T. S. Sullivant: Difference between revisions

| alt = PortraitPainting of Sullivanta bybald, [[Thomasbearded Pollocklate-middle-aged Anschutz|Thomasman P.in Anshutz]]a (1895)suit, facing left.

| birth_date = November 4, 1854

| birth_place = [[Columbus, Ohio]], [[USA]]U.S.

| death_date = {{Death yeardate and age|1926|8|7|1854|11|4}}

'''Thomas Starling Sullivant''' (1854–1926November 4, 1854 – August 7, 1926) was an influential American [[cartoonist]] who signed his work '''T. S. Sullivant'''. His work appeared most frequently in the pages of the humorous ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine. Best known for his animal and ethnic caricatures, he also drew political cartoons and comic strip [[Topper (comic strip)|toppers]], and illustrated children's books. He drew in a heavily [[Hatching|cross-hatched]] pen-and-ink style, with humans and animals depicted with greatly exaggerated features that are nevertheless firmly rooted in his understanding of correct anatomy.

Sullivant was a member of the [[Philadelphia Sketch Club]] from 1888 to 1904.<ref>[{{Cite web|url=http://www.sketchclub.org/PSC_ArchColl.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202213533/http://sketchclub.org/PSC_ArchColl.html|url-status=dead|title=The Philadelphia Sketch Club: Archives]|archivedate=December 2, 2008}}</ref> By the turn of the century, Sullivant switched from ''Life'' to ''[[Judge (magazine)|Judge]]''. In 1904, he signed on to draw political cartoons for [[William Randolph Hearst]], continuing in that position until 1907.<ref name=animation/> Leaving Hearst, he studied in Europe, returning to the pages of ''Life'' in 1911. He continued to contribute to ''Life'' until his death in 1926.

Sullivant was a pen-and-ink artist, working during a time when penwork with meticulously [[Hatching|cross-hatched]] shading, like that of [[Charles Dana Gibson]], was particularly flourishing. While working technically within the restaintsrerstaints of such classical drawing, Sullivant and others like [[A. B. Frost]] and [[E. W. Kemble]], sought out new, playful means of expression. Sullivant played with distorting anatomy, [[perspective (graphical)|perspective]] and animation.<ref name="Nemo1-70" /> A striking feature was the greatly enlarged heads on hs figures, which, throughout the 1890s, became more and more exaggerated, an innovation pioneered by Frost that was widely imitated by his peers.<ref name="Nemo1-71" />

Sullivant was noted largely for his animal caricatures and his character types—ethnic types like Irishmen, Jews and Negroes familiar in the American melting pot, as well as farmers, tramps and the suburban families which were emeringemerging at the time. His "grotesque yet beleivablebelievable"<ref name="Nemo26-13" /> animals were remarkably detailed and anatomically accurate, despite their gross exaggeration, and expressive in the moods, emotions and attitudes they displayed.<ref name="Nemo1-72-74" /> The anatomical accuracy of his work was greatly helped by [[EdweardEadweard Muybridge]]'s photographic studies of human and animal movement. It was the visuals and the action in his cartoons that were most often the "gag"—frequently the caption added little to the enjoyment of the cartoon.<ref name="Nemo26-13" />

Sullivant had a penchant for using razor blades in his quest for perfection in his work, but not for the shading effects a razor can producedproduce that many therother cartoonists used it for. He used it to erase by scratching out work he was dissatisfied with, so he could draw on the paper again, saving only the parts of the drawing he could not part with. ''[[Happy Hooligan]]'''s [[Frederick Burr Opper]] commented on Sullivant's frquentfrequent razor blade use saying, "If Tom Sullivant scratched his head as much as his paper, he'd draw better cartoons!"<ref name="Nemo1-74" /><ref name="AoC16" />

Sullivant influenced numerous cartoonists, notably [[Walt Kelly]], who hung a Sullivant original, "The Naming of the Animals", over his studio door;<ref name="Nemo26-13" /> and [[Jim Woodring]], who wrote a scholarly article on him for ''[[The Comics Journal]]''. He had an enormous influence on the early history of American [[American animation]], second perhaps after [[Winsor McCay]]. He was especially influential in the [[Walt Disney studiosStudios (division)|Walt Disney Studios]] after [[T. Hee]] brought in a collection of Sullivant clippings to use as inspiration for the "[[Dance of the Hours]]" sequence in ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''. His influence is also apparent in [[The Walrus and the Carpenter|the Walrus]] in ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''<ref name="Nemo26-12" /> and the elephants in ''[[Dumbo]]''.<ref name="Nemo26-12-13" /> Hee continued to use these clippings as a teacher at the [[California Institute of the Arts]] well into the 1980s.<ref name="Nemo26-13" /> Other animators who bore Sullivant's influence were [[John Randolph Bray]]<ref name="BeforeMickey140" /> and [[Nancy Beiman]].<ref name="Nemo26-12-13" />

* ''Fables for the Times'' (R.H. Russel & Son, 1896) reprinted the series "Aesop to Date" from ''Life''

* ''Sullivant's ABC Zoo'' (The Old Wine Press, New York, 1946), collection of animal cartoons

File:T. S. Sullivant (1898-09-29) No Doubt.jpg

<ref name="Robard">[{{Cite web|url=http://john-adcock.blogspot.com/2008/03/t-s-sullivant.html|title=Yesterday's Robard, V. "The Caricatures ofPapers: T. S. Sullivant". ''Godey's|first=John|last=Adcock|date=March Magazine''20, Vol.2008|access-date=February CXXXV2, No.2011|archive-date=July 8078, September 18972011|archive-url=https://web.]archive.org/web/20110708045338/http://john-adcock.blogspot.com/2008/03/t-s-sullivant.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="animation">[{{Cite web|url=http://www.animationarchive.org/bio/2006/01/sullivant-t-s.html |title=Animation Archive: T. S. Sullivant.]}}</ref>

* [[Rick Marschall|Marschall, Rick]]. "Penmen of the Past: T. S. Sullivant". ''[[Nemo, the Classic Comics Library]]'' #1, pages 70–74. [[Fantagraphics Books]], (June 1983). ISSN 0746-9438

* [[Nancy Beiman|Beiman, Nancy]]. "The Comic Zoo of T. S. Sullivant". ''[[Nemo, the Classic Comics Library]]'' #26, pages 12–40. [[Fantagraphics Books]], (September 1987). ISSN 0746-9438

* [http://www.ts-sullivant.com/ T. S. Sullivant]

[[Category:Article19th-century FeedbackAmerican 5artists]]