Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is an English satirical cartoonist and illustrator. He has worked as editorial cartoonist for The Sunday Times and illustrator for The New Yorker.
Scarfe’s other work includes graphics for rock group Pink Floyd, particularly on their 1979 album The Wall, its 1982 film adaptation, and tour (1980–81), as well as the music video for "Welcome to the Machine".[John Walker. (1987) "Gerald Scarfe & Pink Floyd" . In Cross-Overs: Art into Pop, Pop into Art/ artdesigncafe. Retrieved 31 December 2011.]
Early life
Scarfe was born in St John's Wood, London.
[GRO Register of Births: SEP 1936 1a 774 HAMPSTEAD, Gerald A. Scarfe, mmn = Gardner] As Scarfe was severely
as a child, he spent many of his early years bed-ridden,
so drawing became a means of entertainment as well as a creative outlet. Scarfe speculated that the dark and grotesque images that often characterise his work are a result of his loneliness and asthma.
Scarfe has stated that the irreverence apparent in much of his work can be traced back to "dodgy treatments" and a reliance on what he feels were incompetent doctors.
The cartoonist Ronald Searle was an early influence for Scarfe. At the age of 14 and now living in Hampstead, North London, Scarfe decided it would be easy to cycle to Bayswater and visit Searle. He went several times but never rang the doorbell. It would be decades before he would actually meet Searle in 2005.[Maurice Horn (1983). The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons, Volume 4. London: Chelsea House Publishers. . p. 495. Accessed August 2013.] He also attended the London College of Printing,
Career
Early work
After briefly working in advertising, a profession he grew to dislike intensely, Scarfe's early
of public figures were published in satirical magazine
Private Eye throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Beginning in 1960, he produced illustrations for
Punch,
The Evening Standard and
The Daily Sketch.
The Sunday Times magazine assigned Scarfe to cover the 1964 US presidential election. He continued to work for
The Sunday Times for two years, also producing several cover illustrations for
Time magazine, including caricatures of The Beatles in 1967.
In the mid-1960s he took a job at the Daily Mail following a Dutch auction for his services with the Daily Express. His decision to work for the Daily Mail led to his estrangement from fellow cartoonist Ralph Steadman, alongside whom he had studied art at East Ham Technical College. Soon after, Steadman was commissioned to illustrate Scarfe and "produced an image that was half saint and half Superman, but with a disconnected heart".
Pink Floyd and Roger Waters
Scarfe was approached to work with
Pink Floyd after
Roger Waters and
Nick Mason both saw his animated
BBC film
A Long Drawn Out Trip. Pink Floyd's 1974 programme for their tour in the UK and US, in the form of a comic, included a centre-spread caricature of the band.
Scarfe later produced a set of animated short clips used on the 1977
In The Flesh tour, including a full-length music video for the song
Welcome to the Machine.
Scarfe also drew the illustrations for their 1979 album The Wall and provided animation and stage props, including enormous inflatable characters for the subsequent 1980–1981 concert tour in support of that album.
Scarfe continued to work with Roger Waters after the latter left Pink Floyd, creating the graphics and animation for Waters' solo album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984) and its supporting tour.
The Exceptional Child
Scarfe sketched of the eponymous
Exceptional Child for the opening title sequence of the BBC's 1964 television documentary of the same name.
The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin
He designed the 'Grot' logo for the BBC TV series
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.
Yes Minister
He provided caricatures of
Paul Eddington, Sir
Nigel Hawthorne and
Derek Fowlds (as their respective characters) for the opening and closing sequences of
Yes Minister and
Yes, Prime Minister.
Hercules
Scarfe was approached to work on the 1997 Disney film
Hercules by
Ron Clements and
John Musker, longtime fans who had risen to prominence within Disney following the success of
The Little Mermaid. Scarfe worked as a conceptual character artist, designing almost all of the characters and then supervising the 900 Disney artists charged with adapting his designs for the film.
Postage stamps
The
Royal Mail used Scarfe's artwork for a set of five commemorative postage stamps, issued on 23 April 1998. Honoring English comedians, the stamps feature Scarfe caricatures of
Tommy Cooper,
Eric Morecambe,
Joyce Grenfell,
Les Dawson and
Peter Cook.
Millennium Dome sculpture
He was invited to create a sculpture for the
Millennium Dome, which was entitled "Self Portrait". The Dome's chief executive PY Gerbeau said "it mirrors what we like – and what we don't – about our nation".
