Art critics, art historians, aestheticians, and others too often tend to dismiss cartoons and caricatures as silly — not serious — trivial, and irrelevant. Yet as the following list of cartoons and caricatures that have wreaked havoc throughout history should make clear, cartoons can have a powerful psychological, emotional, and political impact.
James Gillray
Napoleon once said that the English caricaturist James Gillray "did more than all the armies in Europe to bring me down." Here's an example: "Manic ravings, or Little Boney in a Strong Fit" (1803).
Honore Daumier
In 1832, two years after King Louis Philippe famously abolished censorship of the press in France, Honore Daumier produced his famous pear-shaped caricature of Louis Philippe called "Gargantua." Daumier, his publisher, Philipon, and his printer were all indicted for "arousing hatred of and contempt of the King's government, and for offending the King's person." Only Daumier went to prison.
Thomas Nast
Nast's depictions of Boss Tweed are justly credited with bringing him and his corrupt Tammany Hall cronies down. Tweed famously said, "I don't care a straw for your newspaper articles. My constituents can't read. But they can't help seeing them damn pictures."
Art Young and Robert Minor
