ECC Cartoonbooks Club

Ronald Searle the Great (Part 3) - His England

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:38:00 +0000

Article by JMB

His England

Searle’s short obituaries mainly mention St. Trinian’s cartoons, but the artist has pictured the whole British society, in press and in numerous books too.

Searle’s second book was published in France by Editions Montbrun; its printing was done in December 1946 as a limited edition: 650 numbered copies (25 on Vélin Véron paper & 625 on Vélin Alfa paper) and 4 extra copies not for sale (printed on Japon Imperial paper). A four pages text in French presents the history of ballet in England and modern ballets’ creations at Covent Garden. There are sixteen drawings featuring some dancers and some scenes of these recent ballets (such as The Rake’s Progress here above).

Here are two scenes of Adam Zero, a ballet launched in april 1946. The other scenes are from the ballets: Les Patineurs, The Prospect Before Us, Orpheus and Eurydice, Hamlet, Miracle in the Gorbals, and Les Sirènes.

Searle drew humorous illustrations for books gathering some comic or odd newspapers cuttings. Such collections where particularly appreciated at the time: Three books titled: This England, where formerly published by The New Statesman and Nation, in 1937, 1939, and 1946.

This fourth series of This England is the only one with Searle’s drawings. It was published by Turnstile Press in 1949. Audrey Hilton selected the newspapers cuttings.

In fact, all these newspapers cuttings came from readers who submitted them to The New Statesman and Nation, where the funnier were edited every week.

As to the newspapers cuttings collected by Denys Parsons, and edited in this other book, many of them come from unidentified papers. So, one can wonder if a lot of the howlers or misprints were not written by the editor himself. Anyway, often they are amusing.

It Must Be True – It Was All in the Papers was published by Macdonald in 1952. Although a large part of these newspapers cuttings are told coming from foreign press, many illustrations feature typical British characters.

The novel hereunder describes the life of a young provincial newcomer in London. Through her experiences, the reader discovers some manners and customs of the Londoners.

London-so Help Me! was published by Macdonald in 1952.

Looking at London, and People Worth Meeting is written by Searle’s wife. It is a collection of portraits of ordinary Londoners, real people just on the very first rung of the social ladder. The writer and the artist show a deep empathy for all these everyday characters.

This book was published by News Chronicle in 1953

The novel The Journal of Edwin was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1954; it was translated into French and published by Editions Denoël in 1956.

The main character lives in the suburbs. He keeps watching and making a note of the events of his life and his circle of acquaintances. This gives the reader an implacable but humorous self portrait of the average Englishman.

A Rake’s Progress is a famous set of 8 painting done by William Hogarth in 1732-33, and then etched. This series relates the story of an heir who, rather than following a path of wisdom in his new ease, joins the ways of vice, which led him in jail before he died insane. Hogarth met a success already with A Harlot's Progress which is a feminine counterpart of a similar curve of life: rising, downfall, and death.

Inspired by these fates, Searle transposes them to the brilliant career of some contemporary British types: the athlete, the girlfriend, the actor, the soldier, the novelist, the trade union leader, the doctor, the Member of Parliament, the clergyman, and several more. If Hogarth’s aim was moralistic, Searle’s look over British society is particularly ironic. His series The Rake’s Progress was first published in Punch in 1954, a book was published by Perpetua in 1955 and it was republished by Dennis Dobson in 1968.

The great lover progress is the only one to be shown in two drawings: boyhood, and his very end in jail. Every other life is related in six scenes: promise, emergence, success, triumph, downfall, and ruin.

Often, these ultimate ruins are just Searle’s humorous appreciation, as many of these careers end when the honors continue. Such is the painter’s life and his last vileness: being knighted, sitting right to Winston Churchill during a banquet at the Academy of Fine Arts. You shall notice this character has a goatee beard just like the one Searle used to keep all along his life!

In a book containing over 150 cartoons, Searle humorously shows various aspects of British life.

Merry England, etc. was published by Perpetua en 1956.

At right, the cartoon refers to the Churchill portrait by Graham Sutherland, which was offered this statesman on his 80^th anniversary in 1954. This painting offended many people of the establishment, as it showed the old prime minister features with no flattery. This artwork was even said to be just a caricature. In his speech of thanks, Lord Winston called it "a particular example of modern art" and his wife later destroyed the painting privately.