Theatre/stage design
Scarfe has designed sets for a number of operatic productions, including
Tobias Picker's
Fantastic Mr. Fox. Following a chance meeting at a
BBC prom he worked with Peter Hall on his version of Mozart's
The Magic Flute, which drew critical acclaim. He is lined up to provide animation for
Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell, a stage show featuring Steinman's music. Scarfe designed the sets and costumes for the English National Opera's 1988 production of
Orpheus in the Underworld; among the costumes Scarfe designed were those of the characters Orpheus, Eurydice, and the Gods of Mount Olympus. He also produced all the costume and scenery designs for the 2002 Christopher Hampson production of
The Nutcracker, for the English National Ballet.
Heroes and Villains
In 2003 Scarfe collaborated with the National Portrait Gallery and
BBC Four to make caricatures of a number of famous Britons, to depict (along with guest commentary) their heroic and villainous attributes. Amongst the over 30 portraits he depicted included caricatures of Henry VIII, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I,
Pete Best,
Richard Branson,
Adam Smith,
William Blake,
The Beatles,
Agatha Christie and Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2009, he also created a caricature of
James May out of
Lego which was shown in episode 5 of
James May's Toy Stories for
BBC Two. Scarfe and
Jane Asher also appeared in the episode.
Netanyahu cartoon
In its edition of 27 January 2013 (Britain's Holocaust Memorial Day), London's
Sunday Times published a
cartoon by Scarfe depicting Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paving a wall with the blood and bodies of
Palestinians, captioned "Israeli elections—will cementing peace continue?"
The cartoon's timing and content was criticised by groups including the European Jewish Congress and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, with accusations of
antisemitism leveled against Scarfe.
Unaware the cartoon would appear on Holocaust Memorial Day,[Jennifer Lipman "Scarfe "regrets timing" of Sunday Times Netanyahu cartoon" , The Jewish Chronicle, 28 January 2013.] Scarfe argued that the cartoon was clearly aimed specifically at Netanyahu and his policies, and were in response to his election, rather than being related to Holocaust Memorial Day.[ "Rupert Murdoch apologises over Gerald Scarfe cartoon" , BBC News, 29 January 2013.]
The cartoon was published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, where Anshel Pfeffer discusses the cartoon in great detail, giving four reasons why, in his opinion, the cartoon is not antisemitic.[Mark Gardner and Anshel Pfeffer "Is the Sunday Times cartoon antisemitic?" , The Guardian, 29 January 2013. The citation featured a reprint of the Haaretz article by Pfeffer, which is only available via subscription on the original site.] Writer Howard Jacobson claimed the cartoon was not antisemitic.[Howard Jacobson. "I don't care for Scarfe's cartoon but..." , The Independent, 1 February 2013.] British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks condemned the cartoon.[ British Chief Rabbi condemns Scarfe cartoon , 29 January 2013; accessed 7 June 2014.]
Recycled Radio
Since June 2013, Scarfe has presented a programme on BBC Radio 4 called
Recycled Radio,
which is described as "the chopped-up, looped-up, sped-up world...where old programmes are reused to explore a series of weighty subjects".
Bristol Charity Auction
In October 2013 Scarfe donated his time to decorate one of the large Wallace & Gromit statues to be auctioned for the Bristol hospital charity that was featured live on the BBC.
His contribution finally ending up being sold to an internet bidder from Miami Florida where the statue was exported into a private collection, ultimately topping all estimates on value with a bid second highest only to the Pixar statue contribution.
Scarfe's Bar
In 2014, Scarfe's Bar was opened in the Covent Garden area of London, in the
Rosewood London, where his "distinctive caricatures not only decorate the walls but also influence the creative thrust behind their menus."
Personal life
He is married to actress
Jane Asher, whom he met in 1971.
The couple wed in 1981
[GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1981 13 1708 KEN&CHELSEA – Scarfe = Asher] and have a daughter and two sons.
Awards and accolades
-
On 22 November 2005 the United Kingdom's Press Gazette named its 40 most influential journalists, and included Scarfe alongside just two other cartoonists, Carl Giles, and Matt Pritchett.
-
Scarfe was awarded 'Cartoonist of the Year' at the British Press Awards 2006.
-
Scarfe was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.
-
In 2011, a fossil pterosaur discovered in Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset, was named Cuspicephalus scarfi in his honour.
Bibliography
External links
Videos
