Zaza Gravures - De Comeback van de Sanseveria / Zaza Engravings - The Comeback of the Sansevieria

When I first saw this book in the library I was immediately fascinated by it and of course I bought it for my collection. I'll place it between the 'special cartoon books' on the book shelf.  We all know cartoons as sketches or drawings, even as paintings, but Zaza (Klaas Storme, Belgian cartoonist) gave a new dimension to cartoon humor by using old and unique engravings, most 19th century, and adding (modern) captions to them.

The result of this combination is very funny, even hilarious.
Zaza Gravures - De Comeback van de Sanseveria (De Bezige Bij Antwerpen, 2013, ISBN 978-90-8542-522-9, 252p, 24,99 euro) has been sold over 2500 times.

The captions that accompany the Zaza engravings are in Dutch , but I've tried to translate some in English. Hope you like the humor.

"Naughty world."

"Gustaaaaave... telephone for you"

"Fucking sat nav!"

"The port of Antwerp, hub for cocaine."

"The game was interrupted for a moment by a streaker on stilts."

Learn more:
Review on Cutting Edge
Review on Nu.Nl
Like and more Zaza Cartoons on Facebook

Weltfremde Malerei - Exhibition in Caricatura Museum Frankfurt am Main - Germany - Museum for Comic Art

Just received a comment on our article about Kurt Halbritter.
There is a new website dedicated to the artist:  www.kurt-halbritter.com and later on this year, from 14/8 to 16/11/2014, there will be a Halbritter exhibition in the Caricature Museum in Frankfurt.

Browsing the museums website, I noticed there is a very interesting exhibition for the moment. It's all about comic painting with art by Michael Sowa, Rudi Hurzlmeier and Ernst Kahl.

Click here to view the an image galley of works in the exhibition.

A catalogue is available and costs 30 eur... I'll have to order it.

Learn more:
www.kurt-halbritter.com
Halbritter exhibition
www.caricatura-museum.de

Riber Hansson (Sweden)

The Riber Hansson cartoon exhibition in the ECC is a pleasure to look at. It's hard to believe that Riber started drawing at the age of 50 and that he learned drawing all by himself. The result is astonishing.

A cartoon exhibition is an ideal way for the artist to hear what people think of his cartoons. The responses of the public at the opening of the exhibition were unanimously positive.

Riber brought along 3 of his books for the ECC cartoon book library. The books are rare te find.

Riber Hansson (middle):

Learn more:
Visit the exhibiton in the ECC
Riber Hansson official website - www.riber.net
Riber Hansson cartoon gallery

Lectrr cartoons

Cartoonist Lectrr is one of Belgiums funniest press cartoonists. He has an exposition now in the ECC in Kruishoutem. You can visit his exhibition  from 26 January till 6 April 2014; every Sunday from 10 to 12 a.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m. Groups of 10 persons or more are welcome on other days by appointmentGo and see it.

2 Lectrr cartoon books: 2013 and 2013 - The year in cartoons (Davidsfonds Uitgeverij, Belgium, ISBN 978-90-6306-645-1 -2013, 288 pages/ ISBN 978-90-5826-914-0, 2012,288 pages)

caption left: "pull my finger, would you?"
caption right: "the pen is mightier than the sword. My ass!"

personalised by Lectrr...

Lectrr 

Learn more:
Lectrr exhibition ECC
www.lectrr.be

Zoodiac by Ronald Searle

While preparing a lecture about the world of cartoons I noticed that in fact my collection of Searle books is not so extensive. One of the books I was curious about is this one: Zoodiac. I eventually decided to buy it and easily found it on eBay. Hereunder you can see an impression of the book (Pantheon Books New York, ISBN 0-394-50062-8,1978).

Jean-Marie already owned this book and wrote about it a time ago on our blog (Ronald Searle The Great (part 6) - His so human bestiary) and in his article you find some more pictures and information.

I have doubts about astrology and the zodiac, but I believe in the magic of the Zoodiac cartoons Searle drew for this book.

Learn more:

Ronald Searle articles on our blog

Norbert Van Yperzeele - reMiXeD

Last Friday evening I was honored to receive one of the first copies of the brand new cartoon book of Norbert Van Yperzeele (Belgium). He himself just got the book in the afternoon from his printer and we met each other at a caricature session. I already knew Norbert as an excellent cartoonist and sculpturer, but Friday I discovered his skills as a caricaturist. 

