Public Institute: The Cartoon Museum

www.cartoonmuseum.org

The Cartoon Museum

"Is it not high time that some official recognition of the worth of comic drawing was made? A permanent collection of some of the best examples should be got together and housed under one roof, forming a sort of National Gallery of Humorous Art. It is a fine art and a big industry, but it has no central home or headquarters, as every other art and industry on the same scale has, where the best is preserved and made available to the student and the general public."
H M Bateman

Mission

The Cartoon Museum is dedicated to preserving the best of British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation, and to establishing a museum with a gallery, archives and innovative exhibitions to make the creativity of cartoon art past and present, accessible to all for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment.

Specific Aims of The Cartoon Museum

To display, primarily through exhibitions and loans, the works of art in the collection; to provide access to and facilities for the study of all objects, especially those, such as prints, drawings and water colours which cannot be kept on permanent display.
To research into the collection and into the subject areas to which it relates, and to incorporate that research into an accessible core record of the collection, and to publish a catalogue.
To provide a secure and stable environment for the objects in the collection and to conserve each object in good condition.
To develop a lively programme of temporary exhibition and changing displays related as closely as possible to academic developments in the history of cartooning.
To develop an educational service suitable for all levels including especially children's cartooning classes and public lectures.
To develop attendance at the gallery through an increase in the number of visitors and to improve their enjoyment of their visit through the provision of suitable services.
To develop the financial base of the Cartoon Museum, especially by attracting sponsorship of activities, development of Friends membership income, and targeted fund-raising.
To add to the collection by donations or acquisitions where appropriate, so that it is representative of the cartoon heritage of Britain.
To employ a qualified curator to study, exhibit and publish the collection.
To publish a regular newsletter in which text of scholarly lectures given in the museum are reprinted to form a permanent record.
The Serious Art of Laughter [back to top]

In 1949 at the Royal Society of arts, H M Bateman discussed Humour in Art. He said:

Fifty years on there is still no permanent museum of cartoon art.

The Cartoon Museum is a charity dedicated to establishing a permanent centre, gallery and public exhibition open all year round for the cartoon arts, cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation. Towards that goal the Trust has built up an important collection of cartoon art and is still seeking further donations. As well as organising and assisting with touring exhibitions, the Trust also arranges cartoon and animation classes for children, and runs fairs, the annual CAT cartoon awards, now in their eighth year, and a programme of lectures and events.

There are museums of cartoon art abroad. Other countries have recognised that, whether they be judged as records, conveying the spirit of the age, as works of art, or simple as jokes, cartoons are important. The finest cartoons ARE works of art: in their original form they have an immediacy, and often much subtlety of observation and technique, which is invariably lost in reproduction. The Trust already holds over 700 fine drawings, which have been databased, given a conservation rating and digitally photographed by professional conservators, and Cat has recently raised funding for its first curator. CAT continues to strengthen its collection with archive material, sketches, photographs and a comprehensive library of over 2000 books, by, and about, cartoonists and caricaturists.

The museum will compliment the work of The Cartoon Study Centre at The University of Kent at Canterbury, which has a unique collection of original drawings of 20th Century British artists, and is widely used for research. CAT also has close ties with other cartoon organisations: The British Cartoonist's Association, The Political Cartoon Society, and The Cartoon Club of Great Britain.

Definitions

Cartoon
In 1843 in the early years of Punch, the word 'cartoon' was introduced into the English Language in the modern sense of a humorous drawing. The usage arose from a competition to supply the new Houses of Parliament with frescoes illustrating scenes from English history. The large rough designs, or 'cartoons' (in the original sense used in fresco painting) were exhibited. The editor of Punch Mark Lemon seized the opportunity to publish his own 'cartoons', the first of which was a biting satire by John leech which bore Lemon's legend 'The poor ask for bread , and the philanthropy of the state accords an exhibition.' The new meaning stuck, and Leech is remembered as the first cartoonist in the modern sense.