This softcover book was published by Penguin Books in 1960. It contains a choice of cartoons published in: Souls in Torment, The Rake’s Progress, and Merry England, etc.

In the book Take One Toad, Searle looks into a much older England; the one of an epoch when medicine was based on popular beliefs in strange remedies’ ingredients and in extravagant cures’ attempts. Successfully, this pharmacopeia and these therapies are no more used, but their strangeness is really funny for all present day readers.

Take One Toad was published by Dennis Dobson in 1968

At right, is a photo of the original work which is only reproduced in black & white in this book. In fact, all the illustrations of Take One Toad come from watercolour drawings, but the book contains twice more pages in black & white than in colours; too bad for these excellent works...

A choice of cartoons of Searle’s British period was published by Pavilion in 1985. This anthology gathers some works formerly published in ten of his books.

These times of Golden Oldies run up to 1961 when Searle lefts England definitely, moving to France. We shall mention some of his books connected to this country, later on.

Prior to Searle’s books and France, our next part will tackle some other countries, because the artist has travelled a lot too.

article by JMB

Learn more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rake's_Progress

Trains, tourists and a strike. Do you know Albert Dubout?

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:17:00 +0000

The Belgian unions appeal for a general strike on Monday 30 January 2012 in Belgium. Public transportation services will strike. I don't know why, but when there is a strike, train traffic is almost always infected and people who want to go to work and who need taking the train to attend their job are always the victim of those strikes. But this is a political discussion, our blog doesn't strike! Strikes, trains... it makes me think at the "TRAINS de palavas et d'ailleurs" album by Dubout (ISBN978-2-918852-06-3, Albert Dubout Communication, France, 2011). Translated Title: "Trains from Palavas and elsewhere".

It is an album in a series of 10 presenting the work of the great French cartoonist Albert Dubout (1905-1976). Dubout used to laugh with the tourists who visited the little seaside station. The album contains drawings published between 1927 and 1969. The cartoons below have captions, but I left them out to concentrate just on the drawing.

Jean-Marie was so kind to send some other Dubout cartoons and book covers to me. Enjoy them:

the artist Albert Dubout (1952)

More information about all the albums and Dubout's art is on the Dubout website.

Here are the other albums in the series:

Learn more:

Albert Dubout offcial website (French)

Albert Dubout on Wikipedia

The Albert Dubout Museum

Le Musée Albert Dubout from Ville de Palavas-les-Flots on Vimeo.

Lay-out

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:53:00 +0000

Due to technical problems with the Dynamic View lay-out, ECC Cartoonbooks Club changed (temporarily?) to the old blog lay-out.
Hope you don't mind. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Ronald Searle the Great Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:34:00 +0000

Article by JM
Read our other Ronald Searle articles.

The terrific years of St. Trinian’s and St. Custards

After a first part dedicated to Searle’s war drawings and to some samples of his press works, let us talk about his books.

Searle’s first cartoon book was published by Macdonald in 1948.

On the title page, Searle drew himself in company of his already well known schoolgirls.

Although this book is titled: Hurrah for St. Trinian’s and other lapses, it contains only 14 St. Trinian’s cartoons on the 87 gathered here. Obviously, the author knows these characters of young pests are popular. The book gets an undeniable success: 50,000 copies are sold.

The following period is particularly active for Searle: up to the middle of the 50s he edits four cartoon books, he collaborates to six books and he illustrates over fifteen books.

His second cartoon book is launched by the same publisher in 1949. It is again successful: in two years, there are seven reprints.

The female approach with masculine sidelights deals with the better (?) half of mankind, with adult women as well as Searle’s young and always awful schoolgirls.

His third cartoon book is published in 1949, again by Macdonald.

As announced by its title, this Back to the slaughterhouse and other ugly moments shows a very black ambience. This book too is partly devoted to the famous infamous schoolgirls.

In 1952, Searle illustrates a Timothy Shy novel that takes place in the mythic St. Trinian’s boarding school.

