Comics and the Visual Arts

You may think that comics and the fine arts are antithetical, more at odds than Marvel and DC comics, but cartooning falls under the subcategory of drawing, a form of visual expression often associated with the fine arts. In the hierarchy of arts, there are many doors that lead to the grandeur we associate with the finer arts, and cartooning is certainly one of them. 

Comics and the fine arts are interrelated through a system of interaction and transferences. Cave paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and pre-Columbian American picture manuscripts or codices are examples of visual art that expressed cosmologies, world views, religion, and philosophy; concepts that are often times associated with higher meaning or "meaningness", which is one of two integral components of fine art cartooning or comics, the other differentiation belonging to the purity of expression of a given medium. In this sense, there is a reciprocal referencing of theory and practice from which we can prepare and establish a theoretical basis for the inclusion of cartoons and comics into the field of fine arts. 

Study for the Head of Leda

Leonarda da Vinci (c. 1504-6)

Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 

Cartooning, as a form of artistic research, is an art that understands itself as research, in that scientific processes or conclusions become the instrument of art and are used in the artworks. This refers to carefully thought out or considered sketches, which are, for the artist, a form of knowledge. Utilizing cartoons as an artistic means to analyze a preliminary work phase of art production turns the cartoon sketch or comic into research, an essential and intricate component of the artistic method.  

Sun Hat Sketch

© Shenn

Fine art represents the ephemeral forces and manifestations that emerge spontaneously and involuntarily. This opening for the unknown, yet the imminent and the yet to come, means that comics, which belong to both the art and cultural sciences, can confidently claim territory inside one of the many doors belonging to the fine arts.  

Design for the Laurentian library door

Michelangelo, British Museum

The Laurentian library was built to house the collection of books gathered by Cosimo de Medici and greatly enlarged by Lorenzo. It was commissioned by Guilio de Medici, and building work began after he was elected as Pople Clement VII in 1523. The door needed a black panel above the opening for a dedicatory inscription on the vestibule side and this is shown in all the sketches. In the finished design more space had to be found as Clement wanted a Latin inscription of between 100 and 140 letters and went to considerable trouble in finding one he liked. 

While the use of comics in fine visual arts is not new, their contribution in developing artistic work is undeniable. Exploring the history of fine art comics allows us to more easily recognize the long-time presence of fine art cartoons and comics in relation to fine works of art. 

Cartoons and comics were historically employed as a form of artistic research by some of the greatest artists in history. These hand drawn comparative analysis sketches done by Michelangelo (above and below) demonstrate the different modes of perception and thinking that were investigated prior to his embarking onto larger scale artistic feats, such as those associated with the remarkable frescoes of the Sistine Chapel or even the less than lively, but equally beautiful tombs intended for 16th century popes. 

Appropriately, these comic sketches are invaluable to our understanding not only of history but of the processes the artist employed in creating what is considered by the world as masterful pieces of artwork. 

Elevation of the lower story of the Julius tomb

Michelangelo, British Museum

Michelangelo was commissioned to create a monumental tomb for Julius II in 1505, eight years before the pope's death. This project took him forty years to complete, and caused the artist a great deal of anguish. The initial design was very ambitious and was intended for the old St. Peter's. The final work - much more modest in scale - was installed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. 

© Photo Scala, Florence / Fondo Edifici di Culto 

Ministero dell'Interno, 1999

The Julius tomb

Historically, the use of comics in the visual arts have served as a function of fine art, as an object of science. This implies a certain symmetry between art and science (or, rather, between comics and science) whereby science is translated into a comic, which is then translated into a piece of artwork or on occasion, simply left alone, existing in and of itself. Here, cartoon sketches and comics serve as an artistic claim to truth, objectivity qualified by artistic reflection and consideration. Seen from the vantage point of the artist, the comic is but another aspect of artistic knowledge.

Grotesque heads; Hercules and Antaeus

Michelangelo, The British Museum

Michelangelo was quoted as saying that such grotteschi should be a source of 'variation and relaxation of the senses'. Fine art cartoons and comics are often just that, a grotesque variation of the fine arts and a relaxation of the senses, but often times cartoons achieve a higher level of aesthetic expression. 

Moon Comics

This article is dedicated to all you Night Owls out there:

Night Owl (2012)

Murasakishenn

Prehistoric Moon Phases Sketch

Chauvet cave

This sketch of the markings found on a Cro-Magnon bone tool, c. 28,000 BCE, may indicate one of the earliest forms of notation. The markings are suggestive of the phases of the moon, and correspond with lunar phase data of that time 

(Marshack 1993, p. 14).

