Gerald Scarfe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born in London on June 1 1936) is an English cartoonist and illustrator whose work is characterised by an apparent obsession with the grotesque and diseased, perhaps a result of an asthmatic, bed-ridden childhood.
Scarfe studied art at East Ham Technical College in the early 60s, alongside Ralph Steadman<ref>http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/artist.py?id=173</ref>, whose artwork holds many similarities to Scarfe's in style, subject matter, and humor. Scarfe and Steadman became estranged in the mid 1960s after Scarfe was hired by the Daily Mail. Soon after, Steadman was commissioned to illustrate Scarf and produced an image that was half saint and half Superman, but with a disconnected heart.<ref>http://opal.ukc.ac.uk/cartoonx-cgi/artist.py?id=173</ref>
His early caricatures of public figures were published in satirical magazine Private Eye throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
He is perhaps best known through his work with rock group Pink Floyd. 1979, he provided the cover illustration for Pink Floyd's The Wall and in 1982 worked on animations for the film version of the album. He continued work for Roger Waters, ex-Pink Floyd bassist and made graphic for his solo album The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking (1984).
In 1971 he met Jane Asher, with whom he had a daughter in 1974. They married in 1981, and had another two sons in 1981 and 1984.
In 1997, Scarfe worked on the Disney film Hercules as a conceptual character artist, and his designs were widely acclaimed.
He presently draws editorial cartoons for the British newspaper, The Sunday Times, a position he has held off-and-on since the early 1960s. His cartoons occasionally appear in the prestigious American weekly The New Yorker.
He is lined up to provide animation for Jim Steinman's Bat out of Hell, a stage show featuring Steinman's music.<ref>http://jimsteinman.blogspot.com/ entry incorrectly dated July 20, 06: 603PM. It was actually posted 20 Oct 2006.</ref>
