JAK drew for the Evening Standard from 1952 until his death in 1997. Although Tony Blair described him as one of Britain’s “finest political cartoonists” JAK often categorised himself as a social, rather than political cartoonist. His drawings are crammed full of detail and he tended to use generic figures, rather than identifiable individuals. JAK started out as a commercial artist and he proved very successful at marrying his business sense to his cartooning. Many of his cartoons featured commercial names and logos. He was a master of product placement and arranged business deals with various companies. JAK had trenchant right-wing views but over the course of his career he managed to annoy people across the political spectrum. A spoof film poster he drew in 1982 advertising ‘The Ultimate in Psychopathic Horror – The Irish’ brought accusations of racism from the Greater London Council. Two years later the Conservative party protested when JAK portrayed Norman Tebbit as a bandage-wrapped mummy after the bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Cartoons for sale:
- "BACK TO THE REVOLUTION, BUT THIS TIME, NO MR NICE GUY!"
22nd July 1980 - £385
- 54cm x 44cm
- Evening Standard
- "YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU CANT FOOL ALL OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME!"
19th June 1970 - £475
- 54cm x 45cm
- Evening Standard
- "hHOW WAS THE OLD UNFLAPPABLE TODAY M'LORD?", 1963
- £375
- 59cm x 41cm
- Evening Standard