Approximately 4.4 billion years ago the moon turned one side of itself away from the Earth and never looked back. Despite the moon's apparent disinterest in humanity, it has captured the imagination of artists since prehistoric times. 

The moon continues to captivate the interest of scientists and artists, alike. With NASA pressing forward on assessing the value of a "human-tended waypoint" near the far side of the moon - known as the Earth-moon liberation point 2 EML-2 - no doubt we'll see a surge in "moon-oriented comics" and artworks coming up for sale at auction. 

Two particularly lovely pieces by Andreas Cellarius caught my eye...

(Stellar Hemispheres of Antiquity:)

Andreas CELLARIUS (1596 - 1665)

Haemisphaerium stellatum australe aequali sphaerarum proportione (1708)

Copper engraving (colored)

Hammer Price € 1,650 ($2,151, £1,337); Estimate € 1,300

Auction House: Auktionshaus Kaupp GmbH

Andreas CELLARIUS (1596 - 1665)

Coeli stellati christiani haemisphaerium prius (1708)

Copper engraving (colored)

Hammer Price € 1,800 ($2,346, £1,458); Estimate € 1,300

Auction House: Auktionshaus Kaupp GmbH

Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596 - 1665) was a Dutch-German cartographer, known for his Harmonia Macrocosmica of 1660. 

The solar system according to Copernicus was published in Amsterdam by the 17th century Dutch cartographer, Johannes Janssonius, who owned a bookstore in Frankfurt am Main, as well as bookstores in Danzig, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Königsberg, Geneva and Lyon. 

Moving ahead a few hundred years...

Gustave Doré (1832 - 1883) contributed to the visual representation of the "mysterious", much as Poe was able to do in literature. J.J. Grandville (1803 - 1847), in particular, helped to provide a firm basis for absurdity in comics as well as modern art through the surreal juxtaposition of ordinary objects and settings. His depictions of Parisian bridges connecting planets in space and animal figures going about ordinary urban tasks paved the way for Herriman's animal allegories, as well as Spiegelman's figuration of Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in Maus, his graphic novel about his father's experience during the Holocaust. Doré's illustrations, London: A Pilgrimage, were serialized in Harper's Weekly in 1872, which made them immediately available to American illustrators eager to find fresh pictorial sources. 

Gustave Doré

Illustration for Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven (1832-3)

© DACS, London 2007

© Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library, San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection

The Brooklyn Museum has one of my favorite Honoré Daumier comics depicting the moon.

Honoré Daumier (1808 - 1879)

La Vue (1839) 

 Lithograph on wove paper, Sheet: 9 15/16 x 13 7/16 in. (25.2 x 34.1 cm)

Fortunately, for those seeking to light their way through the darkness of night, a particularly nice piece by Daumier is up for auction, which depicts some Chinese warriors out on patrol in the night, carrying lanterns.

This series consists of 27 prints which were published in the CHARIVARI between December 1858 and April 1860. A drawn double fram embraces each print. The numbers appear as follows: 1 to 7 are being repeated, while 11, 16, 20, and 22 are missing.

The prints DR 3096 to DR 3124 deal with the intervention of England and France in China. After the assassination of several Christian missionaries in China, Canton was occupied by European troops in 1857. The treaty of Tien-Tsin accorded to Western states to send ambassadors to the court of the Chinese emperor and to open the harbors to European products. Since China didn't honor the treaty, the occupation of Beijing followed and in 1860 a new treaty was drawn. 

Daumier was quite unique in expressing common day behavior in an exotic surrounding, while still making the viewer understand the hidden message without reading the caption. He succeeded in projecting typically French activities of daily life into an exotic setting, which would eventually distort the obvious while leaving the provocative message intact. He chose China as a setting for his lithographs since especially during the period of the early 1840s Chinese curious as well as chinoiseries had become fashionable.

The dresses shown in the "Voyage en Chine" series have been "adjusted" to what a bourgeoise Parisian would expect a Chinese to look like, sporting Chinese embroidering, ankle length wide trousers and flat slippers with upturned toes. The ladies' hair was also worn the Chinese way, while some of the men wore the long, "typically Chinese" braid."

Honoré Daumier (1808 - 1879)

Patrouille chinoise en reconnaissance

Published in Le Charivari, November 7, 1859

Seeing Comics

Starry Eyed

© Shenn

What do we see when we look at comics? 

