Author: McCUTCHEON, John T. (1870-1949)
Title: Signed Ink Drawing
Description: Pulitzer prize-winning editorial cartoonist with the "Chicago Tribune" (1903-45). Signed ink drawing, 14¼" X 17", n.p. n.y. Very good. Slightest bit of edgewear and mild soiling. Labeled "Look out for a flood of currency bills when Congress convenes" by McCutcheon along the lower margin, this single-panel cartoon depicts a horde of twenty older gents -- smoky back room politicos, no doubt -- hurrying from the right middle ground into the left foreground, where a large finger-pointing shaped sign staked into the ground reads "To the Congress." Next to this sign stands a huddling child wrapped up from the cold and a seated dog, observing the parade. The full-length figure in the lead likely represents a Western state representative, wearing cowboy hat and bolo tie, chomping a cigar and clutching a carpetbag in one hand and a rolled-up scroll (labeled "Bill for Solution of the Currency") in the other. All of the other figures clutch similar rolls, one identified as "Bill for Elastic Currency" and the others "Currency Bill." The other gents are obviously supposed to represent various types of politicians -- old-school types in top hats and formal dress, Theodore Roosevelt types in more modern attire, Buffalo Bill-type goateed old-timers, etc. A fascinating and amusing commentary on the many currency reform measures that peppered Congressional debate in the early years of the 20th century. Signed simply "McCutcheon" at lower right, as usual. .

Keywords: AUTOGRAPHS Art & Architecture


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