Gerald Scarfe

Last updated

Gerald Scarfe

CBE RDI
Gerald Scarfe-2.jpg
Illustration of Scarfe
Born
Gerald Anthony Scarfe

(1936-06-01) 1 June 1936 (age 87)
London, England
Known for
Notable work Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982)
Hercules (1997)
Spouse
​
(m. 1981)​
Children3

Gerald Anthony Scarfe CBE RDI (born 1 June 1936) is an English cartoonist and illustrator. He has worked as editorial cartoonist for The Sunday Times and illustrator for The New Yorker .

Contents

His other work includes graphics for rock group Pink Floyd, particularly on their 1979 album The Wall , its 1982 film adaptation, and tour (1980–81), as well as the music video for "Welcome to the Machine". [1] [2] Scarfe was the production designer on the Disney animated feature Hercules (1997). Scarfe also provided the opening titles for Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister .

Early life

Scarfe was born in St John's Wood, London. [3] As Scarfe was severely asthmatic as a child, he spent many of his early years bed-ridden, [4] so drawing became a means of entertainment as well as a creative outlet. Scarfe speculated that the dark and grotesque images that often characterise his work are a result of his loneliness and asthma. [4] Scarfe has stated that the irreverence apparent in much of his work can be traced back to "dodgy treatments" and a reliance on what he feels were incompetent doctors. [5]

The cartoonist Ronald Searle was an early influence for Scarfe. At the age of 14 and now living in Hampstead, North London, Scarfe decided it would be easy to cycle to Bayswater and visit Searle. He went several times but never rang the doorbell. It would be decades before he would actually meet Searle in 2005. [6] Scarfe attended Saint Martin's School of Art (now part of the University of the Arts London) in Holborn, London. [7] He also attended the London College of Printing, [7] and East Ham Technical College (now Newham College of Further Education). [8]

Career

Early work

After briefly working in advertising, a profession he grew to dislike intensely, Scarfe's early caricatures of public figures were published in satirical magazine Private Eye throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning in 1960, he produced illustrations for Punch , The Evening Standard and The Daily Sketch . The Sunday Times magazine assigned Scarfe to cover the 1964 US presidential election. He continued to work for The Sunday Times for two years, also producing several cover illustrations for Time magazine, including caricatures of The Beatles in 1967. [9]

In the mid-1960s he took a job at the Daily Mail following a Dutch auction for his services with the Daily Express . His decision to work for the Daily Mail led to his estrangement from fellow cartoonist Ralph Steadman, alongside whom he had studied art at East Ham Technical College. Soon after, Steadman was commissioned to illustrate Scarfe and "produced an image that was half saint and half Superman, but with a disconnected heart". [10] Scarfe spent only one year working for the Daily Mail, during which time he was sent to provide illustrations from the Vietnam War.

Pink Floyd and Roger Waters

Scarfe was approached to work with Pink Floyd after Roger Waters and Nick Mason both saw his animated BBC film A Long Drawn Out Trip. Pink Floyd's 1974 programme for their tour in the UK and US, in the form of a comic, included a centre-spread caricature of the band. [11] Scarfe later produced a set of animated short clips used on the 1977 In The Flesh tour, including a full-length music video for the song Welcome to the Machine . [12]

Scarfe also drew the illustrations for their 1979 album The Wall and provided animation and stage props, including enormous inflatable characters for the subsequent 1980–1981 concert tour in support of that album. [11] In 1982, he worked on the film version of The Wall, although he and Roger Waters fell out with director Alan Parker during the latter stages of editing. [13] As well as the artwork, Scarfe contributed 15 minutes' worth of elaborate animation to the film, including a sequence depicting the German bombing campaign over England during World War II, set to the song "Goodbye Blue Sky". Some of the animated footage was not original to the film, having been produced for and used in the 1980–81 concert tour, as well as being featured in the 1979 music video for "Another Brick in the Wall: Part 2".[ citation needed ]