Since 1946, many cartoons, featuring Searle’s scandalous schoolgirls, are edited in Lilliput magazine every month, and some of these cartoons are published abroad, in the press as well as in book form.

Searle’s book Weil noch das Lämpchen glüht, published by Diogenes Verlag in Zürich in 1952, reprints in German some British cartoons from his first three books. There are several reprints; the last one is made as a pocket book (picture here above).

Souls in torment, his fourth British cartoon book, is published by Perpetua in 1953. This publishing company is founded by Kaye Webb – a long time editor of Lilliput magazine, then wife of Ronald Searle. This book contains a miscellany of themes, such as music, fine arts, literature... and, of course, the heinous but very famous schoolgirls.

On the left, the cartoon shows Searle visiting St. Trinian’s, dressed as an undertaker!

In fact, this book marks an important turning point: although the successful St. Trinian’s girls became part of the British folklore, their animator arrives at the conclusion he doesn’t want to be a prisoner of his creatures. So the publisher warns she is editing the last hours of that infamous, irresistible brood of impenitent characters, known as Searle’s Schoolgirls. Their creator has thought it best to dispose of them before they shattered foundations more fundamental than those of St. Trinian’s. This, she realises, will be positively their last appearance in book form.

Here Searle announces his decision to definitely close this long cartoons series.

Edited soon after Souls in torment, the book Médisances, is published by Robert Delpire in Paris in 1953. It reprints in French some British cartoons from Searle’s first four books. Of course, there are some cartoons of the devilish schoolgirls.

Still digging into the vein of British school life, but on the schoolboys side this time, Searle collaborates to two books written by Geoffrey Williams, whose main character is Nigel Molesworth, a pupil of the unlikely St. Custards school.

How to be topp, subtitled ‘A guide to sukcess for tiny pupils’, is the first of these books dedicated to schoolboys. It was published by Max Parish in 1954 and it was re-issued several times up to 1959.

In association with Searle, Geoffrey Williams’ second book was edited in 1958 by the same publisher, and then it was republished as a soft cover book by May Fair Books in 1968.

Finally, to complete St. Trinian’s girls’ saga, Searle and his wife devoted themselves to a sort of encyclopaedia that was published by Pepetua in 1959.

With the collaboration of several authors, this book details, in about fifty pages, the genesis of this corpus of cartoons, their resounding in British culture, as well as the creations they inspired (such as a film and several songs). In addition, there are about 125 cartoons (some of them never published in a book).

This hardcover first edition was republished as a paperback by Penguin Books in 1961.

Here is the tragic cartoon of the apocalyptic end of the St. Trinian’s story

Goodbye bloody girls; R.I.P.! But see you soon, you readers of this blog: we are very far from the end of the sumptuous list of Searle’s books.

article by JMB

Learn more:
St Trianians School on Wikipedia

Related articles:

Ronald Searle the Great (Part 1)

Ronald Searle the Great (Part 2)

Ronald Searle the Great (Part 3)

Ronald Searle's 'Slightly Foxed - But Still Desirable'

Ronald Searle related articles on our blog

Don't forget to consult the Ronald Searle Tribute Blog

Ronald Searle the Great (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:43:00 +0000

Article by JMB
Translation: Jan

Read our other Ronald Searle articles

Ronald Searle begins his career in the pre-war press, while studying at the Cambridge School of Arts. In April 1939 he joined the army, which finally leads him to Singapore where, shortly after his arrival, the Japanese captured him along with the whole British garrison. The captivity of these men took place in very atrocious conditions. Throughout this ordeal which will last until September 6, 1945, the artist Searle clandestinely drew a testimony of his 43 months of hell. About these works, he said they are « the graffiti of a condemned man, intending to leave a rough witness of his passing through, but who found himself – to his surprise and delight – among the reprieved ».

Shortly after his return to England he exhibited in Cambridge 300 drawings he produced since 1939. A book, reproducing 40 of his works drawn in captivity, is published. This is the first book of Ronald Searle’s long bibliography. We will talk about his other books in the second part of our article.

From March 6 to July 6, 1986, his war drawings are exhibited at the Imperial War Museum in London. On this occasion, Searle published the story of his war years, accompanied by drawings of this period, in the book To the Kwai - and Back, which is published in the UK by Collins Publishers and in the United States by The Atlantic Monthly Press.

