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David Low

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Artist

The Resume

    (April 7, 1891-September 19, 1963)
    Born in Dunedin, New Zealand
    Political cartoonist and caricaturist
    Moved to Sydney (1911) and London (1919)
    Cartoonist for ‘The Star’ (1919-27), ‘The Evening Standard’ (1927-50), ‘The Daily Herald’ (1950-53) and ‘The Manchester Guardian’ (1953-63)
    Cartoons frequently featured Colonel Blimp, a pompous, jingoistic retired officer
    Knighted (1962)

Why he might be annoying:

    Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes called him a ‘bastard’ to his face.
    He went from being heavily critical of Lord Beaverbrook to working for his ‘Evening Standard.’
    In a bit of self-censorship, he stopped lampooning Hitler for about a month after Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax complained that his cartoons were damaging Anglo-German relations.
    During a visit to the US, he encouraged American cartoonists to ‘scrap this Uncle Sam business.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    He had his first cartoon published when he was 11, and was the regular political cartoonist for ‘The New Zealand Spectator’ in his teens.
    His frequent mocking of Hitler and Mussolini resulted in his work (and The Evening Standard) being banned in Germany and Italy.
    Told that he had been on the ‘Black List’ of people to be rounded by the Nazis after an invasion of Great Britain, he replied, ‘That’s all right. I had them on my list, too.’
    When new brushes were hard to get during World War II, he made ones using his hair.
    He noted, ‘No dictator is inconvenienced or even displeased by cartoons showing his terrible person stalking through blood and mud…. What he does not want to get around is the idea that he is an ass, which is really damaging.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying