editorial cartoonist himself, over the past sixty years Art Wood
befriended numerous masters of the medium and obtained selections
of their work. He also acquired other select collections and actively
pursued unique objects to create the most comprehensive collection
of twentieth century political illustration by a roster of leading
international editorial cartoonists. Political illustration forms
the bulk of the collection. Nearly every Pulitzer Prize-winning
cartoonist is represented, along with many exceptional international
Thomas Nast (1840-1902) is best remembered
for his pictorial attacks on New York's notorious political
organization, Tammany Hall and its infamous leader Boss Tweed
while cartooning for Harper's Weekly. Using his characteristic
pen and ink style, in this drawing, Nast captures patriotic
sentiment aroused during New York's first International Naval
Review. Held in New York Harbor on April 27, 1893, the event
was part of the ceremonies of the Chicago Columbian Exposition,
which belatedly commemorated the 400th anniversary of Columbus'
1492 expedition. An international flotilla containing thirty-five
vessels of war joined the United States navy, representing
the best and most interesting specimens of Old and New World
naval architecture, from the caravels of Columbus to the swiftest
and most powerful steel-plated cruisers.
Homer Davenport (1867-1912), popular daily
editorial cartoonist, created this puckish caricature of
patron William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) in 1896, the year
Hearst brought Davenport from San Francisco to New York
made him the highest paid editorial cartoonist in the country.
His cartoons for the New York Evening Journal had
such a powerful effect on public opinion that the New York
State legislature considered enacting an anti-cartoon bill.
Davenport remained a Hearst cartoonist for the rest of
career. William Randolph Hearst retained a coterie of impressive
artists for the newspapers, news syndicates, and magazines
in his publishing empire.
A World War II editorial cartoon by two-time
Pulitzer-prize winner Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling (1876-1962),
this work is among numerous landmark images by the leading
editorial artists of the past two centuries. Darling drew
most of his cartoons when newspapers were the primary source
of information and commentary. In this cartoon he portrays
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler caught in a bear trap by Soviet forces
at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-43. Hitler's failure to
capture Stalingrad and the subsequent Soviet encirclement
and defeat of his armies there in that winter marked the turning
point in the war in the Eastern Front.
Caught in his own bear trap
Ink brush over graphite underdrawing.
Published in the Des Moines Register
and New York
, November 28, 1942.
Reproduced with permission from Kip Koss,
President of J.N. "Ding" Darling Foundation
[between 1939 and 1962].
Rube Goldberg is the ® and
the © of Rube Goldberg, Inc.
Reuben Lucius "Rube" Goldberg (1883-1970),
a versatile talent as a cartoonist and sculptor, is best remembered
for his graphic mechanical "inventions." This humorous example
reveals how political candidates manage to produce votes.
Goldberg personally inscribed his drawing to Art Wood in 1962,
the year before he retired from cartooning at the age of 80.
He was famous for his so-called Crazy Inventions,
and Rube Goldberg's Sideshow, which he produced as
comic strips (1939-1941). In 1939 he began drawing editorial
cartoons for the New York Sun, then moved to the
New York Journal American in 1949, occasionally using
crazy inventions as a theme in his work. His drawings typically
depict absurdly assembled "machines" functioning in a universe
that is a little more accommodating than our own to produce
a simple end result. Because of this, his name is associated
with any convoluted system to achieve a basic task.