In the 17th century in Holland, the sketch axis with cartoon exaggeration appeared for the first time in the painter's works. The satirist, represented by Frenchman Honoré Daumier (188-1879), developed political cartoons to an artistic level. Today, political cartoons are still an important part of western popular culture.
Britain has played a very important role in the history of cartoon art. As we all know, Britain is the first country to establish modern parliamentary democracy, and it is also one of the first countries to enter the industrial revolution. The establishment of democratic politics has guaranteed people's freedom of speech and publication and provided a social foundation for the development of cartoon art; The rise of industrial revolution has triggered the prosperity of newspaper publishing industry and provided material guarantee for the development of cartoon art.
As early as the end of the 17th century, there were many humorous illustrations similar to cartoons in English newspapers, but they were not really cartoons because of the lack of full-time painters and fixed artistic style. With the prosperity of the press and publishing industry, in the early 18th century, full-time cartoon painters appeared, and the style of British cartoons was gradually shaped. Compared with the humorous caricatures in continental Europe at the same time, British cartoons are more based on social customs and are good at humor and implication.
During this period, the more influential cartoon painters include William Hogarth (1697-1764), James Gillray (1757-1816) and Thomas Rolandson (1756-1827). Among them, Hogarth's representative works include The Return of the Prodigal Son and The Roaming of Harold, while Rolandson mainly wrote The Life Travel of Dr. Sintax. It is worth mentioning that the works of Hogarth and others are no longer traditional single paintings, but have developed into a series of interrelated paintings, with the embryonic form of comic books.
In p>1841, the famous Punch pictorial was founded in London. This famous humorous periodical occupies a prominent position in the history of cartoon development. In fact, it was the contributor, famous painter John Ritchie and editor Mark Lumen of this publication who officially named humorous caricatures "cartoons" for the first time. At the same time, this publication is also an important bridge for the transition from traditional cartoon to comic book. In the early "Clumsy" pictorial, many works similar to the concept of comic books have been serialized. The Adventures of Mr. Brick, drawn by John Ritchie, has many elements of comic books.
at the end of the 19th century, the appearance of color printing triggered a revolution in the publishing industry. Accordingly, color cartoons began to appear in people's field of vision.
in p>191, a famous publisher, Hams Worth, founded a joint publishing company (AP) on the basis of acquiring several magazines, and successively published comic books such as Elf, Bubble, Smile, Rainbow, Tiger Tim Weekly and Jungle Carnival. Henderson, another publisher, also published magazines such as Fun Endless (196), Comic World (199), Witty Words (191) and Spark (1918). Others, such as "Fireworks" published by "leps and Holmes" and "Grand Collection" published by Pearson, have been involved in the publication and distribution of color cartoons to varying degrees. During this period, an important change in British comic periodicals was that the readers of the periodicals gradually shifted from adults to children and teenagers. AP Company is the biggest beneficiary of this trend. They successfully launched the cartoon image of "Tiger Tim", making it a favorite cartoon star for children. Its sister work "Bear Doll" has also achieved good sales performance. In addition, Fox Weir, one of the authors of Tiger Tim, has also created comic books for girls such as Little Tiger Gilly and Miss Hippo.
Compared with political cartoons and cartoons, the development of cartoons seems to be more legendary. As mentioned above, animation art is an important part of modern film and television art. However, in the "prehistoric stage" of animation and film, the two are one. It was not until the invention of photography that film and animation began to go their separate ways.
In p>1895, the Lumiere brothers in France first showed their "movie machine" to the public, and showed films such as Train Entering the Station and Seawater Garden. Modern film was born. However, the first animated film was released ten years later. Part of the reason is the high production cost of cartoons. Today, animation is still a cultural product that needs high investment.
in p>196, J. Stuart Blackton, who worked in Edison's laboratory, produced The Humorous phases of Funny Faces, which was also the first animated film in the world. Since then, Emile Cohl, from France, has further developed his cartoon shooting skills, and has produced more than 25 animated short films. At the same time, he was also the first pioneer to combine animation with real-life performance by using the method of screen photography. It is precisely because of Cole's outstanding contribution to the development of animation that he is also regarded as the father of contemporary animation.
Winsor McCay, an American, had an important influence on the development of early animation. He was born in Michigan, USA. In his early years, he made a living by painting posters for circuses and popular theatrical troupes. Later, he became a newspaper reporter and comic columnist. In 1914, MacKay introduced a story cartoon Gertie the Dinosaur. The introduction of this cartoon has changed the pure artistic tendency in animation works before, and organized stories, characters and live-action performances into interactive plots, which has achieved quite good results. Gertie, a naive dinosaur, has become a famous cartoon star. After Gertie the Dinosaur, MacKay made The Sinking of Rustania. This is the first documentary produced by animation.
Winsor McCay's success is symbolic. Based on his accomplishment and accumulation as a cartoonist, he created a new animation creation mode that attaches importance to the shaping of characters, story structure and popular interest. After MacKay, American animators began to take a completely different path from their European counterparts. A cartoon era belonging to the New World is coming.
Honoré Daumier (188-1879)
Honoré Daumier was the greatest French realistic caricature master in the 19th century. He was born in Marseille to a glassmaker's family with literary accomplishment. When he was 6 years old, his family moved to Paris. Because of poverty, Du Miai made a living as a boy and worked as a page and shop assistant, which made him know that the officialdom was dirty and the people were suffering, resulting in democratic thoughts and a sense of justice. At the age of 2, Du Miai studied painting under the director of the Royal French Museum and painter Nenoy, and then studied with Buden. In his spare time, he also studied printmaking art from the lithographer Ramillet. At first, he was engaged in printmaking, exposing and satirizing the darkness of society with sharp artistic language. A large number of his satirical works can be called "a dictionary of the collective image of the declining class". Du Miai, who is 4 years old, began to paint oil paintings. His oil paintings are still like satirical paintings, and the shape does not seek similarity, but only pays attention to the "magic" of color blocks and shapes. He often takes brown and pink as the keynote, chooses the theme of expression from literary masterpieces and life, and examines the image he created with a critical artistic eye. He said, "Be a man of his own time." Du Miai's artistic career has always been associated with French realism. He used the artistic language of combining realism and romanticism to create his own unique artistic image. For the sake of truth and justice, his life was bumpy, he was imprisoned, fined, and his works were destroyed, making it difficult to make a living. He devoted himself to the revolution in the Paris Commune and was elected as the executive member of the Artists' Federation. In order to win people's hearts, Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte was awarded the "Medal of Honor" and was rejected. He was always an unyielding great realist who struggled for justice all his life.