Soon after the return of Searle to civilian life, his career as a cartoonist is pretty well launched. All facets of his talent are revealing and his fame is growing. He participated in an incredible number of magazines where he draws realistic illustrations for short novels, for announcement of radio plays, as well as cabochons, advertising, graphical reports, ironic portraits, caricatures, current events cartoons and, especially, countless humorous cartoons.

Illustrations in the magazine John Bull in 1947 & 1948

Ads of radio plays

Pictured ads, published from 1947 to 1953

An article published in The Studio in January 1949

Jungle dance, East Africa.

Drawing done in1946, published in The Studio in June 1949

In this issue of The Studio, Bernard Denvir, author of the article "Ronald Searle without a smile", wrote: « On troop-ships and in Africa, in gaol and in the jungle, Searle developed as clearly and probably far more surely than if he had been working at art schools here in England. Not only did he achieve greater powers of penetration and understanding, but his line became surer, more revealing, and less susceptible to the occasional lapses into facility which recur from time to time in his work ».

Graphical report by Searle in the United States, published in two issues of Punch in July 1957

Centerfold portraits published in Punch in October and December 1956

R. Hirsch & M. Boudet in the G. Feydeau play: “Un fil à la patte”, in Paris

Theatrical caricature published in Punch December 16, 1962

Current events cartoon published in Punch November 19, 1958

Cartoons published in Lilliput in the years 1946-1948

Ronald Searle's fame exploded with his long series of cartoons featuring schoolgirls of the unlikely institution St Trinian's, from 1946. The profile of these young girls, just as amoral as sadistic, created a buzz in the quiet of the after war United Kingdom. They will become such a part of British mythology that a serious publication like The Times has referred more than once to ‘triniamism’, confident that this will be immediately comprehensive to its readers. The popularity of these characters of little but awful devils crossed the borders.

Cartoon published in London Opinion August 1953

Cartoons published in Paris Match April 18, 1953

Major newspapers in France, the United States, Germany, Italy and other countries, publishing his drawings throughout his career.

Cartoons published in Paris Match 6 February 1954

Cartoon published in Marie France in August 1992

Drawing published in Sky in March 1996

Cartoon published in Paris Match October 15, 1998

To top off this presentation devoted to the press, here is - with the friendly permission of Alain Grandremy, the cartoon Searle especially made to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the famous French satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, in 1996.

The work of Ronald Searle is not limited to his press drawings and all his books; there are other artistic creations which will be discussed later.

I cannot end without paying a tribute to the late cartoonist Roland Fiddy, who friendly gave me his big collection of old British press cuttings concerning Ronald Searle, whom he was a keen fan too.

article by JMB

Related articles:
Ronald Searle the Great (Part 1)
Ronald Searle the Great (Part 2)
Ronald Searle the Great (Part 3)
Ronald Searle's 'Slightly Foxed - But Still Desirable'

Ronald Searle related articles on our blog

The Ronald Searle Tribute Blog

Ronald Searle - Tribute from France

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Oplinus) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:29:00 +0000

The French cartoonist Jean-Paul Vomorin made a tribute caricature dedicated to Ronald Searle on his blog vomorin-caricature.blogspot.com .

Thanks for sending it to us Jean-Paul!

Below is a self caricature drawn by the master himself, probably published in the very early fifties:

(source: JMB)

In memoriam Ronald Searle (1920 - 2011) - Tribute one

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Oplinus) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Info and pictures by JMB
Text /translation: JMB /Jan

Also read:
Sad news: Ronald Searle has died aged 91
Other reading: In memoriam Ronald Searle - Tribute 2 (in progress)
---

A great cartoonist deserves a great tribute. In a series of articles we'd like to present you some work of the great Ronald Searle who passed away some days ago in France, at the age of 91.

Jean-Marie will provide our readers with some exceptional and rare material published during the long and successful career of Ronald Searle.

