STAGESTRUCK!: Performing Arts Caricatures at the Library of
Congress
During the early twentieth century,
performing arts caricature came of age as an art form in the United
States as celebrities of song, stage, and screen were transformed
into popular icons of American culture. Caricatures played a prominent
role in the dramatic rise in circulation enjoyed by numerous popular
magazines and daily newspapers after 1900, when a new generation
of cartoonists and illustrators transformed famous faces into
vivid likenesses that set the standard for future creators.
Influenced by American precedents,
European traditions, and modern art, experienced artists found
their talents in high demand as publishers vied for their services.
Magazines such as the American Vanity Fair and the
New Yorker devoted considerable space to caricatures
of well-known dancers, singers, actors, and actresses, while major
newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere also began
to reproduce theatrical drawings. The artists themselves became
celebrities: "At the present moment, Miguel Covarrubias is about
as well known in New York as it would be possible for anyone to
be," performing arts critic Carl Van Vechten wrote in 1925. Al
Hirschfeld, whose brilliant career spans eight decades, has been
lionized for his unprecedented contributions to the history of
theatrical caricature.
The artists' styles are as varied
as their subjects. Oliver Herford, born in Sheffield, England,
drew heavily from the contemporary European modes of caricature
exemplified in the pages of British journals such as the London
Vanity Fair and Punch. Ken Chamberlain
learned his trade in New York from the influential political cartoonist
Robert Minor, and Oscar Cesare was trained in Paris and exposed
to the work of the great French poster artists. Cesare's successor
at the New York Times, Al Hirschfeld, found inspiration
in the work of Miguel Covarrubias, who in turn was informed by
both modernist abstraction and strong Mexican traditions in caricature.
The work of Makoto Wada reveals in its delicate draftsmanship
and luminosity a debt to the legacy of Asian art. Their differences
aside, all of these artists became masters of the genre and their
drawings offer object lessons in artistry, wit, and the history
of the performing arts in America.
All objects in this exhibition
are preserved in the Prints and Photographs Division. This exhibition
was prepared with support from the Caroline and Erwin Swann Memorial
Fund for Caricature and Cartoon.
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