20th century cartoons fun and games
Posted by Amy Lugten on 07/05/2014
Twentieth century cartoons – fun and games
By Amy Lugten The story of an artist’s life often goes a long way to establishing which works in his or her oeuvre are the most desirable.
Twentieth century cartoons – fun and games
By Amy Lugten
The story of an artist’s life often goes a long way to establishing which works in his or her oeuvre are the most desirable. Of course, artworks that stand out because of their technique, or subject matter, or significance are also equally sought-after. For example, Rembrandt is an artist that comes to mind who, over the centuries, has seen an aura develop around both his artworks and his own life. In modern society, the story of an object’s creation is as fascinating as the object itself. What can result can be truly inspiring, challenging or purely entertaining.
A handful of works available on the website at the moment testify to that. Frank Reynolds (1876-1953) was an artist who found his way into the popular consciousness during the early twentieth-century, at popular magazines like the Illustrated London News and Punch. Prior to working at these publications Reynolds made a living illustrating the novels of Charles Dickens, carrying on the tradition of another great caricaturist and cartoonist, John Leech (1817-1864). Reynolds became quite well known in London artistic and drawing circles, participating in cricket clubs and the London Sketch Club around 1910. His election to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-colour in 1903 had meant that his credentials were becoming quite well established.
With World War One exploding over Europe, Reynolds was hard at work producing satirical and mocking political comics. He began to publish regularly in Punch magazine, one of his most well known works appearing around this time, entitled ‘Prussian Family having its morning hate’. Years after the war, Reynolds moved away from political comics and, in the 1930s, produced a series of animated books with extremely humorous drawings. The Golf Book (1932) is a book depicting the struggles and triumphs of the golfing world, and several of the pictures on this topic are available on the website here, sometimes in association with another of Reynolds’ well known books, Hamish MacDuff (1937). Some of the pictures on this website depict MacDuff playing golf (http://antiques.co.uk/antique/Framed-Golfing-Watercolour-by-Frank-Reynolds), MacDuff complaining about the stiff competition from a girl (http://antiques.co.uk/antique/Framed-Golfing-Watercolour-by-Frank-Reynolds-2), Two wealthy men making a wager over a cheap golf ball (http://antiques.co.uk/antique/Framed-Colour-Golfing-Sketch-by-Frank-Reynolds-1), and a golfer struggling with a geographical impediment (stairs!) (http://antiques.co.uk/antique/Framed-Colour-Golfing-Sketch-by-Frank-Reynolds-1).
Pictures such as these are a symbol of bygone eras, as all the antiques on the website are. What is interesting is that, with a little research, diamonds in the rough like Reynolds or any other artist – or even a furniture maker, or any antique – can become valued and highly prized possessions for the would-be collector. Do try making online searches of the items you’re interested, because it will often pay off with an entertaining story and a treasured item.
Amy
References:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ARTreynolds.htm
http://www.chrisbeetles.com/artists/reynolds-frank-ri-1876-1953.html#