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Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is an English
cartoonist and
illustrator. He has worked as
editorial cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...
for ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' and illustrator for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''.
His other work includes graphics for rock group
Pink Floyd, particularly on their 1979 album ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'', its
1982 film adaptation, and tour (
1980–81), as well as the music video for "
Welcome to the Machine
"Welcome to the Machine" is the second song on Pink Floyd's 1975 album ''Wish You Were Here''. It features heavily processed synthesizers and acoustic guitars, as well as a wide range of tape effects. Both the music and the lyrics were written b ...
".
Scarfe was the production designer on the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
animated feature ''
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
'' (1997). Scarfe also provided the opening titles for ''
Yes Minister
''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fr ...
'' and ''
Yes, Prime Minister''.
Early life
Scarfe was born in
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...
, London. As Scarfe was severely
asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...
tic as a child, he spent many of his early years bed-ridden,
so drawing became a means of entertainment as well as a creative outlet. Scarfe speculated that the dark and grotesque images that often characterise his work are a result of his loneliness and asthma.
Scarfe has 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.
The cartoonist
Ronald Searle
Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...
was an early influence for Scarfe. At the age of 14 and now living in
Hampstead, North London, Scarfe decided it would be easy to cycle to
Bayswater and visit Searle. He went several times but never rang the doorbell. It would be decades before he would actually meet Searle in 2005.
Scarfe attended
Saint Martin's School of Art
Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...
(now part of the
University of the Arts London) in
Holborn
Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London.
The area has its root ...
, London.
Maurice Horn
Maurice Horn (born 1931) is a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He is the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoon ...
(1983)
''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons''
Volume 4. London: Chelsea House Publishers. . p. 495. Accessed August 2013. He also attended the
London College of Printing
The London College of Communication is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It specialises in media-related subjects including advertising, animation, film, graphic design, photography and sound arts. It has approximately ...
,
and East Ham Technical College (now
Newham College of Further Education
Newham College is a large general further education college in the London Borough of Newham, England, established in 1985. The college's main site is in East Ham, with a further site in Stratford and six further local neighbourhood learning ...
).
Career
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. Beginning in 1960, he produced illustrations for ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'', ''
The Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after bei ...
'' and ''
The Daily Sketch''. ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' magazine assigned Scarfe to cover the 1964 US presidential election. He continued to work for ''The Sunday Times'' for two years, also producing several cover illustrations for ''Time'' magazine, including caricatures of The Beatles in 1967.
In the mid-1960s he took a job at the ''
Daily Mail'' following a
Dutch auction
A Dutch auction is one of several similar types of auctions for buying or selling goods. Most commonly, it means an auction in which the auctioneer begins with a high asking price in the case of selling, and lowers it until some participant acc ...
for his services with the ''
Daily Express''. His decision to work for the ''Daily Mail'' led to his estrangement from fellow cartoonist
Ralph Steadman
Ralph Idris Steadman (born 15 May 1936) is a British illustrator best known for his collaboration and friendship with the American writer Hunter S. Thompson. Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures, cartoons and picture ...
, 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". Scarfe spent only one year working for the ''Daily Mail'', during which time he was sent to provide illustrations from the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.
Pink Floyd and Roger Waters
Scarfe was approached to work with
Pink Floyd after
Roger Waters and
Nick Mason both saw his animated
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
film ''A Long Drawn Out Trip''. Pink Floyd's 1974 programme for their tour in the UK and US, in the form of a comic, included a centre-spread caricature of the band.
Scarfe later produced 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
"Welcome to the Machine" is the second song on Pink Floyd's 1975 album ''Wish You Were Here''. It features heavily processed synthesizers and acoustic guitars, as well as a wide range of tape effects. Both the music and the lyrics were written b ...
''.
Scarfe also drew the illustrations for their 1979 album ''
The Wall
''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...
'' and provided animation and stage props, including enormous inflatable characters for the subsequent
1980–1981 concert tour in support of that album.
In 1982, he worked on the
film version of ''The Wall'', although he and Roger Waters fell out with director
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...
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". Some of the animated footage was not original to the film, having been produced for and used in the 1980–81 concert tour, as well as being featured in the 1979
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "
Another Brick in the Wall: Part 2".
Scarfe continued to work with Roger Waters after the latter left Pink Floyd, creating the graphics and animation for Waters' solo album ''
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'' is the debut solo studio album by English singer and musician Roger Waters; it was released in 1984, the year before Waters announced his departure from Pink Floyd. The album was certified gold in the Un ...
'' (1984) and its supporting tour.
Scarfe was also involved in subsequent theatrical adaptations of ''The Wall'', including
The Wall Concert in Berlin
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
(1990),
and Waters' worldwide
The Wall Live (2010-2013) tour, where his animations were projected on a vast scale. Scarfe's collaboration with Waters was marked in 2008 by the release of a signed limited-edition eight-print series, "Scarfe on the Wall", which contained a monograph book with an extended new interview with Scarfe and was signed by Roger Waters. Early editions of "Scarfe on The Wall" (by date of pre-order, not issue number) came with an additional print giving a total of nine in the set - making these the rarest and most valuable sets. In 2010, Scarfe's book ''The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall'' was published, detailing the artist's work with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters from 1974 to 2010. The book contains contributions from Floyd members Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and
David Gilmour, as well as director of the film, Alan Parker.
''The Fall And Rise of Reginald Perrin''
He designed the 'Grot' logo for the BBC TV series ''
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. It is based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs and produced from 1976 to 1979. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the first series ...
''.
''Yes Minister''
He provided caricatures of
Paul Eddington
Paul Clark Eddington (18 June 1927 – 4 November 1995) was an English actor best known for playing Jerry Leadbetter in the television sitcom '' The Good Life'' (1975–78) and politician Jim Hacker in the sitcom '' Yes Minister'' (1980–84) ...
, Sir
Nigel Hawthorne
Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He is most known for his stage acting and his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the permanent secretary in the 1980s sitcom '' Yes Minister'' and the Cabi ...
and
Derek Fowlds (as their respective characters) for the opening and closing sequences of ''
Yes Minister
''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fr ...
'' and ''
Yes, Prime Minister''.
''Hercules''
Scarfe was approached to work on the 1997
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
film ''
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
'' by
Ron Clements
Ronald Francis Clements (born April 25, 1953) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He often collaborates with fellow director John Musker and is best known for writing and directing the Disney films ''The Grea ...
and
John Musker, longtime fans who had risen to prominence within Disney following the success of ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...
''. 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.
Postage stamps
The
Royal Mail used Scarfe's artwork for a set of five
commemorative postage stamps, issued on 23 April 1998. Honoring English comedians, the stamps feature Scarfe caricatures of
Tommy Cooper,
Eric Morecambe
John Eric Bartholomew, (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984), known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's d ...
,
Joyce Grenfell,
Les Dawson
Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife.
Early life
Les Dawson w ...
and
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...
.
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".
Theatre/stage design
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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
prom he worked with