William Noel is the curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books for the Walters Art Museum, a title that begs to be pronounced with a British accent, which is only fitting, since Noel is British.
It?s a title that seems covered in the dust of a very old, large library ? venerable, but let?s face it, stodgy and a little bit boring.
But you can?t tell a book by its cover. In this case, one quickly senses in Noel?s comments a rather puckish, wink-wink nudge-nudge quality, as he admits to “broadening my job description” for the chance to curate a daring and humorous exhibit.
Through Sept. 3, the Walters is home to “Mightier Than the Sword: The Satirical Pen of KAL,” an exhibit of more than 200 of the works of noted political cartoonist Kevin Kallaugher, a.k.a. KAL. The exhibit will celebrate KAL?s 17 years at The Sun and his 27 years at The Economist.
So does having cartoons share wall space with Manet, Monet and Matisse seem a little … out of place? Certainly not.
“KAL is a great artist of profound insight and astonishing draughtsmanship,” Noel said. “We asked him to co-curate a show called ?Worth a Thousand Words? a few years back. It was well-received, and some of KAL?s cartoons were included. KAL is in the great tradition of graphic cartoonists, and the Walters is well-represented in that area (holding drawings by Honore Daumier, the famous 19th-century French artist and political commentator).”
Who doesn?t crack a grin at those images of President Bush with the oversized ears? And, Noel says, grin-cracking is one of the exhibit?s goals.
“I want our visitors to laugh,” he said. “I want them to see a cartoon and feel their views echoed, but then move on to the next one and be outraged. I want them to understand the other fellow?s point of view, and I want them to reflect on some of the astonishing events that have shaped our world in the last 20 years. Then I want them to leave with a photo of themselves as George Bush.”
Looking like President Bush is part of the interactive element of the exhibit. Visitors will be able to step into a life-sized cartoon and create caricatures by using mix-and-match magnetic facial elements made by KAL.
KAL, 51, still names Baltimore?s own William Donald Schaefer as his favorite target. “It helps that he is a walking, talking cartoon. And he does half the writing for me. And it also helps that he has a vibrant face that puts him at the top of my list for caricatures,” KAL said.
“Everyone else pales in comparison. I think that in time, should Martin O?Malley move to the governor?s mansion that he and his biceps would make good caricatures.”
KAL?s cartoons of Schaefer have often brought laughs, and he notes that “using humor and art as a vehicle for reflection on the issues of the day” is the essence of the exhibit.
“I hope it provokes discussion among people at the exhibit about politics, about the role and effectiveness of cartoons and perhaps about the direction the country is going,” KAL said.
Does Noel have a favorite cartoon in the exhibit?
“It?s the one KAL?s going to give me when the show is over,” Noel said. “After [Taliban leader] Mullah Omar was overthrown, a lot of men in Afghanistan started to shave their beards [which had been forbidden]. KAL drew a cartoon of a figure whose beard is being cut into the shape of the country by lots of little barbers. I think it?s the greatest drawing in the show. Oh, no it?s not. It?s the one where an American tank is driving down a street in Iraq. The message on the back of the tank is: ?How?s my Invading? Call 1-800-SHOK-AWE.? No, it?s not. It?s the one of William Donald Schaefer. No its not. It?s the one … you get the idea.”
Noel said the greatest challenge of putting the exhibit together was trying to decide which of KAL?s 4,000 cartoons to display. “Next was working with a live artist ? I normally only deal with dead ones.”
“We have a whole gallery devoted to caricatures, about 50 people who have, over the last 15 years or so, appeared on your TV screen,” Noel said. “This is an opportunity to see them skewered by a master. Then we cover, in separate worlds, KAL?s take on Maryland, the world, political campaigns, the federal government and the events of 9/11 and its aftermath, including American policy in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of course, some cartoons are just too funny to ignore, so we added an extra room with no theme except laughter.”
Is Noel impressed? “How KAL pulls off such great art, in just a few hours, so consistently …”
Visitors have a chance to see just how KAL does it. The famed cartoonist is leading tours of the exhibit and is available for drawing lessons. And KAL?s thoughts about the exhibit?
“It?s beyond humbled. If there?s a superlative of humbled, this is it. Rare indeed is the political commentator to have such an exulted venue. And if you did get that exulted venue, chances are you?d be dead, centuries after you practiced, so you wouldn?t get to enjoy it. And this exhibition is in my home town,” Noel said.
KAL AT THE WALTERS
» What: “Mightier Than the Sword,” an exhibit that highlights the work of political cartoonist Kevin Kallaugher (KAL)
» Where: The Walters Art Museum, which is located at 600 N. Charles St.
» When: Through Sept. 3.
» Admission: $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (ages 65 and up), $6 for college students (ages 18 to 25) with I.D., $2 for children (ages 6 to 17), free to members and children under 6
» Museum hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays
» Information: Visit the Walters online at www.thewalters.org, or call 410-547-9000
? About the artist?
It was a natural. Any man with a Harvard degree, a love of cycling and a stint in professional basketball was bound to make a career in political cartooning. Well, not any man, but definitely Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher, editorial cartoonist for The Economist magazine.
An honors graduate at Harvard in 1977, KAL took a cycling tour of the British Isles and found a home with the Brighton Basketball Club as a player and coach. When the club?s finances fell flat, he found himself drawing caricatures of tourists in Trafalgar Square and on the Brighton Pier. The practice put him in good stead and by 1978 he had been recruited by The Economist as the first resident cartoonist in its 145-year history.
After a decade with The Observer, The Sunday Telegraph, Today, and The Mail on Sunday, he returned to the U.S. to become The Baltimore Sun?s editorial cartoonist. He wielded a prolific pen, as he drew more than 4,000 cartoons for The Sun and two per week for The Economist from 1988-95. In that year, he served as curator for The Walters? exhibit, “Worth a Thousand Words: A Picture of Contemporary Political Satire.”
Meanwhile, his works had gone worldwide, appearing in such publications as Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Pravda, Krokodil, Daily Yomiuri, The Australian, The International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report and The Washington Post.
More than 100 publications have featured his work, which has won nearly as many prizes, including the 1999, 2002 and 2005 Thomas Nast Prize from the National Overseas Press Club of America; the 2004 Gillray Goblet from the Political Cartoon Society of Great Britain for Cartoon of the Year; the 2002 Berryman Award presented by the National Press Foundation; the 1996 Grafica Internazionale Award at the International Festival of Satire in Pisa, Italy … well, you get the picture.
And the many people who have purchasedKallaugher?s collections have gotten the picture as well; he published a collection of his Economist drawings titled “Drawn from The Economist” (1988) and three collections of his Baltimore Sun cartoons titled “KALtoons” (1992), “KAL Draws a Crowd” (1996) and “KAL Draws the Line” (2000). His newest collection, “KAL Draws Criticism,” is available at the Walters? Museum Store.
A past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, and current president of Cartoonists Rights Network, an international humanitarian organization that protects cartoonists from human rights abuses, he is past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.
The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons (1999) noted this about the magic of KAL: “Commanding a masterful style, Kallaugher stands among the premier caricaturists of the [20th] century.”
