Gerald Scarfe
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| Gerald Scarfe | |
| Birth name | Gerald Anthony Scarfe |
| Born | 1 June 1936 St John's Wood, London, England [1] |
| Nationality | English |
| Field | Editorial cartoon, Drawing, Animation |
| Works | The Wall (1982) |
Gerald Anthony Scarfe, CBE, RDI, (born 1 June 1936 in St John's Wood, London) is an English cartoonist and illustrator. He worked as editorial cartoonist for The Sunday Times and illustrator for The New Yorker. His most famous work was for rock group Pink Floyd, particularly on the The Wall album (1979) and movie (1982), and his work as the production designer on the Disney animated feature, Hercules.
He is married to Jane Asher, whom he met in 1971 and married in 1981 [2]. They had a daughter in 1974 and two sons in 1981 and 1984.
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[edit] Early life
Scarfe was severely asthmatic as a child. He spent many of his early years bed-ridden, and drawing became a means of entertainment as well as a creative outlet. It has been speculated that the grotesque and diseased images that often characterise his work are a result of these experiences. He has himself 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. [3]
He moved to Hampstead at the age of 14, being influenced by the work of Ronald Searle. He went to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (also part of the University of the Arts London) on Southampton Row (A4200) in Holborn, central London. He also went to the London College of Printing and East Ham Technical College (became Newham College of Further Education).
[edit] Career
[edit] Early work
After briefly working in advertising, a profession he grew to dislike intensely, Scarfe's early caricatures of public figures were published in satirical magazine Private Eye throughout the 1960s and 1970s. 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.[4] Scarfe spent just a year working for the Daily Mail, during which time he was sent to provide illustrations from the Vietnam War.
[edit] 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. Scarfe's first work for the band was 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".[5] He also drew the cover illustration for their 1979 album The Wall, and in 1982 worked on the film version of The Wall, although he and Waters fell out with director Alan Parker during the latter stages of editing. As well as the artwork, Scarfe contributed 15 minutes worth of elaborate animation to the film, including a sequence depicting the German bombing campaign over England during World War II, set to the song "Goodbye Blue Sky". He was also involved in the theatrical adaptation, including The Wall Concert in Berlin, where his animations were projected on a vast scale.
He continued to work with Roger Waters when 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.
Scarfe's collaboration with Waters is a celebrated one in rock history and in August 2008, was marked by the release of a signed limited-edition eight-print series, "Scarfe On The Wall", which contains a monograph book (with an extended new interview with Scarfe) signed by Roger Waters as part of the collection.
[edit] Yes Minister
He provided caricatures of Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds (as their respective characters) for the opening and closing sequences of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. Fowlds reportedly attempted to purchase Scarfe's original sketches, but they were too expensive.
[edit] Hercules
Scarfe was approached to work on the 1997 Disney film Hercules by Ron Clements and John Musker, long time 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.
[edit] 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".[6]
[edit] Theatre
Scarfe has designed sets for a number of operatic productions, including an adaptation of Roald Dahl'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.[7]
[edit] Heros 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 commentry) 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
[edit] 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.[8]
Scarfe was awarded 'Cartoonist of the Year' at the British Press Awards 2006.
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ GRO Register of Births: SEP 1936 1a 774 HAMPSTEAD, Gerald A. Scarfe, mmn = Gardner
- ^ GRO Register of Marriages: SEP 1981 13 1708 KEN&CHELSEA - Scarfe = Asher
- ^ Gerald Scarfe interview at London Conversation
- ^ Ralph Steadman biography at the British Cartoon Archive, University of Kent
- ^ "A Long Drawn-Out Trip: An Interview with Gerald Scarfe" by Michael Simone Reprinted from REG Magazine, Issue #22
- ^ BBC News Tour the Dome
- ^ http://jimsteinman.blogspot.com/ entry incorrectly dated July 20, 06: 603PM. It was actually posted 20 Oct 2006.
- ^ Media Bulletin
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58729, p. 8, 14 June 2008.
