The British by Pont

The British by Pont

'Includes Pont's most famous sequence, The British Character, in which, with beautiful wit, he illustrated national characteristics prevalent at the time.. Some of Pont's cartoons seem amazingly prescient, almost as though they had been drawn only yesterday' Craig Brown, Daily Mail

'Pont's penmanship is an appealing mixture of rough, scribbly shading, block black shadows, and exquisitely fine detail in the right places' Guardian

'Like the best moderns he infuses character into every curve of a rump or tilt of an eyebrow, adding tiny jokes in every corner' Libby Purves

'Pont specialised in portraying the English middle classes, and most of his jokes are still as pointful today as they were in the Thirties ... brilliantly observant drawings' Oldie

'Tremendously popular ...hilarious and brilliantly observed work' Sunday Express

'Pure visual comedy' Independent

Pont was a pseudonym of Graham Laidler (1908-1940) derived from a nickname, Pontifex Maximus, acquired during a visit to Rome. Following his family’s wishes, he trained as an architect, but by his mid-twenties he had become one of Punch’s most prolific and successful cartoonists. He created over four hundred cartoons in his lifetime and published several collections, the most popular of which being The British Character, which lampoons the national foibles of the British.