Jean Dieuzaide

Dancing girl in Seville, 1951.
By Jean Dieuzaide, French photographer.
Born 20 june 1921 -Died 18 September 2003

A. Mutt

Bud Fischer, 1910

Baron Bean 1917

George Herriman

Major Ozone's Fresh Air Crusade 1906

By George Herriman

Carajo!

I find The Family Upstairs by George Herriman a vastly superior strip to Krazy Kat. He drew it for only two years, between 1910 and 1912, and managed to "draw" a rich novel that anticipated Franz Kafka's "The Castle" by twelve years. In The Castle a protagonist, known only as K., struggles to gain access to the mysterious authorities of a castle who govern the village where he wants to work as a land surveyor. K. never get access to the castle that probably is occupied by God. In the same fashion, the unfortunate Dingbat couple never have access to the flat upstairs to meet the mysterious neighbours that intrigue them so much. Is it God in heaven? They'll never know. In the last strip the apartment gets demolished and the family has vacated it.

I have the complete collection and often read it in awe, amazed by the continuous creativity and the beauty and daring of the drawings.

George Herriman wrote in all his comics excellent Mexican-Spanish whenever he needed to so. He knew very well modisms and jargons from the language of his neighbours South of the Border.

In this strip from 1912 he introduces José Albondigas (meatballs), champion bull buster from old Potosi. Albondigas has to kill a cow they have upstairs. The surprised bullfighter finds that instead of a cow, the animal who made such a racket with it's "mooes", is a parrot and shouts: KAH-R-R-RAH-HO (carajo).

Carajo is the Spanish equivalent of "FUCKING HELL"

Surely Herriman knew very well what he wrote. Is it the case that Herriman was the first artist that made his characters swear in comics?

I hope so!

Tony Hart

It's just been announced that Tony Hart has died. Lovely Man. I imagine that "Morph" must be brokenhearted.

Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Newell Wyeth (July 12, 1917 – January 16, 2009)

A. G. Rizzoli (USA 1896-1981)

Achilles G. Rizzoli was a San Franciscan who drew symbolically people and families in the shape of buildings.

Achilles G. Rizzoli fue un nativo de San Francisco que dibujó simbolicamente personas y familias en forma de edificios.

I thank Gerardo Blumenkrantz for having sent the book about Rizzoli.

Long live Steve Bell!

Copyright Steve bell

George W , Tony and their medals.

1999

Saul Steinberg's desk at the time of his death. Photograph by Evelyn Hofer, July 1999

1999

In January 24 Steinberg wrote to Aldo Buzzi:
"The annus Mirabilis of 1999. The year of my death-Iwould guess calmly".

March, S. travels to St Bart's, in the French Caribean, for rest and recovery.

April, from a library map of Bucharest, S. redraws the streets he knew as a boy.

Early May, diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, dies May 12 in New York City.

Bruno Paul

Eduard Thöny again

Eduard Thöny

Georg Broel (German, 1884-1940)

The painter and graphic artist Georg Broel studied with Georg Maximilian Dasio at the Munich Art School, then with Hermann Groeben, Hugo Habermann and John Becker Gundahl at the Munich Academy. He lived in Schleißheim and Dachau. Worked as an illustrator for the 'Meggendorfer Blätter'.
He presented his work as a member of the Munich artist cooperative in the "Palais de Glace"of that city.