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| ACEC |
| While our artists have had their share of success in the world of comic books, the greatest examples of Canadian cartooning have been found on the editorial pages of the newspapers. Canadians are fascinated by politics and politicians, and cartoonists have long delighted in puncturing the pretenses and posturings of our "honourable members."
Political cartooning developed along with the art of caricature (in which a person's features are exaggerated for the purposes of humour or ridicule). The first recognized Canadian caricatures came from the camp of the British forces that conquered Quebec in 1859. Brigadier-General George Townshend was third in command, and he despised his superior, James Wolfe. The witty Townshend had already won some renown for his comical sketches in aristocratic London circles, but the drawings he made of his commander inspecting latrines and scheming for female conquests infuriated Wolfe, who vowed revenge. Of course, Wolfe did not survive the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and Townsehend's drawings did - a testimony to the relative mights of pen and sword. The first great professional cartoonist in Canada made a career of drawing the first great prime minister. In the pages of his magazine Grip, J.W. "Johnny" Bengough portrayed John A. Macdonald as a con man, an old woman, a prankish schoolboy, a circus acrobat, a wolf, a king, and even an angel. Somehow, no other politician ever inspired Bengough to such flights of imagination. He may not have been the greatest draughtsman to grace the Canadian news pages, but Bengough set a standard for wit and political attack that others followed Henri Julien was a more accomplished artist than Bengough. His output included on-the-spot drawings of the North-West rebellion, illustrations of Quebecois folktales, and narrative paintings. Although the caricatures that Julien published for the Montreal Star and a number of magazines lack Bengough's bite, his drawings of Ottawa politicians as minstrel performers were celebrated during the Laurier years. With the growth of newspapers in the first half of the twentieth century, cartoonists became part of the competition between rival dailies. Some of the cartoonists whose "punch" helped sell papers were Arch Dale of the Winnipeg Free Press, Arthur Racey, who succeeded Julien at the Montreal Star, and C.W. Jefferys, who went on to become Canada's best-known historical illustrator. Albéric Bourgeois began his cartooning career in 1895 and continued until the 1950s. In addition to political and comic cartoons for La Patrie and La Presse, he was one of the pioneers of the Quebecois comic strip. The 1950s brought a flowering in political cartooning. Robert LaPalme's sophisticated, avant-garde drawings were a powerful part of the Quebec assault on the Duplessis regime. His pen became a weapon against corruption and vested interest. In the Vancouver Sun, Len Norris took a very different approach by generally avoiding direct caricature in favour of detailed and whimsical drawings that portrayed the effects of political decisions on a colourful cast of cartoon citizens. The most accomplished caricaturist of the period was Duncan Macpherson of the Toronto Star. He not only raised the art of Canadian political cartooning to a new height, but insisted on the same kind of editorial freedom that columnists enjoyed. His drawings of Diefenbaker, Pearson, Trudeau, and others are devastating, both in their comment and in the magnificence of the drawing. The high quality of political cartooning in Canada today owes a great deal to these pioneers. Terry Mosher (the "Aislin" of the Montreal Gazette), Roy Peterson of the Vancouver Sun, Jean-Pierre Girerd of La Presse, and a host of other newspaper artists continue a rich tradition of Canadian satirical cartooning. |
| Editorial Cartooning from the Pages of Canadian Newspapers By Dennis Smith Heritage Post -- 1995 |
| Source: Heritage Post |