartoonist with CartoonArts International/NY Times Syndicate and Women's eNews; Matt Davies, editorial cartoonist for the Journal News, Westchester NY; and Clay Bennett, editorial cartoonist with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The panelists will discuss their work, what inspires and motivates political cartoons, and how these cartoons effect the political
community and the public.