Scarfe continued to work with Roger Waters after the latter left Pink Floyd, creating the graphics and animation for Waters' solo album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) and its supporting tour. [13] Scarfe was also involved in subsequent theatrical adaptations of The Wall, including The Wall Concert in Berlin (1990), [13] and Waters' worldwide The Wall Live (2010-2013) tour, where his animations were projected on a vast scale. Scarfe's collaboration with Waters was marked in 2008 by the release of a signed limited-edition eight-print series, "Scarfe on the Wall", which contained a monograph book with an extended new interview with Scarfe and was signed by Roger Waters. Early editions of "Scarfe on The Wall" (by date of pre-order, not issue number) came with an additional print giving a total of nine in the set - making these the rarest and most valuable sets. In 2010, Scarfe's book The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall was published, detailing the artist's work with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters from 1974 to 2010. The book contains contributions from Floyd members Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and David Gilmour, as well as director of the film, Alan Parker. [14]

The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin

He designed the 'Grot' logo for the BBC TV series The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin .

Yes Minister

He provided caricatures of Paul Eddington, Sir Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds (as their respective characters) for the opening and closing sequences of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister . [15]

Hercules

Scarfe was approached to work on the 1997 Disney film Hercules by Ron Clements and John Musker, longtime fans who had risen to prominence within Disney following the success of The Little Mermaid . Scarfe worked as a conceptual character artist, designing almost all of the characters and then supervising the 900 Disney artists charged with adapting his designs for the film. [16]

Postage stamps

The Royal Mail used Scarfe's artwork for a set of five commemorative postage stamps, issued on 23 April 1998. Honoring English comedians, the stamps feature Scarfe caricatures of Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe, Joyce Grenfell, Les Dawson and Peter Cook. [17] [18]

Millennium Dome sculpture

He was invited to create a sculpture for the Millennium Dome, which was entitled "Self Portrait". The Dome's chief executive PY Gerbeau said "it mirrors what we like – and what we don't – about our nation". [19]

Theatre/stage design

Scarfe has designed sets for a number of operatic productions, including Tobias Picker's Fantastic Mr. Fox . Following a chance meeting at a BBC prom he worked with Peter Hall on his version of Mozart's The Magic Flute , which drew critical acclaim. He is lined up to provide animation for Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell , a stage show featuring Steinman's music.[ citation needed ] Scarfe designed the sets and costumes for the English National Opera's 1988 production of Orpheus in the Underworld ; among the costumes Scarfe designed were those of the characters Orpheus, Eurydice, and the Gods of Mount Olympus. He also produced all the costume and scenery designs for the 2002 Christopher Hampson production of The Nutcracker , for the English National Ballet. [20] [ citation needed ]

Heroes and Villains

In 2003 Scarfe collaborated with the National Portrait Gallery and BBC Four to make caricatures of a number of famous Britons, to depict (along with guest commentary) their heroic and villainous attributes. Amongst the over 30 portraits he depicted included caricatures of Henry VIII, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I, Pete Best, Richard Branson, Adam Smith, William Blake, The Beatles, Agatha Christie and Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2009, he also created a caricature of James May out of Lego which was shown in episode 5 of James May's Toy Stories. Scarfe and Jane Asher also appeared in the episode. [ citation needed ]

Netanyahu cartoon

In its edition of 27 January 2013 (Britain's Holocaust Memorial Day), London's Sunday Times published a cartoon by Scarfe depicting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paving a wall with the blood and bodies of Palestinians, captioned "Israeli elections—will cementing peace continue?" [21] The cartoon's timing and content was criticised by groups including the European Jewish Congress and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, with accusations of antisemitism leveled against Scarfe. [22] [23]

Unaware the cartoon would appear on Holocaust Memorial Day, [24] Scarfe argued that the cartoon was clearly aimed specifically at Netanyahu and his policies, and were in response to his election, rather than being related to Holocaust Memorial Day. [25] [26] The newspaper's proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, apologised for the cartoon on Twitter, and acting editor Martin Ivens promised to be more vigilant in future. [27]

The cartoon was published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz , where Anshel Pfeffer discusses the cartoon in great detail, giving four reasons why, in his opinion, the cartoon is not antisemitic. [28] Writer Howard Jacobson claimed the cartoon was not antisemitic. [29] British Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks condemned the cartoon. [30]

