Caricaturing the World
Pages Glorleuses. By Derso and Kelen. (Kelen, Geneva. 25 frs.) WHATEVER may be said of the Great War, it made a better world for caricaturists. In the old days it was impossible to run to earth the political lions of the nations for first-hand study, and when it was desired to deal with international affairs one had either to improvise from beautified photo- graphs or fall back on John Bull, Uncle Sam, La Belle France, Germania and the other hoary misrepresentatives. Now there is Geneva. The Men Who Matter assemble in droves almost to order, as it were, for examination by the conscien- tious caricaturist. One stumbles over Prime Ministers. Turn over any large stone and four or five Foreign Secretaries run out.
Demo and Kelen got there first. These two Hungarians, both precluded by uncomfortable post-War conditions from practising as caricaturists in their native land, met in the halls of conference and entered into an artistic partnership to exploit as subject material for their pens international pclitics on their more intimately personal side. They " did "
naturally arises from the subject matter. In temper they are not " savage," " brutal " or " coarse " (terms dear to the critics of Caricature) but, on the contrary, are often almost Punch-like in their amiability. To me this quality in their work is occasionally a little horrifying, and in my own crabbed opinion certain of the persons they depict are not dressed down as thoroughly as they should be. They draw in thin outline and give good measure—often too good. Sometimes they seem to have that horror of open spaces which was a failing of the early Dutch and Flemish comic artists. If there were a Caricaturists' Union they would be reprimanded for put- ting seventy-eight portraits into one drawing. It not only sets a depressing precedent, but it confuses the eye of the customer.
It is unfortunate that, after making that heavy criticism, I should have to trip over myself and admit a partiality for the most crowded cartoon in this portfolio, Monsieur Tardieu Expects Every Man to Do his Duty. Here the ideal of the famous Protocol is realized. The French policy of an
Spa, Cannes, Genoa, Lausanne, and so on, with such success that they became the recognized caricaturists of conferences. Now no conference is complete without them. At any moment some chairman may forget himself and say, as Wellington said of Bill Adams, " Are Demo and Kelen here ? . . . Good ! Let the conference begin."
The firm in ten years has issued six collections of caricatures. The latest is Pages Glorieuses dealing mainly with the Dis- armament parleys. The form of this production is, by the way, a satisfying example of how caricatures should be produced. The association of caricatures with newspapers, to which we have become accustomed, is an unnatural and degrading association for Caricature. Caricatures should be offered as separate plates, sonic hand-coloured, in a beautiful expensive portfolio like this. Take 'em or leave 'em.
The view has been expressed, mostly by persons who are oblivious of the traditions of British Caricature, and who were slightly shocked at the " biblical " treatment of one of their most successful collections, The Testament of Geneva, or the History of the Chosen People, that the style and inspiration of Derso and Kelen are Continental. They do not seem to me to be markedly so. I should say that their work, in analogy and general properties of thought, would fit almost any country. It is, I think, infused with a cosmopolitan spirit which international army is in being. M. Tardieu, spike-helmetted, breast-plated, palm-leaf in hand, is mounted on a white charger, directing the operations of a force composed of the statesmen, diplomats and journalists of all nations in every conceivable variety of uniform. To describe it would take a page. One small corner shows a Red Cross Depot at which Lord Londonderry is having a manicure, and M. Paul Boncour a haircut, his pure white locks being offered around by Boncour junior for luck, one to a doughboy Stimson ; in the rear Mr. MacDonald, M. Litvinoff, M. Ilerriot, M. Painleve, Dr, Bruning and Signor Grandi lumber a field-gun uphill ; from the margin gallops madly Mr. Yen with a telegram from China. In the pertinent sub-situations and intimate touches of this copious work there is wealth of fancy enough for ten ordinary cartoons.
But Demo and Kelen are not always so diffuse. Their Camouflage, for example, is comparatively concise. It repre- sents the statesmen and diplomats making a painfully inade- quate attempt to obscure the shape of a big gun under carefully laid palm-leaves. M. Tardieu carries an armful. Mr. Sato of Japan is apparently trying to borrow Mr. Stimson's lot to line the inside of the breech. The landscape is littered with Resolutions, Propositions, Motions, Reports and Memoranda,
Concise, also, though teeming with subtleties for the eye of the informed, is Waltalream, which depicts a restaurant in which M. Tardieu and Sir John Simon sit paying affectionate attention to the League. Herr Briining and Signor Grand sit nose-to-nose on the other side of the table. In the back- ground the orchestra of Danubian States (excellent portraits) are obviously in dispute about the tune. " And now," says M. Tardieu, turning to M. Benes of Czechoslovakia, the first violin, " Let's have ' The Blue Danube.' " Portraiture is obviously the strong point of Demo and Kelen. They are " true " caricaturists, that is to say, their portraits are studies based upon observation from life and calculated in emphasis, as distinct from the cooked-up symbols used by stay-at-home cartoonists who have never seen their subjects (and who probably would not recognize them if they did).
The quality of their joint talent in this respect is seen in the excellent drawing of " The U.S.S.R. Draw Up a Diplomatic Note," a parody of the famous historical painting, " The Cossacks of Saporog." The elfin Radek, complete with pipe and wide smile, sits pen in hand surrounded by Soviet leaders, all making their contributions to what is to them a deliciously comic composition. Litvinoff indicates with an eloquent gesture of the hand a fine point calculated to penetrate the thick hides of the Capitalist statesmen. Stalin guffaws. A beautifully picturesque Lounatcharski beams. The like- nesses are convincing.
Uniform success in portrait caricature is, of course, too much to expect ; the translation of the psychological into the physical is a complex and individual matter. To me they do not quite " get " our Arthur Henderson, and they make Sir John Simon much too human. I imagine that Sir John must have been told there were sketchers about and put on his most winning manner. But the failures in this collection are exceptional.
Derso and Kelen have an enviable field. All good caricaturists should go to Geneva when they die. Low.
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