Description
Cham, real name Count Amedee de Noe and a serious rival to Daumier, may have been the epitome of a celebre inconnu, a famous unknown. He is one much deserving, at last, of this first account of his huge oeuvre as a caricaturist.
This book concentrates on his mastery of the important newcomer to the field of caricature, which we call comic strip, picture story, and graphic novel. The volume features facsimiles of nearly twenty of these from 1839 to 1863 and ranging from one page to forty (this last a parody of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables). In addition, summaries and sample illustrations of twenty-seven ""minor works"" demonstrate that Cham is by far the most important specialist of what was then a new genre in Europe.
Born to an ancient aristocratic family, Cham was from early on wholly dedicated to an art considered far beneath his class. Starting as a disciple of the father of the modern comic strip, Swiss Rodolphe Toepffer, Cham soon launched out on his own, evolving an original form of comedy, his own comedie humaine, farcical, absurd, and parodic. His productivity was legendary and comprised all the known genres of caricature, the full-page cartoon lithograph, the thematic seasonal group, weekly and monthly humorous comment (much like the daily newspaper cartoonist today), and a feature called the Revue Comique, which made him the supreme graphic journalist of his day.
Hitherto unknown correspondence reveals an attractive personality who was fond of animals and who honored a low-class woman he eventually made his countess. Vaunted comics scholar David Kunzle has created a fitting tribute to Cham's impact and genius.
About the Author
David Kunzle, Los Angeles, California, professor emeritus of art history at the University of California, is author of Father of the Comic Strip: Rodolphe Toepffer; Gustave Dore: Twelve Comic Strips; and Rodolphe Toepffer: The Complete Comic Strips, all published by University Press of Mississippi.
Book Information
ISBN 9781496816184
Author David Kunzle
Format Hardback
Page Count 538
Imprint University Press of Mississippi
Publisher University Press of Mississippi
This book concentrates on his mastery of the important newcomer to the field of caricature, which we call comic strip, picture story, and graphic novel. The volume features facsimiles of nearly twenty of these from 1839 to 1863 and ranging from one page to forty (this last a parody of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables). In addition, summaries and sample illustrations of twenty-seven ""minor works"" demonstrate that Cham is by far the most important specialist of what was then a new genre in Europe.
Born to an ancient aristocratic family, Cham was from early on wholly dedicated to an art considered far beneath his class. Starting as a disciple of the father of the modern comic strip, Swiss Rodolphe Toepffer, Cham soon launched out on his own, evolving an original form of comedy, his own comedie humaine, farcical, absurd, and parodic. His productivity was legendary and comprised all the known genres of caricature, the full-page cartoon lithograph, the thematic seasonal group, weekly and monthly humorous comment (much like the daily newspaper cartoonist today), and a feature called the Revue Comique, which made him the supreme graphic journalist of his day.
Hitherto unknown correspondence reveals an attractive personality who was fond of animals and who honored a low-class woman he eventually made his countess. Vaunted comics scholar David Kunzle has created a fitting tribute to Cham's impact and genius.
About the Author
David Kunzle, Los Angeles, California, professor emeritus of art history at the University of California, is author of Father of the Comic Strip: Rodolphe Toepffer; Gustave Dore: Twelve Comic Strips; and Rodolphe Toepffer: The Complete Comic Strips, all published by University Press of Mississippi.
Book Information
ISBN 9781496816184
Author David Kunzle
Format Hardback
Page Count 538
Imprint University Press of Mississippi
Publisher University Press of Mississippi