Recycled Radio

Since June 2013, Scarfe has presented a programme on BBC Radio 4 called Recycled Radio, [31] which is described as "the chopped-up, looped-up, sped-up world...where old programmes are reused to explore a series of weighty subjects". [32]

Bristol Charity Auction

In October 2013 Scarfe donated his time to decorate one of the large Wallace & Gromit statues to be auctioned for the Bristol hospital charity that was featured live on the BBC. [33] His contribution finally ending up being sold to an internet bidder from Miami Florida where the statue was exported into a private collection, ultimately topping all estimates on value with a bid second highest only to the Pixar statue contribution.

Personal life

He is married to actress Jane Asher, whom he met in 1971. [34] The couple wed in 1981 [35] and have a daughter and two sons. [36]

Awards and accolades

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon</span> Type of two-dimensional visual art

A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images intended for satire, caricature, or humor; or a motion picture that relies on a sequence of illustrations for its animation. Someone who creates cartoons in the first sense is called a cartoonist, and in the second sense they are usually called an animator.

<i>The Wall</i> 1979 studio album by Pink Floyd

The Wall is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera about Pink, a jaded rock star who constructs a psychological "wall" of social isolation. The album was a commercial success, topping the US charts for 15 weeks and reaching number three in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Waters</span> English musician, co-founder of Pink Floyd (born 1943)

George Roger Waters is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the songwriter, Syd Barrett, in 1968, Waters became Pink Floyd's lyricist, co-lead vocalist and conceptual leader until his departure in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gilmour</span> English musician, member of Pink Floyd (born 1946)

David Jon Gilmour is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. Pink Floyd achieved international success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983). By the early 1980s, they had become one of the highest-selling and most acclaimed acts in music history; by 2012, they had sold more than 250 million records worldwide, including 75 million in the United States. Following the departure of Roger Waters in 1985, Pink Floyd continued under Gilmour's leadership and released three more studio albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Mason</span> English drummer, co-founder of Pink Floyd (born 1944)

Nicholas Berkeley Mason is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1964, and is the only member to appear on every Pink Floyd album. He co-wrote Pink Floyd compositions including "Echoes", "Time", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", and "One of These Days". In 2018, he formed a new band, Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets, to perform music from Pink Floyd's early years. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of Pink Floyd.

<i>The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking</i> 1984 studio album by Roger Waters

The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking is the first solo studio album by Roger Waters, bassist/songwriter and co-founder of English rock band Pink Floyd; it was released in 1984. The album was certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wally Fawkes</span> Canadian-British cartoonist and clarinettist (1924–2023)

Walter Ernest Fawkes, also known as Trog when signing cartoons, was a Canadian-British jazz clarinettist and satirical cartoonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Latuff</span> Brazilian political cartoonist (born 1968)

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian political cartoonist. His work deals with themes such as anti-Western sentiment, anti-capitalism, and opposition to U.S. military intervention in foreign countries. He is best-known for his images depicting the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Arab Spring.

<i>Pink Floyd – The Wall</i> 1982 film directed by Alan Parker

Pink Floyd The Wall is a 1982 British live action/adult animated surrealist musical drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. The Boomtown Rats vocalist Bob Geldof made his film debut as rock star Pink, who, driven to neurosis by the pressures of stardom and traumatic events in his life, constructs an emotional and mental wall to protect himself. However, this coping mechanism eventually backfires, and Pink demands to be set free.

"The Trial" is a track from Pink Floyd's 1979 rock opera/concept album The Wall. Written by Roger Waters and Bob Ezrin, it marks the climax of the album and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Floyd pigs</span> Inflatable flying pigs used as props by the rock band

Inflatable flying pigs were one of the staple props of Pink Floyd's live shows. The first balloon was a sow, with a male pig balloon later introduced in their 1987 tour. Pigs appeared numerous times in concerts by the band, promoting concerts and record releases, and on the cover of their 1977 album Animals.