Caricatura and Caricature
In 1710, Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, ousted from Royal favour by a rival, wrote to the wit Bubb Doddington: 'Young man, you come from Italy. They tell me of a new invention there called caricatura drawing. Can you find me somebody that will make me a caricature of Lady Masham, describing her covered with many sores and ulcers, that I may send to the Queen to give her a slight idea of her favourite.' This quotation provides one of the first descriptions of the art form in England where it was to become so popular. It is however worth recording a 17th Century definition on the subject 'Is it not the caricaturist's task exactly the same as the artist's? Both see the lasting truth beneath the surface of mere outward appearance. Both try to help nature accomplish its plan. The one may strive to visualise the perfect form and to realise it in his work, the other to grasp the perfect deformity, and thus reveal the very essence of personality. A good caricature, like every work of art, is more true to life than reality itself.
By Lionel Lambourne, from 'The Art of Laughter' , Copyright The Cartoon Museum

Key artists and exhibits

Rare and original artwork on loan from The Beano, the Dandy, and Topper including The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy the Whizz, Desperate Dan, Beryl the Peril and of course Dennis the Menace. ; Classic works by Gillray including The Plum Pudding and, John Bull - taking a luncheon, and The Zenith of French Glory. ; Cartoons in 3D including Gerald Scarfe’s memorable Chairman Mao, Scarfe's caricatured original leather armchair from 1971. ; Cartoons by Larry, Kipper Williams, Tony Husband, Nick Newman and many more. ; Emett’s working ‘Fairway Birdie’ (made by this eccentric cartoonist whose wacky contraptions appeared in Chitty Bang Bang, and at The Festival of Britain.); Classic war cartoons including Sir David Low’s ‘All Behind you, Winston’, and Bruce Bairnsfather’s, ‘If you know a better ‘Ole...’; Colour mural painted by top cartoonists including Steve Bell, Dave Brown, Martin Rowson, Peter Brookes, Chris Riddell, MAC and Hunt Emerson. ; Annual cover drawings by Carl Giles featuring the Giles family and his immortal Granny.

Collections description

There are currently about 900 works in the collection. These include original cartoons, caricatures, drawings, sketches and letters. There is also a selection of eighteenth century original prints. Some rare books featuring the work of cartoon artists are also included in the collection.

Friends group comments:

Ralph Steadman
"As a nation we have found the cartoon art form to be a vital dimension and an integral part of our culture and history. For the cartoon to be without a home is to deny the debt that we owe to generations of men and women who have enriched our lives with the wit and perception of their own experiences."

John Jensen
"A centre containing representative works from the time of Hogarth to the present day, holding a library of books of and about caricature and cartooning and a database on CD-ROM would be of inestimable value to scholars in Britain and abroad."

The late Les Lilley, President of FECO.
"The fact that literally every branch of visual art except the art of the cartoon has its own physical centre of excellence is hard to explain to the layman. He is inclined to think that the efforts of cartoonists not to be worthy of such attention. Whereas, in fact, cartoonists must be acknowledged for some of the finest draughtsman ever to have toiled for the pleasure and enjoyment of those privileged to have access to their work."

"If we all know now, at last, where we are really going to and where science and statesmanship are leading us; and if it is quite obviously to an enormous lunatic asylum, let us at least, by the grace of God, go there in company with a man who has a sense of humour." G K Chesterton


The Cartoon Art Trust Cartoon and Comic Exhibitions, 1991-2005

1991 Financial cartoons at The Bank of England Museum ‘The Art of Laughter’ in collaboration with the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

1992 All the World’s a Stage – Theatrical cartoons from the collection of Allan Cuthbertson, donated to The Cartoon Museum collection in 1997

1993 ‘Giles: 50 Years at the Express’ Coping with Relations: Anglo – German Cartoons from the ‘50s to the ‘90s

1994 Mirth of a Nation: An A to Z of The Cartoon Art Trust’s collection

1995 ‘The Prime Ministers’ Cartoon history of the premiership Judge Dredd Mega Exhibition

1996 A Collection of Calmans All in the Stepfamily

1998 The Cartoonist’s Progress: In the footsteps of Hogarth

1999 ‘The Great Challenge’: International cartoons on freedom of speech and the press

1999 Lottery Laughter

1999 Gemma Bovary by Posy Simmonds

2000 ‘Happy Birthday Snoopy’ Peanuts cartoons by Charles Schulz Dan Dare at 50 The 100 British Cartoonists of the Century

2001 ‘The Irrespressible Hoffnung’ ‘Dennis the Menace: 50 Years of Mischief’

2002 Kings and Queens

2003 Thelwell Country The Art of Leaving Out: A Phil May Centenary Exhibition A Mixture of Gin and Buttercups: Michael Ffolkes Minnie, Plum and The Bash Street Kids UR 50!

