Caricature by a Colorist
Will Cotton depicts the British author H. G. Wells (1866–1946) with the greenish pallor of heartburn that has caused him to dream of a burning earth streaking across the sky. A prolific writer in many genres, Wells is particularly renowned for imaginative works of science fiction such as the War of the Worlds. Cotton’s distinctive use of color as a means of expression and satiric tone contrasts with the predominantly linear technique employed by many caricaturists during the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1931 and 1935 Vanity Fair magazine published many caricatures by Cotton that are similar to this example in format and use of vivid color.
Will Cotton depicts the British author H. G. Wells (1866–1946) with the greenish pallor of heartburn that has caused him to dream of a burning earth streaking across the sky. A prolific writer in many genres, Wells is particularly renowned for imaginative works of science fiction such as the <em>War of the Worlds</em>. Cotton’s distinctive use of color as a means of expression and satiric tone contrasts with the predominantly linear technique employed by many caricaturists during the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1931 and 1935 <em>Vanity Fair</em> magazine published many caricatures by Cotton that are similar to this example in format and use of vivid color.