He especially loved small animals and insects, spawning and exploring vast eco-systems of creeping crawlers with human affectations: beetle ballerinas, ladybugs in spats and umbrellas, fiddle-playing mosquitoes.Ī committed political progressive, Cady frequently made cartoons about women’s suffrage, injustice and the exploitation of the working classes. Each drawing is bustling with life and energy and detail and chaos…of bugs and critters! Each character came armed with their own distinct personality and a sense of humor that projected off the page. Nicholas, and illustrations that brought to life dozens of the Thornton Burgess books, filled with talking woodland animals and beloved by readers.Ĭady’s work was translated into jigsaw puzzles, cans, games,and comic books, among many other forms. He created countless overflowing worlds of anthropomorphic lives: the Peter Rabbit Sunday page, the Happy Chaps for the magazine St. Harrison Cady (1877–1970) was one of the definitive magazine illustrators and cartoon artists of the first half of the 20th century. Pin-Up & Adult –You must be 18 or olderįamed artist and publisher Denis Kitchen and his daughter Violet Kitchen have created the first-ever comprehensive examination of this great artist, while collecting an amazing array of 300 generally scarce images.But the book is a beautiful work on its own. And there are about a half dozen two page layouts where the center fold is obscured because of the way the book is bound.the layout team didn't leave room to layout the full two page spread when considering the binding. Quibbles? Although the text is thorough on his evolution as an artist visually, it was very light on his life, and on his technique and media choices. And yes there is madness here in the crowded street scenes.and I had to pull out a magnifying glass to read some of the captions and to appreciate some of the line work and cross hatching.

A bit.but well worth the money if you enjoy early 20th century comic strips or illustrated children's books. He recommended this book but warned me that it might be expensive. While showing a few Burgess books from my very small collection to illustrator friend, Dan E Burr, he knew the work immediately. Like one of the editors, I came to know Harrison Cady by way of children's author, Thornton Burgess. This is really a book for a specialized audience.

Madness in Crowds by Denis Kitchen