2004 The Humour of Embarrassment: H.M. Bateman’s ‘The Man Who cartoons’Censored at the Seaside: The Censored Postcards of Donald McGill Grin and Blair It! : Ten Years of Tony Blair in Cartoons

2005 Rupert Bear, Punch and Much More: The Art of Alfred Bestall


Current Exhibitions

2007 Alice in Sunderland: A Labyrinth of Dreams

An exhibition of original artwork from Bryan Talbot's new 320 page graphic novel "Alice in Sunderland". The exhibition shows Talbot ranging far and wide interweaving stories about Lewis Carroll's Alice and the real life Alice Liddell, the story of Sunderland (where Jabberwocky was written), legends of the Sunderland area, the comic art form and of course Tenniel's iconic Alice illustrations.

Up Coming Exhibitions

Heath Robinson’s Helpful Solutions, 5 July - 7 October 2007

A selection of wonderful cartoons by William Heath Robinson highlighting his daft but genial solutions for the world in wartime and peacetime.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue.

Wikipedia

The Cartoon Museum is a museum in London for political cartoons, comic strips and books. As well as holding a collection of cartoons it has a library of over 3000 books relating to the subject.

The museum features over 1200 exhibits, and is, as of 2006, curetted by Anita O'Brien, who noted

"There has never been a cartoon museum here... In spite of the very strong historical tradition here, there has always been a very strong ambivalence towards comic art."

It was opened on the 23 February 2006 by the Duke of Edinburgh. In its mission statement the museum declares itself

"Dedicated to preserving the best of British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation, and to establishing a museum with a gallery, archives and innovative exhibitions to make the creativity of cartoon art past and present, accessible to all for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment."


Articles

London cartoon museum opens
By Maev Kennedy 20/02/2006, The Guardian

Within 4,000 square feet of a new museum opening in London this week there's enough glorification, blasphemy, character assassination, smut and innuendo to keep the courts busy for years.
London's first cartoon museum, with 3,000 books and 1,200 images, covers three centuries, from Georgian Rowlandson watercolours of ancient bawds selling off country maids to wrinkled rakes, to scurrilous suggestions so recent that the ink is barely dry, teasing out the tangled affairs of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and George Bush.
The collection includes graphic novels, comics, posters and some of the most famous cartoons ever published, including Captain Bruce Bairnsfather's image of two squaddies in a First World War trench, one muttering "If you know a better 'ole, go to it." Three dimensional loans include a dotty golfing machine by Rowland Emett, and Gerald Scarfe's Chairman Mao, half dictator, half crimson leather armchair.
The museum, which receives no public funding, is in Little Russell Street, near the British Museum, just round the corner from where the caricaturist George Cruickshank was born - a site finally found after two years hunting. It will be opened on Wednesday by the Duke of Edinburgh, who will find many friends on the walls, including a gigantic Trog caricature of his wife, and opens to the public from Thursday.


Days Out: The Cartoon Museum, Russell Street, London
By Tim Sanders 12/03/2006, The independent


Just opened, the Cartoon Museum is the first of its kind in London, dedicated to preserving the best of British cartoons and home to a collection of comic art dating back to the 18th century. The venue, a former dairy just a stone's throw from the British Museum, has two floors of galleries of modest size. But they are well lit and airy and contain a wonderful collection of cartoons, spanning classic works by Gillray through to Scarfe's 3D sculpture-cum-leather-armchair, Chairman Mao. There are also classic pages from The Beano, The Dandy and Topper, vintage wartime cartoons and work by many well known contemporary cartoonists. With more than 750 cartoons and caricatures, including 250 originals, and a library of more than 3,000 books, the museum has something to satisfy practically every taste.

