Celebrity Caricature in America

The art of caricature—the distortion of the face or figure for satiric purposes—claims a long tradition in Western art. For centuries, comically exaggerated portrayals served the purpose of ridicule and protest, probing beneath outward appearances to expose hidden, disreputable character traits. In early twentieth-century America, however, caricaturists deployed a fresh approach, inventing a form of stylized portraiture that responded to the new preoccupation with mass-media–generated fame. They chose for their subjects colorful personalities rather than the corrupt officials. Their epigrammatic likenesses, transformed by a modern aesthetic and a detached, sophisticated wit, appealed to an audience hungry for emblems of the emerging celebrity culture.

Irving Berlin

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