Cartoon art wins

it’s 8am and Chris Beetles has mistaken me for an early riser.

I am not. He wanted the interview to take place at this time, not me. It is not the third coffee that eventually wakes me up during our interview, but Beetles’ infectious enthusiasm for his subject.

Beetles, who runs an eponymous gallery in London, is widely regarded as the UK’s, and one of the world’s, leading dealers in cartoon art.

“You say evangelical and I suppose I am happy to get up on a stump and proselytize about cartoon art because I think it absolutely deserves its place when talking about contemporary art and in the history of art,” says Beetles, whose London gallery is a magnet for lovers of the work of artists like Ronald Searle, Quentin Blake and Norman Thelwell.

There are those who look at cartoon art only down their noses, but Beetles has done much to realign the form as something worth not only of enjoying, but also collecting.

The nature of the work, the fact that much of it is consumed either in newspapers or magazines, is part of the reason why it is not always afforded as much respect as proponents of cartoon art hope for. It is viewed as a fairly disposable medium.

Beetles insists that those working in cartoon art are as technically accomplished as any artist and their work should be recognised as such.

He says: “A lot of them started out as fine artists, as technically very accomplished draughtsmen, but in order to make a living they turned to cartoon art and produced some fabulous work.

“William Heath Robinson was a wonderful landscape artist and we know him for his wonderfully detailed cartoon work. There are many like him.”

Beetles is bringing his enthusiasm – and a collection of some of the work normally only on show in his London gallery, to Yorkshire – or as he advertises on his website, “up the A1 to the home of British humour”.

The work of artists including Thomas Rowlandson, John Tenniel, Peter Brookes, Martin Rowson and Norman Thelwell are being brought to Nunnington Hall for the exhibition Three Centuries of Cartoon Art, which opened this week.

Taking in three centuries, from artists like Rowlandson who was working in the late 1700s to cartoon artists working today like Matt from the Daily Telegraph and Ed McLachlan from Private Eye and The Spectator, the exhibition gives people a chance to see the progression of the art form.

Beetles says: “It isn’t just the pictures themselves that are of interest, but because of the nature of what they are about, they can be quite dense pieces of work, satirical and with something to say about the issues of the day.

“Someone like Ronald Searle isn’t just drawing a cartoon, he’s making statements about often complex political issues of the day.”

There are also, of course, artists like Tony Husband, who officially opened the exhibition this week, who concern themselves mainly with telling a joke within the sketch.

Three Centuries of Cartoon Art also draws on the work of the great 19th century artists of satirical magazine, Punch, with the work of Charles Keene, George Du Maurier and John Leech from that esteemed magazine on display.

The 20th century, also reflected widely in the exhibition, brought artists including Beerbohm, the Winnie the Pooh illustrator EH Shepard and Fougasse to the public, with the political and social issues of the day reflected in their often cutting cartoon work.

With Nunnington Hall featuring over a hundred framed cartoons in an exhibition expected to draw people from across the North, it seems the tide is finally turning for cartoon art.

“We have found a real increase in interest in recent years,” says Beetles.

“There seems to be a much greater blurring of the lines between fine art and cartoon art these days, with people recognising the great skill of some of these artists. Because some of the cartoons that you see daily in the newspapers appear to be quite simple, people haven’t always recognised the strength of the lines and the technical skill that goes into creating these pieces.

“Sir John Tenniel would never these days be considered to be ‘just’ a cartoon artist. We recognise the genius of his work today, but we should look around at other artists who are working in the same way and recognise that what they do takes great ability.”

Beetles cites Ronald Searle as the perfect example of someone working in the arena whose reputation has reached the heights that cartoon artists ought to achieve.

“Most people have to wait until after their death before they are truly recognised for what they have achieved, fortunately he has lived long enough to see his reputation grow.

The hall at Nunnington, near Helmsley, continues to build on its reputation for staging seriously impressive exhibitions, with this latest just another addition to a line up that has included work from The Police guitarist Andy Summers and daughter of Paul McCartney, Mary McCartney. Beetles has also been instrumental in bringing Ronald Searle and Quentin Blake to the hall, both in person and in their work.

He says: “It’s a wonderful place, artists love going up there to Yorkshire, as do I. It also gives a chance to people living in the North, who enjoy the kind of art we show and sell, to come and have a look. When we have exhibited in the past, we had visitors from the North East and Scotland come down to Yorkshire to see our exhibitions.”

CARTOON ARTISTS ON SHOW

* Ernest Howard Shepard: 1879-1976, Winnie The Pooh illustrator and also worked for Punch.

* Ronald Searle: Born 1920. In the 1950s, produced drawings for Life, Holiday and Punch. His cartoons appeared in the New Yorker, the Sunday Express and the News Chronicle.

* Max Beerbohm: 1872-1956: subjects of his satirical eye and drawings included Oscar Wilde.

* Peter Brookes: Born 1943. The Times leader-page cartoonist. Won title of Cartoonist of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2011, 2010, 2007, 2005 and 2002.

* Three Centuries of Cartoon Art, Nunnington Hall, to June 5.