Feature: William Heath Robinson and Gerard Hoffnung
Published: 9 June, 2011
They were two men who lived in different times. Yet if anything links different generations it is humour that touches a perverse nerve and makes us laugh out loud. Cartoon connoisseur Chris Beetles is currently presenting two men of genius who do just that in his St James’s Gallery.
One is the inimitable William Heath Robinson (1872-1944), whose crazy world of inventions has remained unique in the world of fun images. The other is Gerard Hoffnung (1925-1959), the creator of a genre of hilarious musical myths that have always had their own special beat.
“Heath Robinson and Hoffnung are rooted in the commonplaces of humanity where the essence of humour resides,” says Beetles. “They see the eccentricities, absurdities and obsessions of the ordinary man and celebrate his preoccupations with insight and gentle irony.
“They appeal to succeeding generations in taking on each new age of technology and parodying it, which makes the challenge of new machine ages more acceptable.
“True humour is universal and does not age. And Heath Robinson and Hoffnung are needed now more than ever to lighten the dark of the economic recession.
”There is a residual cheerful comfort in the reassuring pictures with which their cartoons present us.”