A Savage Art Explores the Life of the Most Influential Pen in Political Cartooning
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Tomorrow will be a massively busy day across the United States. The No Kings protests are scheduled in multiple cities in every state. In Washington, D.C. Trump will finally get his “imma-tyrant-too”, I mean, military parade. Despite the congestion that will bring, I highly recommend those living in the DC area to go to the Regal Gallery Place to watch the premiere of the new Pat Oliphant documentary A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant.
Ask any editorial cartoonist to name the top five most influential cartoonists and Pat is sure to be in the list, if not at the top. Since Pat’s arrival in America, he’s pushed the boundaries both artistically and in message with his cartoons and influenced generations of later artists.
Clocking in at 88 minutes, the documentary is engaging, well-paced, artistically inspiring and reaffirms the role of being a troublemaker cartoonist.
Like most documentaries, it starts with his humble beginnings in Australia, his discovery of cartoon art, and daring gamble to come to America to push political art boundaries. Through its chronological narrative, the film expertly weaves in topics such as Pat’s masterful caricature, how he approached individual presidents—including a re-telling of an moment when Pat walked up to President Gerald Ford and drew on a band-aid on his forehead—how he handled celebrity, how his intense passion for the art affected his family, and, of course his most controversial cartoons. As a non-staff cartoonist, Pat had the liberty to say what he wanted—and he was never shy about doing so.
Also explored is Pat’s non-cartooning art. He worked with oil painting, and since the mid-1980s he created sculptures influenced by Honoré Daumier, one of the most earliest mass-distributed political cartoonists.
Pat’s career spans 60 years and 10 US presidents. He retired from the art in 2015. According to the film, Pat is suffering from glaucoma and macular degeneration—an especially cruel fate for a visual artist.
For those who can’t attend tomorrow’s premiere, the film will see wider distribution later this summer. But if you’re in the D.C. area, don’t miss it.
A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant is directed by Bill Banowsky.
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