For children

The Young Artists' Gallery and workshop area put children to work, with facilities for drawing and learning about cartoons. Check the website for cartoon and animation classes and family fun days.

For adults

The collection is very informative, and a gives a real insight into history and current affairs in a truly original way: history through the eyes of cartoonists is funnier and often more accurate than history books. You will find artwork here by all your favourites, including Steve Bell and our own Martin Rowson. The museum shop offers the chance to buy prints, books, cards and cartoon ephemera.


New cartoon museum in the picture
Bbc.co.uk

A museum capturing the best of British cartoons from satires of Margaret Thatcher to the Beano's Dennis the Menace has opened in London...
A converted dairy room in Bloomsbury, central London, is now home to 1,200 cartoons after being officially opened by patron, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Marking more than 250 years of cartoons, caricatures and comic art, it aims to promote and preserve the art.
The collection reflects a British sense of humour, says the museum's chairman.

"Cartoons can say more than words can ever say in a newspaper..."
Oliver Preston, Chairman of the Cartoon Museum

Chairman of the Cartoon Museum Oliver Preston told BBC London Online: "Essentially cartoons are art.”

"They have never been treated as art and it's about time these cartoonists had a home where people could see their work and sketches.

"It's about the British sense of humour but also it captures the edginess - cartoons can say more than words can ever say in a newspaper."

Fundraising appeal

Among the highlights is rare and original artwork from the Beano, the Dandy and Topper, including Billy the Whizz and Desperate Dan.
At the other end of the spectrum is classic work by the satirist Gillray - the Plum Pudding, John Bull taking a luncheon, and The Zenith of French Glory.
Work by many current day newspaper cartoonists, a form first introduced in the 1880s, such as Matt, Mahood and Kipper Williams, is also on display.
As well as showing collections, there is a reference library of some 3,000 books and classes for children and adults keen to try their hand.
The Cartoon Centre was previously based in Russell Square but following a fundraising appeal launched last summer, the Cartoon Art Trust raised more than half of a £750,000 target, allowing it to move to its new home in Little Russell Street.


The Cartoon Museum, Londonfreelist.com

London's first cartoon museum, situated at 35 Little Russell Street, a stone's throw from The British Museum. The Cartoon Museum exhibits the very finest examples of British cartoons, caricature, and comic art from the 18th century to the present day.

It is dedicated to preserving the best of British cartoons, caricatures, comics and animation, and to establishing a museum with a gallery, archives and innovative exhibitions to make the creativity of cartoon art past and present, accessible to all for the purposes of education, research and enjoyment.

The new museum occupies an old dairy in Little Russell Street, in the heart of Bloomsbury covering 4000 sqft over ground and first floors. It can display over 250 cartoons, comics and caricatures, cartoon installations, and incorporates a museum shop and library, and The Young Artists' Gallery and workroom for childrens classes.

The Cartoon Museum Collection has more than 1,200 examples of the very best of British cartoon art and is regularly accessing more important works. Recent donations include the important collection of the late actor Allan Cuthbertson, and contemporary works by The British Cartoonists' Association: items by Steve Bell, Peter Brookes, Chris Riddell, Martin Rowson, Dave Brown, Matt, Mac, Jacky Fleming and many others.
Recently the collection has also been boosted by donations of important comic art: Chester Gould's Dick Tracy, Jane of The Daily Mirror, and work by Jack Kirby and Hunt Emerson. The museum's reference library of over 3000 books is available for research.

Cartoon Museum, Time out London

On the ground floor of this transformed former dairy, the cartoons are displayed chronologically, starting with the early eighteenth-century when high-society types back from the Grand Tour introduced the Italian practice of the caricatura to polite society. From Hogarth the displays move on to British cartooning's 'golden age' (1770-1830). 'Modern times' covers political wartime cartoons and social commentary produced between 1914 and 1961. The 'new satire' section – works published from 1961 onwards – includes Ralph Steadman, Steve Bell, Dave Brown, Matt and others. Downstairs the artists' names are immediately recognisable; upstairs – where comic strip art such as 2000AD, the Dandy and the Beano is displayed – is much more about the characters portrayed: Rupert, Dan Dare, Judge Dredd… The Young Artists' Gallery will be used to include underground work with a less 'authorised' feel, designed to appeal to younger audiences, and a workshop space will be used to instruct children in the art of animation and claymation. The excellent shop is recommended, as is the library where – by appointment – you can search, the catalogue of some 3,000 books.


