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ART MATTERS A VIEW OF THE VISUAL ARTS IN BERMUDA BY CHARLES ZUILL Political Cartooning in Bermuda The political cartoon has had a long and illustrious history - its beginnings, it seems, hark back to the sixteenth century, to Italy and Germany. By the eighteenth century political cartoon had developed into a highly sophisticated art, especially in England, with the likes of such artists as William Hogarth (1697-1764), James Gillray (1757-1815) and Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), while in nineteenth Century France, Honoré Daumier’s vicious depictions of King, Louis Philippe was such, he was sentenced, in 1832, to six months in prison for his efforts. Political cartooning in Bermuda, however, has until recent times been spotty, at best. It has only been in the last thirty years that it has been a consistent reality in the local press and that is because of the skillful, albeit, gentle depictions of Bermudian political foibles by Peter Woolcock. One way to get a sense of the Bermuda political scene is to buy his latest edition of Woppened, the annual publication of Woolcock’s weekly cartoons from the Royal Gazette. His insightful depictions are enlightening and always highly amusing. I recall, however, back in the 1950’s, political cartoons by F. Kenwood-Giles and later in the 1980’s, there was, for a brief period, a series of cartoons, called Lennie the Longtail created by Walt Horton. Back in the 1930 James Thurber also created cartoons for the Bermudian magazine, but these are not so much political, as social commentary. In 1986, Bermudian, Michael Frith of Muppets fame also made a series of cartoons based on Bermuda history. I remember them as being skillfully drawn and composed. According to an article on Bermuda’s cartoon history, in the Mid-Ocean News of May 16, 2008, by Jonathan Land Evans, possibly the first Bermuda themed cartoons, were by an anonymous artist, who depicted goings-on in the construction of the Royal Naval Dockyard. These date from 1833 and are now in the Faye & Geoffrey Elliott Collection in the Bermuda Government Archives. Political leaders often take themselves very seriously. It is important, therefore, that they be kept humble through humor and this is the goal, at best, of political cartoons. I recall, back at a time when no one was creating political cartoons, saying to a newspaperman, that we needed a good political cartoonist. I should not have been surprised at his response, however. He said that he would not dare touch it. Bermuda, being a small community, where we locals get to know our leadership and often remember them as former school mates, it is difficult to be pointed in our criticisms. This is where the really benign approach of Peter Woolcock comes in. He has the uncanny ability to poke fun at the leadership without being vicious. At the same time, he achieves the goal of good political cartooning. He lets the leadership know that we are not taken-in by their posturing and pontificating, let alone, some of their decisions. |
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This Week in Bermuda | Email: info@thisweekinbermuda.bm | Phone: 441-295-1189 | Fax: 441-295-3445
