Chris Beetles is pleased to present H M Bateman & The Cartoon Century. 50 works by the inimitable H M Bateman are accompanied and complemented by a collection of works by some of the greatest British and American cartoonists of the past 100 years, including Peter Brookes, Matt Pritchett, Ed McLachlan, Arnold Roth, Ed Sorel, Charles Addams and David Levine.
H M Bateman was the most innovative British cartoonist of his generation, who injected dynamic humour into his draughtsmanship, and so epitomised the personalities and emotions of people rather than simply illustrating jokes. Having established a graceful, rhythmical style from early in his career, he introduced a new intensity in his work in 1908, when, in his own words, he 'went mad on paper’. A decade later, he perfected his ability to communicate visual comedy through a series of astonishing, and sometimes shocking, wordless strip cartoons. Then, in the 1920s, he created his most famous series, 'The Man Who...', in which individuals make embarrassing social gaffes, and so provoke extreme reactions in those around them. His work appeared in such leading magazines of the day as The Bystander, The Humorist, The Sketch and The Tatler, and was collected together in a number of books published by Methuen.