| Fougasse
was born on 17 December 1887 in London as Cyril Kenneth
Bird. Educated at Farmborough Park School, Hampshire
from 1898 to 1902, Cheltenham College 1902 to 1904 and
King' College, London 1904 to 1908 where he studied
engineering. He attended art classes at the Regent Street
Polytechnic and the School of Photo-Engraving and Lithography
in Bolt Court, while at King's College London. Bird
took on the pseudonym 'Fougasse' in the first world
war, meaning 'a small land mine which might or might
not hit the mark' in the First World War, as the signature
'Bird' was already being used by another Punch artist.
The name was deemed appropriate for an ex-Royal Engineer,
as he had been until wounded at Gallipoli in 1916. Whilst
recuperating he started to draw cartoons which he sent
to Punch and other magazines. He was successful but
continued to take lessons from Percy V Bradshaw by correspondence.
He became a regular contributor to Punch, becoming art
editor in 1937, editor in 1949, retiring in 1953. When
Fougasse was appointed Editor of Punch, Art and Industry
ran a celebration of his work, written by his formed
'master', Percy V. Bradshaw. Fougasse described how
his humour needed to be rooted in reality to be effective,
and the method he had used to attract attention during
the war years. Other magazines he contributed to were
The Bystander, The Graphic, London Opinion, The Stretch
and The Tatler.
He had designed his first poster for London Transport
in 1935. Fougasse had abandoned commercial art-work
about three years before war started, which Advertiser's
Weekly viewed as a loss, of 'one of the most subtle
interpreters of the British idiom that it has ever
known'. He returned in order to design posters for
the war effort. He was described as 'the most sought-after
humorous artist of our time'. By the Second World
War he had become 'an established cartoonist, illustrator
and commercial designer. He offered his services free
to the government, suggesting that humour was an ideal
vehicle for propaganda, and went on to design a wide
range of graphic material in aid of the war effort'.
He designed 'visual propaganda of all kinds: books,
booklets, pamphlets, press advertisements and even
a film strip', working for 'practically every Ministry'
and many other groups. Fougasse was personally commissioned
to do work for the MOI by Embleton, Edwin. Fougasse
received the C.B.E. in 1946. He died in London on
11 June 1965.
Information taken from: All About Posters,
'Fougasse', http://www.all-about-posters.com/fougasse.html,
Accessed 28 August 2003; Darracott, J. and Loftus,
B., Second World War Posters, 1981 (1972),
pp.30-31; 'Bird, Cyril Kenneth (C.B.E.)', Anonymous,
Who's Who in Art, 1948; Bradshaw, P.V., 'Fougasse
of Punch', Art and Industry, Vol. 46, No. 275,
May 1949, pp.180-185; 'Bird, Cyril Kenneth (Fougasse)',
Poster Database, London Transport Museum, accessed
February 2000; 'Advertising and the British Tradition',
Advertiser's Weekly, February 22 1940, p.140;
'The Mighty Fougasse', Advertiser's Weekly,
February 29 1940, p.168; Caption at Power of the Poster
exhibition at the V&A, 1997; Livingston, A, and
Livingston, I., Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers,
1992, p.77; Questionnaire submitted by Royall, K.
to Embleton, E., Royall, K., 'Posters of the Second
World War: The Fourth Arm of British Defence', Unpublished
M.A., University of Westminster, 1991, p.123.
Related Links
- Fougasse,
Cartoonist (Spartacus Schoolnet)
- Punch
Cartoons (Punch Cartoon Library & Shop)
-
Fougasse (Kenneth Bird) A School of Purposes London:
Methuen & Co., 1946 See More...
(Out of Print)
- Fougasse also published almost annual collections
of his work.
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