Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1902-06-24
ART OF CARICATURE
EVOLUTION AND INFLUENCE OF THE
NEWSPAPER CARTOON.

The Ancient Greeks, Romans and
Egyptians Used Grotesuue Pictures
to Emphasize Their Satire - The
Eighteenth Century Craze.
The story is told of an abbe of the
seventeenth century who was as de-
formed in figure Is he was ridiculous
physical deformity as he was vain of
his eccentric attre, that while serving
mass one morning he observed a smile
If contempt on tie face Of one Of the
ieourtiers present and determined to
avenge himself By serving a process
upon him for appearance in court the
following day
The offender, M. de Lasson by name,
knowing that things would go hard
with him unless he could show some
reason for his mirth, made a hasty
sketch Of the hunchback abbe, exag-
gerating in size the six black caps and
the waistcoats in which he was wont
to appear, and when he was solemnly
asked to show cause for his unseemly
mirth and indignity to the holy church
he suddenly displayed before his judges
the caricature of the abbe as his "eX-
cuSe" The likeness was so excellent
and the cartoon so grotesque that the
entire court fell to laughing, and the
accused was liberated without a repri-
mand.
This is the first authentic case of the
power of the cartoon in hall Of JUS
tice, but it illustrates the power of the
pencil in depicting the follies of the
foolish and the atfectatons of the arti-
fetal
There is no telling when the art Of
caricature began. There are Il number
of grotesqUes that have come down to
us from earliest Egyptian times. The
Greeks employed pictures to emphasize
their satire, and so did the Romans.
All through the middle ages there We're
nunberlesS examples of "grotcsque-
riCsa which, curiously enough, were
1scl il enforcing the doctrines of the
Church by means Of satriZing the devil.
But TIE e: ,zteenth century was the
hcyGay Ct the cartoon.
IV*S..in..,- III 1eiancc and overrCnning
into ilol!lnd and thence across the
channel into England. the food of carl
catUris;s carried everything before it.
and it is safe to say that we read the
history of the times With clearer vision
and With more accuracy of detail Cor
the mirror which calcaturists held UP
to reflect the striking peeHliarities CT
the men and events passing before it.
Gautcr mentions Il Spanish cartoon
list. Francisco Gaya Y Lueientes. Il mix
ture of Rembrandt. Vatican and RAJ
belais, who preceded the two great car
icaturists of the latter half of the
eighteenth century, George Cruikshank
in England and NJ. Charlet in France.
Charlet is known as the father of mod
ern social caricature and holds as good
title to his position rs does Philipau to
that Of the father of comic Journalism,
With lie Charivari the strongest paper
of its kind. Then came PuacE in Eng
land, which still retains its subtitle Ct
the London Charivar. for wears the
faithful if not the most highly polished
reflector of British life. Upon its staff
1ohd AeScu' AtcHi.lu AoHic. Joui reH-
MEL. George du MaUrier and Il dozen
men of lesse. name kept Great Britain
in good humor fer two generations.
1t has been RESERVED for America,
however. to bring forth new race OF
car:caturists. which for lack Of a better
title may be called the personal car.
toocists. men who seize upon the char
acteristics Of an individual and so ex-