The Art of Donald McGill
Encyclopedia
"The Art of Donald McGill" is a critical essay
first published in 1941 by the English author
George Orwell
. It discusses the genre of English saucy seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns, and particularly the work of its prime exponent, Donald McGill
. Orwell notes the role of this type of humour as a rebellion against convention in society and states that, despite the vulgarity, he would be sorry to see the postcards vanish.
. They were sold by newsagents and at booths along the front at British seaside holiday resorts.
McGill created an estimated 12,000 of the colour washed drawings which were then reproduced as postcards and an estimated 200 million were printed and sold. His career began in 1904 when he was encouraged by a relation who saw an illustrated get-well card McGill had made for a sick nephew. Within a year it was his full-time occupation. McGill studied art and married the daughter of the owner of Crowder's Music Hall
in Greenwich
. Such postcards were associated with embarrassment and McGill noted that his two daughters "ran like stags whenever they passed a comic postcard shop".
Orwell's interest in such postcards began in his schooldays in Eastbourne
. Jacintha Buddicom
recalls him around the age of twelve at Shiplake and Henley when he kept a collection in an album. She recalls that some were kept in a manilla envelope because they were "too vulgar" to be put on display. In "Such, Such Were the Joys
" Orwell reports his alarm at being stared at with suspicion by a man as he came out a newsagent's shop in Eastbourne, although he says in the essay that he was buying sweets.
in September 1941. The article has appeared in many anthologies including Critical Essays (1946), Collected Essays (1961), Decline of the English Murder
and Other Essays (1965) and The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell (1968)
Orwell picks out the main subjects of the postcards as sex, home life, drunkenness, WC jokes, snobbery within the working-class, stereotypical figures and topical politico-social fads. They feature illegitimacy, the mother-in-law, the hen-pecked husband, the middle-aged drunk, chamber pots, the nervous clergyman who says the wrong thing, malapropism
s and "an endless succession of fat women in tight bathing-dresses." He concludes that this reflects, on a comic level, the working-class outlook that youth and adventure, and even individual life, end with marriage.
Orwell considers that in England under censorship laws there is a wide gap between what can be said and what can be printed. He sees comic post cards as the only medium in which really "low" humour is printable although similar jokes are part and parcel of the revue and music-hall, and can be heard on the radio.
Orwell presents a thesis of duality in human nature which he calls the Don Quixote–Sancho Panza
combination—the conflict between high-minded respectability and vulgar buffoonery. "Society has always to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice—that they should work hard, pay their taxes, and be faithful to their wives, men should think it glorious to die on the battlefield and women should want wear themselves out with child-bearing. The postcards represent the worm's-eye view of life where "marriage is a dirty joke or a comic disaster... where the lawyer is always a crook and the Scotsman always a miser, where the newly-weds make fools of themselves on the hideous beds of seaside lodging-houses and the drunken, red-nosed husbands roll home at four in the morning to meet the linen-nightgowned wives who wait for them behind the front door, poker in hand". Orwell brings in a quotation from Ecclesiastes
(vii 15).
Such postcards are therefore symptomatically important as a sort of saturnalia
, a harmless rebellion against virtue. Orwell notes that the mood of the comic post card could appear between the murders in Shakespeare's tragedies but that this type of humour in literature had been repressed from the beginning of the 19th century and has dwindled to these "ill-drawn post cards, leading a barely legal existence in cheap stationers' windows".
. This almost wiped out the industry. In 1957 he gave evidence to a House of Commons Select Committee which was revising the legislation.
In the light of an exhibition of the work of McGill in 2004, various critics have challenged Orwell's dismissive view of the quality of the art.
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
first published in 1941 by the English author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
. It discusses the genre of English saucy seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns, and particularly the work of its prime exponent, Donald McGill
Donald McGill
Donald Fraser Gould McGill, was an English graphic artist whose name has become synonymous with a whole genre of saucy seaside postcards that were sold mostly in small shops in British coastal towns...
. Orwell notes the role of this type of humour as a rebellion against convention in society and states that, despite the vulgarity, he would be sorry to see the postcards vanish.
Background
Seaside postcards represent the low humour and wordplay that was characteristic of the Victorian music hallMusic hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
. They were sold by newsagents and at booths along the front at British seaside holiday resorts.
McGill created an estimated 12,000 of the colour washed drawings which were then reproduced as postcards and an estimated 200 million were printed and sold. His career began in 1904 when he was encouraged by a relation who saw an illustrated get-well card McGill had made for a sick nephew. Within a year it was his full-time occupation. McGill studied art and married the daughter of the owner of Crowder's Music Hall
Greenwich Theatre
The Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
. Such postcards were associated with embarrassment and McGill noted that his two daughters "ran like stags whenever they passed a comic postcard shop".
