Caricature

focuses on his beard, eyebrows, and baldness, while often giving him the features of an Ape or Monkey .]]
A caricature is a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the basic essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. The word is often mispronounced as "character" or "characterture." It is also often mistaken for Portraiture , neither of which has any remote connection to the art of '''Caricature'''. Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose or be drawn solely for entertainment. Caricatures of politicians are commonly used in Editorial Cartoons , while caricatures of movie stars are often found in entertainment Magazine s.

An early definition of the origins of 'caricature', an Italian word meaning 'to load', occurs in the English doctor Sir Thomas Browne 's Christian Morals (first pub.1716).

Expose not thy self by four-footed manners unto monstrous draughts, and Caricatura representations.

with the footnote —

When Men's faces are drawn with resemblance to some other Animals, the Italians call it, to be drawn in Caricatura

Thus, the word “caricature” essentially means a “loaded portrait”. According to caricature teacher Sam Viviano , who stressed this definition of the term in the classes he taught at the School Of Visual Arts in New York City , the term refers only to depictions of real-life people, and not to cartoon fabrications of fictional characters, which do not possess objective sets of Physiognomic features to draw upon for reference, or to Anthropomorphic depictions of Inanimate objects such as Automobiles or coffee mugs.

HISTORY

Some of the earliest caricatures are found in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci , who actively sought people with deformities to use as models.

The inventor of caricature as an independent art form was, according to seventeenth century sources, the Bolognese history painter, , whenever She offered him suitable models. The point was to offer an impression of the original which was more striking than a portrait.
Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), one of the great early practitioners, was favored by the members of the papal court for his ability to depict the essence of a person in 'three or four strokes.'(In fact, the word caricature comes from the Italian ''caricare,'' "to load," i.e., the caricaturist's aim is to invest his image with as much meaning as possible.)

Caricature, therefore, experienced its first successes in the closed aristocratic circles of France and Italy, where the such portraits could be passed about for mutual enjoyment.

This aura of privilege (for both those depicted and those viewing the caricature) passed on to England during the middle of the 18th century, when caricature enjoyed its first wave of popularity there. The first book on caricature drawing to be published in England was Mary Darly's ''A Book of Caricaturas'' (c. 1762). Probably the greatest practitioner of the art of caricature in 18th-century Britain was James Gillray (1757-1815). See the Tate Gallery's exhibit James Gillray: The Art of Caricature

The art form gained further popularity in the early 19th Century , when satirical drawings of politicians and local celebrities would be printed in Newspaper s. Caricatures would often be less than warmly received by their powerful targets, and for many years the art form was one of anonymous mischief.

In the years after World War I the art form experienced a Renaissance in the United States , and in some magazines caricatures became more common and in higher demand than actual photographs. A new wave of artists like Al Hirschfeld and Miguel Covarrubias showed that caricatures could be fun, colorful, and graceful, and not always the crude, vicious insults found on the editorial page. In the UK Punch Magazine kept the tradition alive through the 1950 to 1980 period. The cartoonist Steve Bell maintained the tradition thereafter to great effect. The Puppet show '' Spitting Image '' on British television during the 1980s brought an awareness of caricature to a new generation, combining rod-operated puppets with accurate vocal impressions. Politicians, media stars and sporting celebrities remained the main targets and the grey finish of a much used John Major puppet played a very significant role in establishing his unadventurous public image in the UK.

Today, the art of caricature is still around, though nowhere near as prevalent as the "Golden Age" of the 20's and 30's. In recent years there has been a rise of amateur "On-the-spot Caricaturists" who can be found on street corners or fairs and will draw a quick sketch of anyone willing to pay their fee.

charging on the 1871 Paris Commune , published in '' Le Père Duchêne Illustré '']]

Hand-colored engraving published in '' L'Eclipse '' newspaper, June 14, 1868

Dickens crosses the English Channel , carrying his books from London to Paris .]]

NOTABLE CARICATURISTS

''See List Of Caricaturists . ''

Information About

Caricature