To begin with, here's a publication in the London Opinion , dated May 1946. It's in the very early career of Searle. He was liberated late 1945.(see Wikipedia article Ronald Searle)

Sad news: Ronald Searle has died aged 91

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Oplinus) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

One of the greatest cartoonists ever died, aged 91. Read the obituary in The Telegraph and certainly consult the Ronald Searle Tribute blog !

Read more:
BBC News
The Telegraph
SkyNews
The Guardian
Mirror
and many many other news sites...

Happy New Year !

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:01:00 +0000

Zonder Woorden ? - Een Geschiedenis van België in spotprenten - Without Words ? - A history of Belgium in Cartoons

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:14:00 +0000

35 years after the publication of 'L'union fait la farce' by Jo Gérard and Daniel Polet, there's a brand new history of Belgium in cartoons. The books is a magnificent display of the history of our little country in caricatures. Historians Paul Van Damme (1959) and Stijn Van de Perre (1966) did an excellent job.

The first time I got informed of the book was when I saw the presentation in the news on television a time ago. Our members of parliament all got this book and some politicians were allowed to choose their favourite cartoons.

This is the news item:

Zonder Woorden? Een geschiedenis van België in Spotprenten (Dutch, ISBN 978-90-289-5988-0, Pelckmans Le Cri édit., 49 eur)

Another history of Belgium in cartoons (1976):

Learn more : book reviews (use Google Translate)

De Standaard
Knack magazine
Standaard boekhandel

The foolish and evil Santa Clauses - Les Pères Noël bêtes et méchants

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 04:01:00 +0000

Ho ho ho...

Four of the most cruel and fun books I have, are the 'foolish and evil' (bêtes et méchants) series by Patrick Larme (Lyon, France) and Michel Monteil. I still remember the AH - AHA - HAHA Erlebnis I had , buying two of the four little books in Fnac Lille years ago.

The books aren't cartoon books as such, and the drawer is a comic strip artist and an illustrator, but the humor is universal and I really like artists who can make someone laugh without using (many) words in their cartoons, drawings or gags.

This time of year suites good to present "Les Pères Noel bêtes et méchants" with its specific kind of humor.

Merry X-Mas to all our readers!
(with special thanks to Patrick Larme for his kind permission)

Other books in this series are:

Les Gobelins bêtes et méchants (goblins)

Les fantômes bêtes et méchants (ghosts)

Les Sorcières bêtes et méchants (witches)

Learn more:

Patrick Larme website

Patrick Larme blog

Like Patrick Larme on Facebook

Comic creator Patrick Larme on Lambiek.net

UK Political Cartoon - www.politicalcartoons.co.uk

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:20:00 +0000

Dr. Timothy Benson informed me about the renewed website of the UK Political Cartoon Society.
The site looks great and I'm fond of the Cartoon Books section. I'm feelling like a kid in a candy shop when I'm seeing all those nice cartoon books!

On the site you can admire and buy new and used cartoon books. Some are rare to find. Here are some examples of books (I own) you can buy on the site:

Learn more:
The Political Cartoon Society

Football cartoon books

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:03:00 +0000

To be honest: I know almost nothing about football (soccer) players, their clubs and the competitions they play in. I know the rules of the game and it's only when the World Cup is played that I become an addict of the game.

Football cartoons are interesting me more. I saw on TV the UEFA Europa League is on now and I thought it's the moment to present some football cartoon books you might enjoy.

In 'le foot' (football) by Mordillo, the legendary football player Pelé writes in the introduction: "...today I realise that football can be a source of humor..." The cartoons below prove this statement.

Mordillo 'Le Foot' (Glénat, isbn 2-7234-3814-7, 2002):

Mordillo 'Le Foot' (Vents d'Ouest, isbn 2-8696-7591-7, 1997)

Faszinatiion Fussball - Cartoon und Karikatur - Stuttgart Award 2006 (Fifa World Cup Germany 2006)

Hat Trick - Zagreb 1998 - the 4th Biennal Internatioal cartoon exhibition:

In memoriam David Langdon (1914 - 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:49:00 +0000

Pics and info provided byJMB

British cartoonist David Langdon passed away aged 97 on 18 November 2011.
You can read the obituary on the site of The Guardian.

Below you can enjoy some work of the artist.

