Satirical Diagrams

I just read that British artist and cartoonist Ronald Searle died, on December 30, 2011, at age 91. He produced an amazing body of work, in a distinctive (much-emulated) style. He could be very funny, but also made darkly satirical work on the human condition - this was attributed to his time in a brutal Japanese prisoner of war camp in Burma, during the second world war, which he managed to document in a clutch of 300 surviving drawings. Today, I thought I'd share something satirical and witty (rather than silly, or devastating): a series of diagrams, for the layperson of various professions. I can't resist the sort of taxonomic diagram.






You can find a huge collection of his work in the tribute blog Perpetua. Have a look.

nature and its elements to depict the reality of dreams

magpie & whiskeyjack have previously featured the art of wearing an animal on one's head and the art of wearing a full wunderkammer on one's head, but via but it does float we find that Albín Brunovský (1935-1997) made full microcosms, forests, seas and legends worn on the head which pre-date and perhaps outdo all of the above.


lbín Brunovský / Albin Brunovsky
Lady Godiva - Dáma v klobouku VI. / Lady in the Hat VI.
lept, suchá jehla, mezzotinta
etching, dry-point, mezzotint
1981, 11.5 x 16 cm,
opus 490

You must agree, that's some hat.













Albín Brunovský was a Slovak painter, printmaker, graphic artist, illustrator and professor. He designed banknotes for Czechoslovakia and is considered one of the greatest Slovak painters of the 20th century. You can find more of his art here or in the Journey Around My Skull archives.