Orwell's interest in such postcards began in his schooldays in Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
. Jacintha Buddicom
Jacintha Buddicom
Jacintha Buddicom was a poet and a childhood friend of George Orwell .Buddicom was born at Plymouth but moved with her family to Shiplake, Berkshire. There she first met Eric Blair in the summer of 1914 when he was standing on his head in a field at the bottom of the Buddicoms' garden...
recalls him around the age of twelve at Shiplake and Henley when he kept a collection in an album. She recalls that some were kept in a manilla envelope because they were "too vulgar" to be put on display. In "Such, Such Were the Joys
Such, Such Were the Joys
"Such, Such Were the Joys" is a long autobiographical essay by the English writer George Orwell. It was probably composed in the early 1940s, but it was first published by the Partisan Review in 1952, two years after Orwell's death...
" Orwell reports his alarm at being stared at with suspicion by a man as he came out a newsagent's shop in Eastbourne, although he says in the essay that he was buying sweets.
Publication
"The Art of Donald McGill" was first published in HorizonHorizon (magazine)
Horizon: A Review of Literature and Art was an influential literary magazine published in London, between 1940 and 1949. It was edited by Cyril Connolly who gave a platform to a wide range of distinguished and emerging writers....
in September 1941. The article has appeared in many anthologies including Critical Essays (1946), Collected Essays (1961), Decline of the English Murder
Decline of the English Murder
"Decline of the English Murder" is an essay by George Orwell, where he analysed the kinds of murders depicted in popular media, and why people like to read them...
and Other Essays (1965) and The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell (1968)
Summary
Orwell identifies the overpowering vulgarity, the crude drawing and unbearable colours of the seaside postcard which specialises in very ‘low’ humour. He selects McGill because he sees his work as the most representative and perfect in the tradition, although he is ignorant of whether McGill is a real individual or just a corporate name.Orwell picks out the main subjects of the postcards as sex, home life, drunkenness, WC jokes, snobbery within the working-class, stereotypical figures and topical politico-social fads. They feature illegitimacy, the mother-in-law, the hen-pecked husband, the middle-aged drunk, chamber pots, the nervous clergyman who says the wrong thing, malapropism
Malapropism
A malapropism is an act of misusing or the habitual misuse of similar sounding words, especially with humorous results. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes," rather than "electoral votes".-Etymology:...
s and "an endless succession of fat women in tight bathing-dresses." He concludes that this reflects, on a comic level, the working-class outlook that youth and adventure, and even individual life, end with marriage.
Orwell considers that in England under censorship laws there is a wide gap between what can be said and what can be printed. He sees comic post cards as the only medium in which really "low" humour is printable although similar jokes are part and parcel of the revue and music-hall, and can be heard on the radio.
Orwell presents a thesis of duality in human nature which he calls the Don Quixote–Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
combination—the conflict between high-minded respectability and vulgar buffoonery. "Society has always to demand a little more from human beings than it will get in practice—that they should work hard, pay their taxes, and be faithful to their wives, men should think it glorious to die on the battlefield and women should want wear themselves out with child-bearing. The postcards represent the worm's-eye view of life where "marriage is a dirty joke or a comic disaster... where the lawyer is always a crook and the Scotsman always a miser, where the newly-weds make fools of themselves on the hideous beds of seaside lodging-houses and the drunken, red-nosed husbands roll home at four in the morning to meet the linen-nightgowned wives who wait for them behind the front door, poker in hand". Orwell brings in a quotation from Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
(vii 15).
Such postcards are therefore symptomatically important as a sort of saturnalia
Saturnalia
Saturnalia is an Ancient Roman festival/ celebration held in honour of Saturn , the youngest of the Titans, father of the major gods of the Greeks and Romans, and son of Uranus and Gaia...
, a harmless rebellion against virtue. Orwell notes that the mood of the comic post card could appear between the murders in Shakespeare's tragedies but that this type of humour in literature had been repressed from the beginning of the 19th century and has dwindled to these "ill-drawn post cards, leading a barely legal existence in cheap stationers' windows".
Postscript
In 1954, under a government crackdown on declining morals, McGill was prosecuted and fined under the Obscene Publications Act 1857Obscene Publications Act 1857
The Obscene Publications Act 1857 , also known as Lord Campbell's Act or Campbell's Act, was a major piece of obscenity legislation in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. This almost wiped out the industry. In 1957 he gave evidence to a House of Commons Select Committee which was revising the legislation.
In the light of an exhibition of the work of McGill in 2004, various critics have challenged Orwell's dismissive view of the quality of the art.