Gerald Scarfe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gerald Scarfe
CBE RDI
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An illustration of Scarfe
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| Born |
Gerald Anthony Scarfe
1 June 1936 London, England
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| Known for | |
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Notable work
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Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister titles (1980–1987) Hercules (1997) |
| Spouse(s) |
Jane Asher
(m. 1981) |
Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is a famous English artist known for his satirical cartoons and illustrations. Satirical cartoons often use humor to comment on famous people or events. He has worked as a cartoonist for the newspaper The Sunday Times and the magazine The New Yorker.
Scarfe is famous for creating the unique artwork and animation for the rock group Pink Floyd. His drawings were a huge part of their 1979 album The Wall and its 1982 movie. He also created the animated opening titles for the popular British TV shows Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. Many people also know his work from the Disney animated movie Hercules, where he designed the characters.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gerald Scarfe was born in St John's Wood, London. As a child, he had severe asthma and had to spend a lot of time in bed. Drawing became his favorite way to pass the time and be creative. He has said that the strange and dark style of his art might have come from feeling lonely as a sick child.
When he was young, Scarfe was inspired by another cartoonist named Ronald Searle. At age 14, Scarfe lived close to Searle and often cycled to his house, but he was always too shy to ring the doorbell. He finally met his hero many years later, in 2005.
To improve his skills, Scarfe studied at Saint Martin's School of Art in London. He also attended the London College of Printing and East Ham Technical College.
Career as an Artist
First Jobs in Art
After a short time working in advertising, which he did not enjoy, Scarfe began to get his work published. In the 1960s and 1970s, his funny drawings of famous people, called caricatures, appeared in the magazine Private Eye. He also drew for Punch and The Evening Standard.
In 1964, The Sunday Times magazine sent him to the United States to draw cartoons about the presidential election. He also created several covers for Time magazine. For one year, he worked for the Daily Mail newspaper, which sent him to draw pictures of the Vietnam War.
Working with Pink Floyd
Scarfe began working with the band Pink Floyd after members Roger Waters and Nick Mason saw an animated film he made for the BBC. First, he drew a cartoon of the band for their 1974 tour program. Later, he created animated videos for their 1977 In The Flesh tour, including for the song Welcome to the Machine.
His most famous work with the band was for their 1979 album The Wall. He drew all the illustrations for the album cover and created huge inflatable characters for their concerts. These characters, like a giant teacher and a scary mother, became iconic parts of the show.
In 1982, he worked on the movie version of Pink Floyd – The Wall. He created 15 minutes of amazing animation for the film. This included a powerful scene set to the song "Goodbye Blue Sky" that showed bombs falling on England during World War II.
Even after Roger Waters left Pink Floyd, Scarfe continued to work with him. He created art for Waters's solo album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and designed animations for his worldwide The Wall Live tour from 2010 to 2013. In 2010, Scarfe published a book called The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall, which told the story of his work with the band.
Designing Disney's Hercules
In the 1990s, Scarfe was asked to work on the Disney movie Hercules (1997). The directors, Ron Clements and John Musker, were big fans of his art.
Scarfe became the main production designer. He created the unique, sharp, and angular look for almost all the characters, from the hero Hercules to the funny villain Hades. He then guided a team of 900 Disney artists to make sure his style was captured perfectly in the final animation.
Other Famous Projects
TV and Stage Design
Besides his work in print and film, Scarfe has designed for television and the stage.
- Yes Minister: He drew the caricatures of the main characters for the opening and closing credits of the TV comedy Yes Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister.
- Theatre and Opera: Scarfe has designed sets and costumes for many plays and operas. He designed for Mozart's The Magic Flute and the famous ballet The Nutcracker.
- Heroes and Villains: In 2003, he worked with the National Portrait Gallery to draw over 30 famous British people, showing them as both heroes and villains. His subjects included Henry VIII, Winston Churchill, and The Beatles.
Stamps, Sculptures, and More
In 1998, the Royal Mail in Britain released five postage stamps featuring Scarfe's caricatures of famous comedians like Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecambe.
For the Millennium Dome in London, he created a large sculpture called "Self Portrait". He also decorated a giant statue of Gromit (from Wallace & Gromit) for a charity auction, which was sold to a collector in Miami.
In 2014, a bar called "Scarfe's Bar" opened in London. It is decorated with his unique caricatures on the walls.
Personal Life
In 1971, Scarfe met the actress Jane Asher. They married in 1981 and have three children: a daughter and two sons.
Awards and Honors
- In 2005, the Press Gazette named Scarfe one of the 40 most influential journalists in the United Kingdom.
- He was named 'Cartoonist of the Year' at the British Press Awards 2006.
- In 2008, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a high honor in the UK.
- In 2011, a newly discovered fossil of a flying reptile, a pterosaur, was named Cuspicephalus scarfi in his honor.
See also
In Spanish: Gerald Scarfe para niños
