Caricature (translated from Italian) means exaggeration. Close to her in the genre are cartoon, grotesque and lubok.
Cartoons: what is it?
Art is constantly changing, more and more new forms appear. Caricature is a rather long-existing genre of painting. Art historians know two of the most basic concepts that can characterize this genre:
1. A humorous image in which a funny effect is achieved by exaggerating and sharpening the main features, as well as using unusual artistic techniques, assimilation and comparisons.
2. A genre of graphics that satirically depicts significant social, political, historical events or describes a specific type of people.
Having received the answer to the question: “Caricatures - what is it?”, It will be very interesting to know the history of this art direction. And it originated a very long time ago.
Caricature from ancient times was considered a very effective way to laugh at an opponent, emphasizing its shortcomings. In addition, it reflects the pressing problems of society.
So, it is known that Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte fiercely hated the French cartoons that represented him as a dwarf in a huge triangular hat. The commander-in-chief of the troops, Mikhail Kutuzov, even ordered the creation of a special art headquarters to create drawings that mock the Corsican.
Caricatures in pre-revolutionary Russia
In our country, all new trends have traditionally come from Europe. In the 19th century, the aristocracy of Russia became acquainted with such a genre of art as French cartoons. The development of this genre was very closely intertwined with journalism. At first, funny drawings were published in newspapers, and under them was added an explanation of what is depicted in the caricature. Later, the need for signatures disappeared. The technique of drawing was getting better and no longer needed to further describe what meaning it has. However, royal censorship exercised the strictest control over the development of the caricature. What is supervision by the authorities, no need to explain. Any image that the bureaucrats considered threatening the political system was not allowed to print. However, the development of caricature as a genre was already impossible to stop. The most venomous images passed from hand to hand and even redrawn.
But the official caricature also developed. Many serious publications devoted entire pages to the humorous departments. Most often, the cartoons did not address acute social and political problems, but portrayed unsuccessful artists, small traders, and stealing officials. Cartoons were also very popular, which became the embodiment of idle gossip, often without any basis. So, caricatures of women rotating in acting circles, delivered the last a lot of emotions.
In the mid-19th century, the first Russian satire magazine "Jumble" appeared under the publishing house of the famous artist Nevakhovich, who often himself created drawings for the rooms.
Caricature in the USSR
In the Soviet Union, all spheres of life, including art, were subordinated to one goal - the struggle against an external enemy, capitalism, and the moral costs of building socialism. The main topics for the cartoons were drunkenness, laziness, parasitism, petty hooliganism. These qualities were severely ridiculed by popular magazines and newspapers. But, as with any totalitarian regime, there was a direction of an underground caricature. What is the abuse of power, censorship, arbitrariness of local officials and the imperfection of the new political system - these are the main questions that artists tried to answer with the help of stinging drawings.
Modern caricatures
After the USSR collapsed, the need for total censorship disappeared. Now almost all topics were open. But the most popular were political cartoons. Cartoons on modern officials and public figures filled all the media. The artists especially liked the image of the odious Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Also, cartoons were drawn on new topics: criminality, oligarchs, new views on the political struggle. Now they can be found on the Internet.
Caricature Museums
Each art genre deserves to dedicate individual exhibitions to it. So, in 2011 in Voronezh, the Museum of Humor "Merry Staircase" was opened. Its founder was the popular cartoonist Ivan Anchukov. The museum has both permanent exhibits and a wall on which all interested young and talented artists can post their works. In the future, I. Anchukov plans to open a caricature school. Visitors to the museum will like archives, which store drawings of different eras, posters, humorous road signs, T-shirts and t-shirts with funny drawings, funny postcards, as well as unique author's sketches. The creator of the museum came up with and brought to life the original chessboard with caricature images on it.