"Home Front Lines",published in 1941 by Methuen & Co.

from "Home Front Lines"

from "Meet Me Inside", published in 1946 by Hutchinson & Co

from"The Way I See It", published in 1947 by Methuen & Co

from "Look at You", pubished in 1952 by Methuen

The picture belows comes from a fascicule (Punch, 1991), entitled "The Best of British Cartoonists. n° 1: David Langdon":

This page comes from "Paris Match" magazine, n°99, published 10 February 1951. Other cartoons by David Langdon, appeared in Paris Match in 1955, 1956 and 1959.

One Night of Queen - Gary Mullen (as Freddy Mercury)

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:27:00 +0000

Sunday evening I attended the "One Night of Queen" concert in Ostend, performed by Gary Mullen and his band The Works. Wow! What an experience.

Freddy Mercury by Ben Heine

The public, even those aged over 65 in the hall rocked and rolled whipped up by the rock music of Queen, one of the greatest rock bands ever. (Yes, I'm a fan)

What has this to do with cartoons? Well, it made me think about caricature.

"A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others. (Wikipedia)"

In the world of cartoons, there are caricaturists. Many caricaturists exaggerate and distort. For that reason I won't link to Freddy Mercury caricatures. You'll find them easily on the web. Only few caricaturists (a bad word, in fact they are artists) , the great ones, are able the pay a tribute to the persons they draw. Karl Meersman is one of those artists who can draw tribute 'caricatures' as I call some work.Another artist is Sebastian Kruger. Unfortunately I didn't find art of them concerning Queen or Freddy Mercury.
Another artist is Ben Heine. From him I found a Freddy Mercury art work.

Tribute art, I like the word. The show I saw wasn't a caricature at all of the great rock band Queen. No, it was a tribute performed by professionals, sounding professional and they hit the heart of the public. Congratulations to Gary Mullen and The Works!

Learn more:
One Night of Queen official site
Gary Mullen videos on YouTube

One of my favourite Queen songs:

Armistice Day 2011 - De Oorlog in Prent by Jan Feith (The War in cartoons)

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 16:08:00 +0000

Is there a better day and a better place to buy an old book with political cartoons of the years preceding and the first year of World War 1? On 11 November 2011 about 11 o'clock and in Passchendaele I bought "De oorlog in Prent" by Jan Feith.

The book was published in Amsterdam in May 1915 (Scheltens & Giltay). As Holland was a neutral country during WWI, the author's point of view is "neutral" too. The subtitle of the book sounds "caricatures from the different countries". There are nine chapters in the book (190 pages): 1. The allegory of war 2. the history of the war 3. what one reproaches the other 4. ruined cities 5. their armed forces 6. war press in the caricature 7. sport as a motive of war 8. leaders of war 9. about neutrality and neutrals.

The book shows a selection of cartoons and caricatures published in newpapers and magazines in the different countries in Europe and the United States (Punch, Simplicissimus, Jugend, The Bystander, Kladderadatsch, Le Matin, Evening Sun, Avanti, Nebelspalter, etc. ) .
The coloured cover is a colour copy of another version of the book. The cover below, the original cover of this book is in black and white. I think this is the original edition of the book, but I am not sure. The edition with the yellow coloured cover can be a later one. If someone can help me find out, let me know.

Learn more:
Armistice Day 2010 - Brushes and Bayonets

Jan Feith on Wikipedia
Jan Feith on Lambiek.net
De Oorlog in Prent (info on Google Books)

Irish Cartoonist Terry Willers passed away (1935 - 2011)

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Tribute by JMB

British-born, Terry Willers lived in Ireland for more than 40 years. He died, aged 76, in his home in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, on November 8th.
Award-winning cartoonist he worked on RTÉ television’s Hall’s Pictorial Weekly and for numerous Irish publications

As a teenager he got his first job working on the Disney comic in London and later worked for the Dutch Marten Toonder studios in the 1960s. He worked on a number of newspaper strips which appeared in various European countries. He won the Jacob’s Award in 1975 for his work on Hall’s Pictorial Weekly. His cartoons featured on the Mike Murphy Show and he created strips for the Evening Herald in the 1990s. He was chairman of the International Cartoon Festivals in Rathdrum (1992-94)

Irish Times cartoonist Martyn Turner paid tribute to his counterpart and friend.
“He was always very happy and full of jokes and was an incredibly talented artist. Most cartoonists become cartoonists because they have to… but Terry could draw anything and everything. In many ways he was an artist more than he was a cartoonist.”