"The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a song by Pink Floyd. It appeared on The Wall album in 1979.

"Goodbye Blue Sky" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appears on their 1979 double album, The Wall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Run Like Hell</span> 1980 single by Pink Floyd

"Run Like Hell" is a song by English progressive band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. It appears on the album The Wall. It was released as a single in 1980, reaching #15 in the Canadian singles chart and #18 in Sweden, but it only reached #53 in the U.S. A 12" single of "Run Like Hell," "Don't Leave Me Now" and "Another Brick in the Wall " peaked at #57 on the Disco Top 100 chart in the U.S. To date, it is the last original composition written by both Gilmour and Waters, the last of such under the Pink Floyd banner, and is the last composition ever recorded by all four members of the classic 70s-era Floyd lineup together, within their traditional instrumental roles of Waters on bass, Gilmour on guitars, Nick Mason on drums, and Richard Wright on keyboards, on the same song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Floyd live performances</span>

In their live performances, from the mid-1960s until their very last concerts several decades later, Pink Floyd was known to utilize immersive live visuals. Pink Floyd set standards in sound quality with innovative use of sound effects and panning quadrophonic speaker systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cartoon Museum</span> Museum for British cartoons, caricatures and comic strips

The Cartoon Museum is a London museum for British cartoons, caricatures and comic strips, owned and operated by the Cartoon Art Trust. It has a library of over 5,000 books and 4,000 comics. The museum issues catalogues and features a changing display of over 250 exhibits from its collection of over 4,000 original cartoons and prints. The 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.".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Floyd</span> English rock band

Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows. They became a leading band of the progressive rock genre, cited by some as the greatest progressive rock band of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher</span> Margaret Thatcher depicted in culture

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. Her portrayal in the arts and popular culture has been mixed. In the words of one critic she attracted "musical opprobrium like no other British political leader". Such opinion is divergent from mainstream opinion polling which tends to place her as the most popular British prime minister since Winston Churchill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wall Live (2010–2013)</span> 2010–13 concert tour by Roger Waters

The Wall Live was a worldwide concert tour by Roger Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd. The tour is the first time the Pink Floyd album The Wall has been performed in its entirety by the band or any of its former members since Waters performed the album live in Berlin 21 July 1990. The first leg of the tour grossed in North America over $89.5 million from 56 concerts. It was the second-highest-grossing concert tour in North America in 2010 and the third-highest-grossing concert tour worldwide as of 2013. In 2013, the tour held the record for being the highest-grossing tour for a solo musician, surpassing the previous record holder, Madonna. It is currently the 7th highest-grossing tour of all-time.

<i>The Story of Wish You Were Here</i> 2012 British film

The Story of Wish You Were Here is a television documentary about the making of Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here. After being shown on a few television channels, such as BBC Four, it was released on 26 June 2012, on DVD and Blu-ray.

