Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) is generally considered by various scholars as a creator of the caricature due to his drawings and paintings depicting various characters in somehow caricaturist way. Before Carracci, Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) also sketched of his contemporaries the  particularities of their facial characteristics . Giuseppe Archimboldo (1527-1593) also had his own way to compose from various objects a caricaturist portraits of  the Habsbourg court personalities. However, it was Carracci who actually developed the art of caricature in his artistic productivity. The caricature as we know today was introduced by Honore Daumier (1808-1879), a French print maker, painter, sculptor, and caricaturist. His drawings represent a mastery of deformation not only the human physiognomy, but also an elaborated intelligent critical regard on sociopolitical realities of his times. To some extend caricature as a form of art accompanied people already in the early beginning of our Western culture. The Egyptians, Greeks, or Romans were scrubbing on the city walls images of heir rulers not always in quiet favorable way. Facial deformations drawn for fun were very popular long before some of its creators made of their activities recognized and admired profession. Personally, I like to draw a life portraits and caricatures. The direct contact with the model it is the best way for me to work. Working from the pictures is not as much fun as it is to look at the drawn person in direct. For me as an artist to draw caricatures is a great pleasure and I do it as often as I can. It is yet another form of art I am practicing and I am enjoying every moment of it. I work also from pictures, especially when drawing editorial caricatures, then I do not have a choice, but if I could I would prefer the model to be life in front of me.

To see the selection of caricatures click here.