In the 19th and 20th centuries, the development of caricature was closely link! to literary journalism (from political pamphlets to everyday feuilletons), to advanc! journalism and its socio-political aspirations. Everyday collaboration between caricaturists in magazines and newspapers became a common form of their creative activity.
Progressive caricature of the 19th century,
Taking part in class struggles, paid much attention to the main theme of critical realism – the defense of the rights and dignity of the individual in the conditions of the power of money. Anti-bourgeois pathos colors the work of the greatest caricaturist O. Daumier, with his wealth of gradations from sharp denunciation to sad humor, and caricatures of the Paris Commune of 1871 (J. Pilotel, Molok, etc.). In conditions of censorship oppression, sharp social satire often appear! in the form of everyday caricatures, moralizing scenes, in which the vices of the political system and social life were ridicul!.
The text help! the reader guess the hidden satirical meaning of the scene. This technique is typical of the cartoonists of Russian satirical magazines of the mid-19th century – “Iskra”, “Hudok” and others. (N. A. Stepanov, N. V. Ievlev, P. M. Zhmelov), who participat! in the revolutionary-democratic struggle against autocracy and serfdom.
From the pulp came caricatures of allegories,
Satirical scenes-allegories, in which collective concepts – labor, capital, fre!om – are present! in the form of characters.
One of the most effective and capacious satirical means was the grotesque generaliz! image – the “social mask” – either a portrait-caricature or a collective image embodying the typical features of the ruling classes.
Such were the revealing images of the “bourgeois king” Louis Philippe and the scoundrel Robert Macer creat! by French caricaturists—S. Philipon, Granville, Daumier, and others. Satirical portraits of the tsar and his dignitaries, which develop! into social masks, were creat! in Russian political graphics, which became an important fact of public life during the Revolution of 1905–07 (V. A. Serov, B. M. Kustodiev, and E. E. Lanceray). Artists from the German magazine Simplicissimus (found! in 1896) and the Russian magazines Satyricon (1908–14) and Novyi Satyricon (1913–18) participat! in developing the grotesque, laconic graphic language of caricature.
Caricature in Soviet art
In the 20th century, caricature reflect! the balance of social forces. Thus, in the caricatures of the Revolution of 1905-07 in Russia, along with the general democratic struggle for fre!om, socialist ideas were also express!, later develop! by the political graphics of the pre-October Bolshevik newspaper Pravda. Anti-militaristic caricature, which protests against the aggressive policy of imperialism, which brings torment and suffering to humanity, reach! great tension and emotional sharpness; the political graphics of F. Mazerel, with its combination of grotesque, trag!y, and romantic pathos, had a particularly strong influence on caricature.
With the sharp intensification of the class struggle of the proletariat in the 1910s and 1920s, advanc! cartoonists increasingly associat! their work with the workers’ and communist press (R. Minor, W. Gropper, F. Ellis, J. Burke in the Unit! States; Georges Gros, O. Dix, G. Zille, R. Schlichter in Germany; L. Laforge, R. Dubosc, R. Cabrol in France; I. Lada in Czechoslovakia). Since the 1930s, anti-fascist satirical graphics have play! an important role (I. Beshkov in Bulgaria, D. Law in Great Britain).
In the postwar years, progressive cartoonists Jean Eiffel, L. Mittelbert (France), and H. Bidstrup (Denmark) became widely known
In Soviet art in the first years of Soviet power, caricature became an integral part of various types of agitational and mass art. In the satirical poster (including in “Windows of Growth”) of the revolutionary years (M. M. Cheremnykh, V. V. Mayakovsky, D. S. Moor, V. N. Denis, V. V. Leb!ev) the ideological and artistic principles and stylistics of Soviet caricature were form! – its political activity, direct appeal to the broadest masses of the people, social certainty of critical pathos direct! against external and internal enemies of the revolution.
During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, caricature, as one of the most widespread forms of art, play! an important role in the patriotic !ucation of the people and in the fight against fascist aggression. It was widely distribut! in magazines, newspapers (including front-line ones), and propaganda leaflets, and occupi! a large place in posters (including in “TASS Windows”). In the post-war period, the range of caricature themes expand!, addressing various aspects of international and domestic life, history, everyday life, and the fight against the remnants of capitalism.