THE CARTOON MUSEUM CELEBRATES PRIVATE EYE AT 45
By Graham Spicer 31/10/2006, 24 Hour Museum

Private Eye was launched in 1961 and has been controversial from the start. Cartoon by Gerald Scarfe. Courtesy The
Cartoon Museum
The 45th anniversary of one of Britain’s best-loved satirical magazines is being celebrated with a new exhibition at London’s Cartoon Museum.
Private Eye has lampooned the major figures of the day since its launch in 1961 and cartoons have always been central to its appeal. The Private Eye At 45 exhibition runs until February 11 2007 and features some 110 cartoons from more than 50 cartoonists selected from its pages.
2006 also marks 20 years since Ian Hislop, well known for appearing on TV’s Have I Got News For You, took over as editor of the magazine. Hislop regards selecting the cartoons as one of his favourite editorial jobs and observes:
“Cartoonists all believe that no-one reads any of the articles in Private Eye and that the only reason anyone buys it is so that they can look at the cartoons.”
Current editor Ian Hislop selects the cartoons for Private Eye himself. Courtesy The Cartoon Museum
As well as containing works from the magazine by some of the best-known cartoonists around like Ronald Searle, Ralph Steadman, Carl Giles, Fluck and Law and Steve Bell it also includes specially commissioned cartoons by Michael Heath and Nick Newman and unpublished works by Gerald Scarfe and George Adamson.
Historic covers and cartoons relating to some of Private Eye’s most notorious libel cases are on show. The cartoon about Winston Churchill GDE (Greatest Dying Englishman) provoked the statesman’s son Randolph to bring the first libel case against the paper in 1963 forcing a withdrawal in the Evening Standard.
Private Eye was the creation of a small group including Richard Ingrams, Peter Usborne, Willie Rushton and Christopher Booker and the first few issues were carefully cut and pasted together in Rushton’s bedroom in Kensington. From an initial print run in the hundreds readership has grown to more than 200,000.
The Cartoon Museum opened in February 2006 and exhibits the best examples of British cartoons, caricature and comic art from the 18th century to the present day.


MYSTERY CARTOONIST'S WAR DIARY GIVEN TO MUSEUM
By David Prudames 04/08/2004, 24 Hour Museum

Two albums containing 56 cartoons created between June 1944 and August 1945, that tell the story of the last days of the Second World War, have been given to the Cartoon Art Trust Museum in London.
The drawings are the creation of Ken Rolfe who, during the war, was seconded to the Ministry of Food in Colwyn Bay, Wales.
From crude drawings produced in June 1944, just after D-Day, to increasingly sophisticated comments on the Allied campaign in Europe, the images tell the story of the closing days of the Second World War from the perspective of an ordinary man.
"I feel they are of great historical importance," museum curator, Anita O’Brien told the 24 Hour Museum.
"They are of personal relevance, but also of wider relevance," she said, adding that the various images, "present a more complex picture of the feeling of the time."
Unfortunately, nothing is known of the artist himself, where he came from or what became of him after the war. But, as Anita explained, staff at the museum is hoping that publicity from a display of his work will help them track down more information about him.
"There may be somebody who knows him," said Anita, "or knew him, or a member of the family that we might be able to find out more about him from."
The pencil, ink and watercolour images were produced on the backs of scraps of paper headed 'The Milk Powder Pool Ltd' and 'Indemnity agreement', and were, at the time, stuck to the notice board of Rolfe’s office for the amusement of colleagues.
Roughly bound into two brown paper albums, the collection was presented to Rolfe’s colleague 'Slim' Izod in 1945.
A short inscription at the beginning of the first volume – marked 1944 – gives some idea of how the amateur artist viewed his work.
"These rough sketches express our mixed feelings on the various subjects commencing with the anxious days prior to D-Day," it reads, "a number are based on little items of war news that filtered through to this out of the way spot in Wales."
The images he created show how Rolfe cast a critical eye over the events unfolding across the channel as the Allies set about liberating Europe.
Importantly, they offer a fascinating glimpse of the way the fighting and key moments were viewed at home.
A cartoon dated 01.05.45, the day after Adolf Hitler’s suicide, depicts a coffin being carried by pall bearers that look remarkably like the dead dictator above the caption: "Who’s in the box?"
He is clearly expressing what must have been a widely felt disbelief that Hitler was actually gone forever.
But he also turned his attention to life on the home front. An image showing vast swathes of housing features a man sitting on a pile of rubble, asking: "Why pick on me?"
Another particularly haunting image shows hoards of skeletons in German uniform, one of whom is pointing a bony hand at an awkward looking Hitler above the caption "Behold the Man".

