At the end of the 19th century, the confluence of mass immigration from European countries to the United States, the fierce competition between New York’s press empires, and the challenges faced by the press to develop new printing techniques, created one of the most important artistic explosions of the ‘modern times’.The dynamic, the inventive, and the creative, provoked the birth of ‘modern graphics’, the golden age of which was between 1890 and the end of 1910.
As opposed to the European comics, directed almost exclusively at children, the comics from the U.S.A. were directed at an adult population. The first Sunday color supplements of the most prominent newspapers arose in trying to achieve a more faithful following amongst its readers, so as to increase sales. This introduced a new type of graphic art, created by young artists who were given total liberty of expression. These were the pioneers of a new form of artistic expression, later known as ‘popular art’ or pop culture, which was continued on a half a century later by Avant-garde artists like Andy Warhol.
Montana Gallery Barcelona presents an exhibition with a selection of more than 2,000 original pages taken from these Sunday supplements, all exceptionally well-preserved. This is a private collection from Pascal Hanrion, in which you’ll find works from the first generation of the best cartoon artists: Winsor McCay, Richard Felton Outcault, Rudolph Dirks, Gustave Verbeek, Swinnerton, Opper; and those which came afterwards: Geo Mac Manus, Cliff Sterett, Knerr, Rube Goldberg, Bud Fisher, Dereck or Ferra’s.
The cultural and social impact of this collection makes it of special interest amongst graphic art professionals, as well as the general public.
Opening: Thursday the 3rd of February 2011 from 7.30 pm.
Exhibition: February the 4th until March the 26th 2011.
2 What do you think?
Add a comment