Ralph Barton (born August 1891, Kansas City, Missouri, died 19 May 1931, New York City, New York)^[1] was an American artist best known for his cartoons and caricatures of actors and other celebrities. Kansas City Missouri only Items for the metro area Kansas City Kansas or North Kansas City MO should go on their respective pages Events 1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships 110 men and Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The City of New York Kansas City Missouri only Items for the metro area Kansas City Kansas or North Kansas City MO should go on their respective pages The City of New York A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description Though his work was heavily in demand through the 1920s and is often considered to epitomize the era, his personal life was troubled by mental illness, and he was nearly forgotten soon after his suicide, shortly before his fortieth birthday. ^[2]

1921 Vanity Fair caricature; use cursor to identify figures

Barton's first caricature was of Thomas Hart Benton; his last, of Charlie Chaplin. Thomas Hart Benton ( April 15, 1889 - January 19, 1975) was an American painter and Muralist. ^[2] In between he knew everyone and drew everyone in the social and culture scene of New York. Some of his most famous works were group drawings, and perhaps the most noted was a stage curtain created for a 1922 revue, depicting an "audience" of 139 faces looking back at the real theater-goers. Theater drapes and stage curtains are pieces of cloth that fully or partially cover a stage. A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical Entertainment that combines Music, dance and sketches. "The effect was electrifying, and the applause was great," said another caricaturist of the era, Aline Fruhauf. ^[3]

He also directed a short film, Camille, described by an IMDB contributor as a "home movie version" of the Dumas novel with a cast of his many actor, artist, and other celebrity friends. Camille ( 1926) is a Short film by Ralph Barton, the creation of which is described in Bruce Kellner 's The Last Dandy, a Alexandre Dumas Fils (French for son similar to Junior in English ( July 27, 1824 &ndash November 27, 1895) was ^[1] This movie was made available as a bonus in a 2003 release of Chaplin's A Woman of Paris. A Woman of Paris is a feature-length Silent film that debuted in 1923.

At the height of his popularity, Barton enjoyed not only the acquaintance of the famous, but a solid and impressive income. All of this concealed a terribly unhappy life. He was beset by manic-depressive disorder, and each of his four marriages ended in divorce. A self-portrait, painted around 1925 and modeled on an el Greco, shows a drawn and unhappy figure. El Greco' ("The Greek " 1541 &ndash April 7 1614 was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance A year later he wrote, "The human soul would be a hideous object if it were possible to lay it bare. " He finally killed himself in 1931, not long before he would have turned 40. ^[4] Almost immediately, his reputation dropped from sight; several years after his death, a caricature of George Gershwin sold for a mere $5. George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. ^[2]

Toward the end of the century, his work was included in several exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery. The National Portrait Gallery is an Art gallery in Washington D A 1998 conference on cartooning at the Library of Congress also considered his work. The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress

References