The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1892-08-26
POLITICAL cARIcATuRe.
Fairly History Of This Art Now So Popu-
lar.


lar.
Political caricature In the United
States virtually dates from the first adj
ministration of Andrew jackson. There
had been occasional efforts To use carl
cature as weapon previous 10 that
time, but they were too crude in exc
cution, too spasmodic in appearance,
and too indefinite in purpose TO be
taken into consideration in tracing the
beginning Of our modern school. The
advent in national politics of so robust
personality as Gen. jackson seems not
unnaturally TO have stimulated re-
sort TO pictorial means for both assail-
ing and defending him. He had entered
the presidency as the savior of his
country, a military hero of indomitable
valor. His fight against the
United States bank, his vocifer-
Gus and unceremonious meth
ODDS of conducting controversies
with political opponents, the subservi-
emit conduct of his famous Kitchen
cabinet" and its dissolution when Van
Buren, withdrew from il, had combined
during his first term TO enhance great
~ his attractiv eness as n popular idol.
He appeared before the people as their
only champion against the oppressive
designs Of huge money monopoly in
which the whole world was joined. He
was the Peoples Friend" in all crises;
the giant who, single-handed, was
fighting their battles against enemies
from all quarters. Every conspicuous
act of his public life was performed
amid uproar and turmoil. Even when
his Kitchen cabinet was dissolved
there was SO much dramatic distur-
bance that one of the political carica-
lures of the time pictures him, armed
with n churn -dasher clearing the kitch-
EN- of all opponents as with the very
bosom of destruction.
In the United States the many-fg-
ured group-cartoon appears to have
been a steady favorite since JackSon'S
time, It's immediate inspirers were un-
doubtedly Gillray and John Doyle,
more especially the latter, whose
sketches had been filing the shop
windows of London for two years when
similar productions began 10 appear
on this side of the water. Doyle had
followed Gillray at a considerable dis
lance, however; for he was far in
ferior artist in every way, having slight
perception Of humor and being hard and
inflcXible in his methods. What DOYLE
did was 10 take Gillray's occasional act
of giving n correct likeness. and make
IL his own permanet practice. His
Sketches are valuable to-day chiefly
for this quality, all his drawings of
leading men of the period being veritable
portraits of real historical value, some
of them the best in existence Our early
American political caricaturists fol-
lowed Doyles example as faithfully as
their powers as draughtsmcn would
permit That they did not succeed very
well in the beginning was not strange
Drawing was scarcely taught at all in
this country at the time, and the only
persons who were skilled i'm il had drift
ed here from abroad and had little
knowledge of our politics and public
men, II was only in very rare instances.
therefore, that u Autograph caricaturc
of an earlier date than 1S40 can be
found which is even tolerable, either in
conception or execution. There was a
slight Improvement after that period.
and by 1850 II sufficient advance had
been made to justify the assertion that
the foundation of school of American
political caricature had been laid. -Jo-
seph d. Bishop, in Century