References

  1. ↑ John Walker. (1987) "Gerald Scarfe & Pink Floyd" Archived 1 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine . In Cross-Overs: Art into Pop, Pop into Art/artdesigncafe. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Interview with Floydian Slip radio program". Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  3. ↑ GRO Register of Births: SEP 1936 1a 774 HAMPSTEAD, Gerald A. Scarfe, mmn = Gardner
  4. 1 2 Graham, 4 October 2019 Jane (4 October 2019). "Gerald Scarfe: How my childhood loneliness led to my grotesque cartoons". Big Issue.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ Perry, Kevin (27 February 2007). "Gerald Scarfe feature interview and profile". London, UK: The Beaver. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  6. ↑ Salter, Jessica (17 June 2010). "Gerald Scarfe, political cartoonist". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 December 2013.
  7. 1 2 Maurice Horn (1983). The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons, Volume 4. London: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN   9780877543992. p. 495. Accessed August 2013.
  8. ↑ Fantoni, Barry (5 September 2019). A Whole Scene Going On: Inside the Sixties - From Private Eye to the Pop Revolution. Birlinn. ISBN   9781788852401.
  9. ↑ Souter, Nick; Souter, Tessa (2012). The Illustration Handbook: A guide to the world's greatest illustrators. Oceana. p. 307. ISBN   978-1-84573-473-2.
  10. ↑ Ralph Steadman (biography). British Cartoon Archive. University of Kent. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  11. 1 2 Miles, Barry; Mabbett, Andy (1994). Pink Floyd - The Visual Documentary. London: Omnibus. ISBN   978-0711941090.
  12. ↑ Simone, Michael. "A Long Drawn-Out Trip: An Interview with Gerald Scarfe". REG Magazine (22). Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2007.
  13. 1 2 3 Mabbett, Andy (2010). Pink Floyd - The Music and the Mystery. London: Omnibus. ISBN   9781849383707.
  14. ↑ "BBC News Meet The Author: Gerald Scarfe on His Role with Pink Floyd", BBC News, 25 October 2010
  15. ↑ "Scarfe's Yes Minister art on sale". Evening Standard. 5 April 2012.
  16. ↑ Membery, York (25 March 2011). "Political drawing-room". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  17. ↑ "The laugh post!". Daily Record (Scotland) . 2 March 1998. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2014– via HighBeam Research.
  18. ↑ "Comic genius is licked". News.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 23 April 1998. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  19. ↑ "Tour the Dome". BBC News. 2000. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
  20. ↑ Monahan, Mark (5 December 2010). "English National Ballet fights on". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  21. ↑ JPost.com staff (27 January 2013). "'Sunday Times' mocks Holocaust with Israel cartoon". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  22. ↑ Offensive anti-Israel cartoon in London's Sunday Times called blood libel, JTA, 7 December 2013, archived from the original on 31 January 2013
  23. ↑ "Cartoon continues to stir controversy". ynetnews. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2014.
  24. ↑ Jennifer Lipman "Scarfe "regrets timing" of Sunday Times Netanyahu cartoon" Archived 31 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine , The Jewish Chronicle, 28 January 2013.
  25. ↑ Pfeffer, Anshel (28 January 2013), "Four reasons why UK cartoon of Netanyahu isn't anti-semitic in any way", Ha’aretz, archived from the original on 28 January 2013, retrieved 28 January 2013
  26. ↑ "Outcry over UK paper's cartoon showing bloody Israeli oppression", The Times of Israel, archived from the original on 30 January 2013, retrieved 28 January 2013
  27. ↑ "Rupert Murdoch apologises over Gerald Scarfe cartoon" Archived 25 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine , BBC News, 29 January 2013.
  28. ↑ Mark Gardner and Anshel Pfeffer "Is the Sunday Times cartoon antisemitic?" Archived 26 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine , The Guardian, 29 January 2013. The citation featured a reprint of the Haaretz article by Pfeffer, which is only available via subscription on the original site.
  29. ↑ Howard Jacobson. "I don't care for Scarfe's cartoon but..." Archived 26 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine , The Independent, 1 February 2013.
  30. ↑ British Chief Rabbi condemns Scarfe cartoon Archived 1 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine , 29 January 2013; accessed 7 June 2014.
  31. ↑ Hepworth, David (1 June 2013). "Next week's radio: from Recycled Radio to 5 Live's Big Day Out". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  32. ↑ "Recycled Radio". BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  33. ↑ "Gromit statue auction raises £2.3m for Bristol hospital". BBC News. 4 October 2013.
  34. ↑ "My Secret Life: Jane Asher, actress & cook". Independent.co.uk . 18 September 2011.
  35. ↑ GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1981 13 1708 KEN&CHELSEA - Scarfe = Asher
  36. ↑ Thorpe, Vanessa (28 October 2012). "Scarfe Jr takes up father's satirical pen". The Observer.
  37. ↑ Pearlman, Julia. "Media Bulletin". Brandrepublic.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  38. ↑ "British Press Awards: Past winners". Press Gazette. 29 November 2007.
  39. ↑ "No. 58729". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2008. p. 8.
  40. ↑ "Thatcher cartoonist Gerald Scarfe is Dorset fossil namesake". BBC Online . 21 November 2011. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.

Videos

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.