Terry Willers - At Pub

Terry Willers - Touring in Ireland

Terry Willers - Irish Rugby (scan of the original cartoon)

Read more:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/1111/willerst.html

See also:
Terry Willers on Lambiek.net
Irish Comic News

Testing new Lay-out

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:24:00 +0000

I'm testing the new Blogger Dynamic Views template for our cartoonbooks blog... I think it's great. The reader can choose many different lay-outs. Please try it and give some feed-back. Thanks!

About our new look

As you may have noticed, the ECC Cartoonbooks Club blog has a new look. That’s because we—along with a other Google blogs—are trying out a new set of Blogger templates called Dynamic Views.

Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that makes it easier and faster for readers to explore blogs in interactive ways. We’re using the Flipcard view, but you can also preview this blog in any of the other six new views by using the view selection bar at the top left of the screen.

Below are most of the views you can choose now to read your favourite cartoon book article.

Parodies and pastiches

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:57:00 +0000

I really enjoyed this book. It's in the collection of the ECC library. Parodies & Pastiches aus der Sammlung Karikaturen & Cartoons Basel by Jürg Spahr (Basel, 1991, ISBN 3-856-16-043-4). Many cartoons are a parody and sometimes a pastiche, and in fact, that's what's cartooning is about. The book is a fine collection of parodies and pastiches. It is published as a hommage by the Christoph Merian Stiftung to the founder of the caricature and cartoon collection in Basel (Swiss), Dieter Burckhardt (1914-1991).

What's the difference between a parody and a pastiche? Here are the definitions I found:

A parody is a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing.
It's also the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations.
A bit broader, it's any humorous, satirical, or burlesque imitation, as of a person, event, etc.

A pastiche is a literary, musical, or artistic piece consisting wholly or chiefly of motifs or techniques borrowed from one or more sources.Also, it is an incongruous combination of materials, forms, motifs, etc., taken from different sources; hodgepodge.
(source: dictionary.com)

Martial Leiter and Jean-Jacques Loup "Frankensteins dreams"

Arnold Roth - "I'm going to call it 'Oops' "

Wolf Barth - Loakoon - Feuerwehr

Jerzy Flisak and GIN

Feggo - Mondrian's road sign

Napoleon, after J.L. David - Gradimir Smudja

Mondrians Palette and Begegnung mit Paul Klee, - Caulos

Pointillism parodie - Sergey Tunin

Vincent van Gogh at the hairdresser

Venus von Milo - Jugoslav Vlahovic

Learn more:
Cartoonmuseum Basel

Playboy cartoons Eldon Dedini

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:23:00 +0000

see article: http://ecc-cartoonbooksclub.blogspot.com/2011/10/playboy-cartoons-orgy-of-playboys-eldon.html
on our blog.

Playboy Cartoons - An orgy of PLAYBOY's Eldon Dedini

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:46:00 +0000

I really don't know why ;-) but one of the pages with most hits on our blog is the article "Playboy Cartoons - Phil Interlandi".
Here is some more Playboy stuff, coming from the book An Orgy of Playboy's Eldon Dedini (Fantagraphics Books, 2006, ISBN10 1-56097-727-2, 240 p., full-color)

It's the kind of high quality cartoon book I like. Cartoonist Eldon Dedini was born in 1921 and passed away in 2006.

"For over 45 years, Eldon Dedini has been one of Playboy's most recognizable full-page gag cartoonists. With a masterful watercolor technique that burlesques a broad range of subjects — from East and West Coast urban and suburban adult-hipster to classical Japanese erotic prints — Dedini's most personal cartoons rely on mythology and legend, evoking a bucolic sexually liberated paradise that leaves its reader lingering over the imagery long after the gag registers. An Orgy of Playboy's Eldon Dedini is the first retrospective collection of his work and gathers in one volume the most sophisticated, elegant — and funny — gag panels of the past six decades. An Orgy of Playboy's Eldon Dedini includes Dedini: A Life In Cartoons, an exclusive documentary DVD directed by Anson Musselman, celebrating the life of the artist via interviews conducted with the artist in 1998 and again in 2005, painting a vivid portrait of a man who helped define the Playboy style of the swinging 1960s." (Fantagraphics Books)

"God! Your Jackson Pollock always puts me in a frenzy."