Norbert's first book MiXeD was 'sold out' in a very short period and for that reason a second book was a logical next step in his cartoon career. It's a mixed collection of cartoons on various topics drawn between 2005 and 2013. What I also admire in the book is that between the just funny and hilarious cartoons you'll notice some that appeal to social consciousness and social issues. In this drawings Norbert shows that funny cartoons can be very serious.

"The cartoon future looks bright as Norbert retired in 2013. Having heaps of time ahead of him now, he will certainly cheer us up with more of his humorous work. Avanti!"

(ECC Kruishoutem)

Norbert as caricaturist 

The book costs 15 eur (Emka, 21x21cm, 98 pages full color) and is available by contacting Norbert.

Learn more:

MiXed (first book)
www.vypcartoons.be

Cartooning for peace

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace."

John Lennon

Wishing you all a peaceful 2014. Hope you support like I do the need for freedom of expression as does Cartooning for Peace who makes a great effort  for a better understanding of different cultures and religions, through editorial cartoons as a universal language.

You can support the organisation buy buying the book "100 Dessins de Cartooning for Peace pour la liberté de la presse" (in French and English language).

This is part of the book description on Amazon.com:

100 Cartoons for Press Freedom

The Cartooning for Peace movement arose in response to a fatwa issued against Danish cartoonists who had dared to draw the face of the Prophet Mohammed, triggering violent protests in January 2006 that resulted in 50 deaths in Pakistan, 11 in Libya and the closure of European embassies.

Then United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and Le Monde cartoonist Plantu organized a conference entitled “Unlearn Intolerance” at UN headquarters in New York on 16 October 2006 in which 12 of the world’s most famous cartoonists took part.

It was this conference that gave rise to “Cartooning for Peace,” which was created with the aim of promoting better understanding and mutual respect between peoples of different beliefs and cultures, using press cartoons as a universal language and means of expression.

Cartooning for Peace brings professional cartoonists of all nationalities to the attention of a broad public in order to promote a debate about freedom of expression and recognition of the journalistic nature of the work of cartoonists.

Learn more:
Cartooning for peace website
LikeCartooning for Peace on Facebook
Some cartoons aren't funny - review on IPS News Agency
Reporters without borders review

Wishing you all a very happy 2014!

Catalogue Knokke Heist 2013

Take a good look at this year's catalogue and you'll notice why this is a kind of special edition...

I think the (desktop) publisher did his work on a monday morning after a wild weekend... and nobody saw his mistake untill the catalogue was printed.

If it was a stamp, this catalogue would make a fortune.

Learn more:

Cartoonfestival Knokke-Heist.be

Illustration - A visual history by Steven Heller and Steymour Chwast

Illustration or cartoon? That's the question.

Is an illustration a cartoon? Or is a cartoon an illustration? Is a drawing an illustration or a cartoon?
Searching cartoon books a time ago, I noticed between the art books, this particular publication . At first sight the book is about illustrations (and it is), but browsing the pages with a 'cartoon eye' I noticed many illustrations that I and many of our readers should catalogue as cartoons. That's what I like about this book: it's describes many styles and forms of illustrations. This styles and forms can not only be applied on illustration art, but also on cartoons.

Here are some examples of forms and styles in which I recognized cartoon art. There many more examples in the book.

FORM

Anthropomorphic

Parody:

Conceptual:

Propaganda:

Political

STYLES

Neo surrealism:

Neo expressionism:

Psychedelic:

Gothic 1:

Gothic 2:

Cartoon expressionism:

Polish:

Expressionism:

On the back cover of the book:

"This  book is a unique survey of this vital, popular art form. Alongside striking illustrations that exemplify the character of key historical movements, Heller and Chwast offer a collection of every significant style and form from the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age. A trove of reference material and inspiration for designers, ILLUSTRATION: A VISUAL HISTORY is an impressive overview of a medium that has had a vital influence on many aspects of modern life, from politics to advertising, and has provided us with some of the world's most iconic images."
(Abrams, New York, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8109-7284-1, 272 p.)

Learn more:
Amazon.com