The albums were passed on to 'Slim' Izod’s daughter Patricia who, now in her seventies, kept them in perfect condition and donated them to the Cartoon Art Trust Museum.
Both are set to be one of the highlights of the forthcoming exhibition War, Work and Other Worlds, running at the museum from August 18 until November 6.


Mars in their Eyes
An exhibition of cartoons telling the story of Mars exploration and scientific discovery - past, present and future - by Prof Colin Pillinger and The Cartoon Museum, Pparc

Cartoons offer a fun way of bringing space science to the public. The 120 cartoons featuring Mars are each accompanied by a snippet of information about the science and engineering behind the image. Funded by a grant from PPARC, the aim is to bring the excitement of space science to a wider public audience through the medium of cartoon art.

Writing in the exhibition catalogue, Prof Pillinger observes "One of the more challenging jobs in engaging the public with science issues is to overcome the image of the scientist - the person who talks in jargon, mathematical symbols and who, if challenged to explain to a non-scientist, implies "you would not understand, just trust me". 'Mars in their Eyes' sets out to show that scientists are human too and enjoy a laugh as much as anybody, even if it is at their own expense."

Sir Patrick Moore, in the foreword to the catalogue, writes "Mars, the Red Planet, has always held a special fascination for us. Science-fiction writers - and illustrators - have made great use of Mars. So have cartoonists. But this is the first time that cartoons involving Mars have been brought together, and the result is of exceptional interest. Some of the cartoons are purely fanciful; others have a thought-provoking message to give, while others are genuinely instructive."


Alice in Sunderland
Exhibition from 5 April – 1 July 2007
By The Cartoon Museum

Alice in Sunderland is a 320 page graphic novel by Bryan Talbot. The universal love of storytelling lies at the heart of Talbot's time travelogue. It is not a single narrative but a rich tapestry of myth and history, real and imaginary worlds. The exhibition follows the two main themes of the book: Firstly Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass created for his child muse Alice Liddell and accompanied by John Tenniel’s iconic illustrations and secondly he history of Sunderland, where Talbot has lived for the last nine years.

The exhibition focuses on stories and sequences, consisting largely of original artwork. High and low cultures meet in Talbot's complex scenario: a speech from Henry V is wryly commented upon, popular songs, variety entertainers and local heroes are revived for one night only, the history of a city is recreated from above and below. Some stories, such as The Legend of the Lambton Worm as well as Talbot’s retelling of Jabberwocky are drawn in dramatic black and white. Others appear in glowing colour. Talbot reworked many of his original drawings on computer using filters, adding collages of scanned images of maps, book covers and photographs.

Alice in Sunderland is a unique creation that reminds us how the past, real and imagined, is etched into the physical and cultural worlds in which we live, and how each of us helps to build, layer upon layer, the collective memory of a place.



Info

The library is currently open on Wednesdays from 10.30 - 13.30 and by appointment. The Heneage Library contains over 4,000 books on cartoons, comics, caricature and animation. There are is also a collection of 2,500 comics. The library is available for reference use only. All users must sign in and provide identification. Lap top computers may be used in the study area.

The Cartoon Museum
35 Little Russell Street
London WC1A 2HH.
Telephone 0207 580 8155.
Email: info@cartoonmuseum.org
www.cartoonmuseum.org

Jensen, "Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother", 1990, Reproduced by kind permission of Punch