• Do we see the face of the artist, speaking through the colorful composition of this comic? 
• Do we see the art or the artistry speaking directly to us? 
• Do we see our own adopted social identity - contemplative, playful, pensive - reflected back to us? 
• Do we see a mere affirmation that we're looking at what is - and, by association, that which we ourselves are - popular, hip, funky, cool, badass, obscure, or refined? 
• Or do we see nothing at all? Maybe we only look to comics in an attempt to close ourselves off from a world that we find threatening, strange, annoying, exhausting, or simply dull. 

Clearly, at different times, we see all of these things when we look at comics. When we place ourselves into the comic world, we isolate ourselves; and yet, we isolate ourselves within a world of culture, expression, and individual and social meanings. And, when we attempt to encounter the other through comics, we can't help but see our own identity reflected back: I am the kind of person who likes Dilbert or Snoopy or Shenn's Contemplative Comics. When we look at comics, we see (and find) private meanings. 

Perhaps what is of greater philosophical significance here is the fact that when we look at comics, we see so much more than just comics. We see the world - and ourselves - in a whole new way!

The Rise of Comics

Colored by the Sun

© Shenn

Comics are a potent symbol of change in the way we create and consume media, one which we're just now beginning to explore in terms of deeper philosophical significance. Comic artists, like 17-year old Shennendoah "Shenn" Hollsten, have been skillfully tackling the deep questions raised by society, with a refreshingly diverse and engaging range of aesthetic styles.

Vous êtes ici 

© Shenn

Brilliant and whimsical in turn, Shenn's creations entertain, instruct, and, above all, expand the imagination. Her work demonstrates the power of disciplined thought to shed light on one of the most widespread and historically fascinating aesthetic practices. 

Boy and His Dogs

© Shenn

Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Shenn for this article and found her insight into the deeper philosophical meaning of comics tantalizing. I realized how little attention this area of study has received, if any. When I began researching the topic of comics, I confirmed to myself that very little, in terms of scholarly work, had been shared on the subject. If fact if you didn't know any better, you'd think that there were only three countries that have ever produced comics: the United States, Japan, and Europe; despite the widespread influence caricaturization of people and concepts have on every society around the world. 

Star Gazer

© Shenn

It's not so much what Shenn says in her comics, it's how she depicts thoughtfulness, contemplation, and other highly sought after emotions and experiences - by not saying anything at all. 

Had Shenn not said that "You have to look deep down into my characters' eyes to hear what they're saying", I might not have had this revelation about the deeper significance of comics and the rise of this aesthetic in the world. 

Whenever a search is conducted on nearly any topic on the Internet, invariably a comic comes up. Depicting what, at first blush, seems like nothing other than a parody or joke about a subject, the fact that there's a comic thrown into the mix indicates the range of concepts comics can convey. What's really coming through the wires here is the world's fondness for iconic images - images skillfully depicted to represent something deeper, something more than that which they appear to be, something more than "just comics". 

Bed Head

© Shenn

As I skimmed through Shenn's gallery of images (both online and offline), I realized that there was something about her work which offers an almost philosophical meditation on the many thoughts embedded within the human mind, represented by simple lines, shapes and colors. The curvature of the lines... the intensity of the colors... the potency behind the subject's gaze... all contribute to a more sublime as well as contemporary comic-human interaction that sheds more light on the comic as well as on ourselves. 

Violette

© Shenn

Every morning growing up, I read the comics in the newspaper. When I was 10-years old, my grandmother took me to our local newspaper for a meeting with the Editor in order to show him a comic strip I had been drawing after school and on weekends. No doubt influenced by my grandparents' bomb shelter (built after WWII and actively maintained during the Cold War, i.e., my childhood), I had drawn a comic called The Bomb Family. Each character's body shape was fashioned out of a little bomb: a mom, a dad, a son, a daughter, a grandma, a grandpa, an aunt, an uncle, and loads of cousins making their way through the many adventures of living in a bomb shelter. 

According to the Editor that day, had Charles Schultz not just agreed to run a strip in their paper, my own career as a comic artist might have taken off at that very moment. While I was disappointed at the time, the experience obviously stayed with me, an effect of comics most people I speak with admit to sharing.  

I'm sure you can imagine how delightful it is for me to return back to the subject of comics from the deeper perspective of my own field of study (philosophy) in order to once again enjoy that which I so  immensely enjoyed and experimented with as a kid. 

School Girl

© Shenn

Leave it to my daughter, a 17-year old school girl to bring me back to one of my favorite subjects. A talented young artist who has undeniably developed certain aesthetic proclivities and understanding that is being translated into material from which philosophers across the globe might consider in terms of its deeper philosophical significance.