ISBN: 9781855143388

Heroes and Villains is a unique collaboration with the caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, which is accompanied by a National Portrait Gallery display. The book and display will also be the subje… Altro …

Heroes and Villains is a unique collaboration with the caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, which is accompanied by a National Portrait Gallery display. The book and display will also be the subject of a documentary on BBC Four. In the book, portraits of well-known figures, selected from the National Portrait Gallery's collections, are quirkily juxtaposed with caricatures that depict their villainous side. Gerald Scarfe, Britain's best-known caricaturist, provides these artful, glib distortions, many of which are specially commissioned for the book. They reveal the wit and vision of an exceptional draughtsman at work. Brian Sewell, Joanna Lumley, Sir Peter Hall and Melvyn Bragg are just a few of the public figures who argue their views on subjects as wide ranging as Henry VIII, Oswald Mosley, Virginia Woolf, Princess Diana and David and Victoria Beckham. Matthew Parris's stimulating introduction shows how caricature and portraiture combine to illuminate all sides of an individual's character. As a sketch writer for The Times who has anchored his career in making people laugh at politicians, he appreciates the humor of caricature but exposes how merciless and critical it can be. Media ><