Twenty-six drawings, designs for posters, book illustrations, covers and cartoons by the cartoonist Fougasse

[c.1923–54]


Cyril Kenneth Bird (1887-1965) was born in London and studied engineering at Kings College, London. On active service in the First World War he was wounded at Gallipoli in 1915 and returned to Britain. No longer fit to work as a civil engineer he turned to drawing, in which he had been interested since his school-days, adopting the name "Fougasse", French for an exploding mine which might go off or not - he thought the same applied to his cartoons. His work first appeared in Punch in 1916 and in 1937 he became Editor of the magazine. He also designed posters (of which "Careless talk costs lives" is the best known) and illustrated books with his economical line drawings. These sketches give an excellent impression of Fougasse's incisive humour and talent as a cartoonist.

Collection Owner
Fougasse 1887–1965
Collection
Tate Archive
Acquisition
The drawings were presented to the Tate Gallery Archive in 1977 by the artist's widow, Mrs C.K. Bird.
Reference
TGA 7712

26 objects in this collection

Title
Twenty-six drawings, designs for posters, book illustrations, covers and cartoons by the cartoonist Fougasse
Date
[c.1923–54]
Description

Cyril Kenneth Bird (1887-1965) was born in London and studied engineering at Kings College, London. On active service in the First World War he was wounded at Gallipoli in 1915 and returned to Britain. No longer fit to work as a civil engineer he turned to drawing, in which he had been interested since his school-days, adopting the name "Fougasse", French for an exploding mine which might go off or not - he thought the same applied to his cartoons. His work first appeared in Punch in 1916 and in 1937 he became Editor of the magazine. He also designed posters (of which "Careless talk costs lives" is the best known) and illustrated books with his economical line drawings. These sketches give an excellent impression of Fougasse's incisive humour and talent as a cartoonist.
Reference
TGA 7712

Showing 120 of 26 objects