Ars Longa

Ars Longa. Source: Fun (28 October 1865): 64. Courtesy of the Suzy Covey Comic Book Collection in the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. Click on image to enlarge it.

Turpin Tyne has been asked to a conversazione. As he has no dress suit, little Badger and long Kammle lend him a rig between them. This is the result!.

This cartoon set in the world of art studios seems more like something out of George DuMaurier’s tale of bohemian life in Paris than Fun’s usual cartoons about the art world, which tend to mock either pretentious artists and, more often, Philistine (and occasionally) lower-class audiences. It does point out the gap between the life of many artists, including those who drew cartoons for the magazine, and their patrons. Perhaps that’s why Fun’s artists devote so many full-page cartoons to satirizing actual works exhibited at the annual Royal Academy show.

You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the University of Florida library and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. —  George P. Landow]


Last modified 2 March 2016