THOMAS NAST
Name: Thomas Nast
Born: 27 September 1840 Landau, Germany
Died: 7 December 1902 Guayaquil, Ecuador
Thomas Nast (September 27, 1840 - December 7, 1902) was a famous German-American
caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to
be the father of American political cartooning.
He was born in the barracks of Landau, Germany (in the Rhine Palatinate), the
son of a musician in the 9th regiment Bavarian band. His mother took him to New
York in 1846. He studied art there for about a year with Alfred Fredericks and
Theodore Kaufmann and at the school of the National Academy of Design. After
school (at the age of 15), he started working in 1855 as a draftsman for Frank
Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper; three years afterwards for Harper's Weekly.
Nast drew for Harper's Weekly from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. In
February 1860 he went to England for the New York Illustrated News to depict one
of the major sporting events of the era, the prize fight between the American
John C. Heenan and the English Thomas Sayers. A few months later, as artist
for The Illustrated London News, he joined Garibaldi in Italy. Nast's cartoons
and articles about the Garibaldi military campaign to unify Italy captured the
popular imagination in the U.S. In 1861, he married Sarah Edwards, whom he had
met two years earlier.
His first serious works in caricature was the cartoon "Peace," (made in 1862)
directed against those in the North who opposed the prosecution of the American
Civil War. This and his other cartoons during the Civil War and Reconstruction
days were published in Harper's Weekly. He was known for drawing battlefields in
border and southern states. These attracted great attention, and Nast was called
by President Abraham Lincoln "our best recruiting sergeant". Later, Nast
strongly opposed President Andrew Johnson and his Reconstruction policy.
The "Brains"
The Boss. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
by Thomas Nast
Wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly newspaper
October 21, 1871
Name: Thomas Nast
Born: 27 September 1840 Landau, Germany
Died: 7 December 1902 Guayaquil, Ecuador
Thomas Nast (September 27, 1840 - December 7, 1902) was a famous German-American
caricaturist and editorial cartoonist in the 19th century and is considered to
be the father of American political cartooning.
He was born in the barracks of Landau, Germany (in the Rhine Palatinate), the
son of a musician in the 9th regiment Bavarian band. His mother took him to New
York in 1846. He studied art there for about a year with Alfred Fredericks and
Theodore Kaufmann and at the school of the National Academy of Design. After
school (at the age of 15), he started working in 1855 as a draftsman for Frank
Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper; three years afterwards for Harper's Weekly.
Nast drew for Harper's Weekly from 1859 to 1860 and from 1862 until 1886. In
February 1860 he went to England for the New York Illustrated News to depict one
of the major sporting events of the era, the prize fight between the American
John C. Heenan and the English Thomas Sayers. A few months later, as artist
for The Illustrated London News, he joined Garibaldi in Italy. Nast's cartoons
and articles about the Garibaldi military campaign to unify Italy captured the
popular imagination in the U.S. In 1861, he married Sarah Edwards, whom he had
met two years earlier.
His first serious works in caricature was the cartoon "Peace," (made in 1862)
directed against those in the North who opposed the prosecution of the American
Civil War. This and his other cartoons during the Civil War and Reconstruction
days were published in Harper's Weekly. He was known for drawing battlefields in
border and southern states. These attracted great attention, and Nast was called
by President Abraham Lincoln "our best recruiting sergeant". Later, Nast
strongly opposed President Andrew Johnson and his Reconstruction policy.
The "Brains"
The Boss. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
by Thomas Nast
Wood engraving published in Harper's Weekly newspaper
October 21, 1871