"The talk around Bethlehem is that we're Jesus freaks."

"This is all very well for you Roman soldiers, but what we Sabine
woman really need is a children's day-care center!"

"Give the peasants a tax rebate an they
behave like naughty little children"

"Is this something you learned on the cruisades?"

Learn more:

Dedini: A life of cartoons (Part 1) on YouTube (other parts also on YouTube)

Review on Parka Blogs

Florian Doru Chrihana : Satirische Idyllen

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 07:21:00 +0000

Last Friday I had the honour to meet the very kind Florian at the opening of his exhibition in the ECC. He brought along some copies of the book "Satirische Idyllen". This monography (ISBN 978-3-86678-317-1,Kerber Art,2009) contains his work shown in the exhibition in the "Musée de la caricature" in Vianden, Luxemburg in 2009. Dieter and Gisela Burkamp, good friends of Florian, wrote an introduction. I read: "Florian plays with our mind for images and like a magician he conjures pictures that are not lost for grotesque ideas and adventurous supplies of interpretation " and "This is an artist who did not only understand how to design the 'inner life' of ships as an engineer of shipbuilding but who also looks into the 'inner lives' of his fellow men knowingly, and he knows how to convey his ideas."
Great art, great cartoon book.

cover

Florian, signing the book,
Kruishoutem, 7 Oct 2011

Here are some pics of the exhibition in the ECC:

Ro Burms presenting the artist

Titanic

Venice (the person resembles the famous Belgian
standup comedian Bert Kruismans!)

Venice

Learn more:
Florian Chrihana's Blog
Current exhibition of Florian at the ECC (Titanic, Venice, Snowman)
Museum of Caricature Vianden

Corridas - bullfighting ends...

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:18:00 +0000

Last week in the news: "Bullfighting in Barcelona ends with Catalonia ban" (BBC News) , "In Catalonia, a Last Day of Bullfighting" (New York Times) and "Cheers, tears and blood at Barcelona's final bullfight" (DW-world.de)...

Bullfighting keeps going on eternally in the cartoon book CORRIDAS by Albert Dubout (Editions Michèle Trinckvel, 1996, ISBN 2-85132-002-5, first edition was in 1967). Albert Dubout (1905-1976) was as a young boy fascinated by the corridas in the South of France. His youth memories inspired him to draw this cartoons. Georges Brassens wrote a foreword for the book.

Learn more:
Albert Dubout official website

Watch on YouTube:

Greenpeace cartoon book

noreply@blogger.com (Jan Oplinus) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:00:00 +0000

Rearranging my cartoon book cabinet, I found this Greepeace cartoon book. (Casterman, 1984, ISBN90 303 2801 0, Dutch edition). This book represents all expressions of support Greenpeace has received from a wide audience for the good cause. "Help, de zee verzuipt!" means "Help, the sea is drowning!". The message is clear: Let's save the wales, the seals and all the creatures threatened by the human race.

Many cartoonists contributed to the book: from, alphabetically, Alexis, Armand, Avoine, Barbe, Batellier, Cat,... to Topor, Veyron, Voss, Warry and Zover.

cover

Sole

Gaberon

Faye and Marol

Blonder

J.C. Denis

Learn more:
Greenpeace international
Search this book on the web.

Walt Cartoons

noreply@blogger.com (Jan) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 21:33:00 +0000

This book contains almost all the cartoons drawn by Walter Leemans (Leuven, Belgium, °1948) in the years 1965-1971, during his educational period. After this time, Walter Leemans started a successful career as an interior architect and furniture designer.

This tribute book by his friend Johnny Bekaert was published in 2009.

Many of the cartoons in the book are timeless, even after more than 40 years, that's the skill of a good cartoonist.

Links: