I love Richard Thompson's modern celebrity Santa.
We never actually see Santa because he's always being hustled away by his keepers.
Thompson was a brilliant, beautiful illustrator who died all too young. His drawings were simultaneously wobbly yet precise. They were naive yet sophisticated. His humor was childish yet wise. For me, he ranked among the best humorous illustrators of the 20th century.
He left us all too soon, before he had a chance to make full use of his great gifts but he left behind a bountiful legacy of marvelous drawings.
Some people re-read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol every Christmas. Me, I dig out and take a fresh look at Richard's "Here Comes Santa Claus" cartoon.
14 comments:
Absolutely wonderful work. I'm reminded of Charles Rodrigues.
He had funny in his bones.
His drawings for the Washington Post were so funny. The book honoring him by his fellow cartoonists was a great tribute. What a tragic loss.
JSL
Wishing David and the gang of contributors here a beautiful Christmas, full of light and peace.
Chris.
He was one of the few cartoonists I can think of where the handwriting/typography is a major part of the comedy.
What would that “Ho ho ho!” be if it was just the regular block capitals of your average strip? It would kill the joke.
Merry Christmas to the most interesting art discussion on the internet!
I love his art. So funny and talented drawer. Was it published in a book ?
Li-An-- In 2014, a group of Richard's ardent admirers, including some of the top illustrators of the day (Bill Watterson, Peter de Seve, Nick Galifianakis, John Kascht) and one dullard (me) got together and wrote a festschrift for Richard, called "The Art of Richard Thompson," published by Andrews McMeel. It is an excellent book, chock full of Richard's best art, and I highly recommend it.
Even though Richard was severely ill by that time, we sat around his kitchen table with him and laughed our heads off, working on that book. He was a rare creature.
And to you !
Bill
@David Apatoff : oh, yes, I have this book (there is a french version too) ! Thank, I will have a look, it’s a long time I did no open it.
GVI made a good documentary about Richard which is available on Youtube.https://youtu.be/t8-tqh4N_EE?si=uGd1HewdAuU7GaQ4
Thank you for the link. What a beautiful talent… and what a painful loss.
Is this the guy that ate only junk food?
~ FV
Thompson was a treasure, thanks for this.
Post a Comment