No.6 (Violet, Green, & Red)
April 27, 2022
Genesis III, 1966
November 23, 2022
French Horn Elephant
Gerard Hoffnung
£100
Framed print
‘French Horn Elephant’ – pen and ink on paper, circa 1958.
Drawn for Hoffnung’s Musical Chairs from the Six Little Music Books series.
The Artist
Gerard Hoffnung
22 March 1925 – 28 September 1959
Gerard Hoffnung was an artist and musician, best known for his humorous works.
Raised in Germany, Hoffnung was brought to London as a boy, to escape the Nazis. Over the next two decades in England, he became known as a cartoonist, tuba player, impresario, broadcaster and raconteur.
After training at two art colleges, Hoffnung taught for a few years, and then turned to drawing, on the staff of English and American publications, and later as a freelance. He published a series of cartoons on musical themes, and illustrated the works of novelists and poets.
In 1956 Hoffnung mounted the first of his "Hoffnung Festivals" in London, at which classical music was spoofed for comic effect, with contributions from many eminent musicians. As a broadcaster he appeared on BBC panel games, where he honed the material for one of his best-known performances, his speech at the Oxford Union in 1958. In 1996 Humphrey Lyttelton recorded a portrait of Hoffnung entitled Hoffnung At Large for BBC Audiobooks, written by Judith Liddell-King.
The Print
Much of Hoffnung's humour centred on the world of music, particularly the various instruments of the orchestra with which he was fascinated. He published a series of books of cartoons poking gentle fun at conductors and orchestral instrumentalists. Examples include the drawing of a musician being devoured by the serpent he is trying to play; another shows a singer whose waistcoat buttons are control knobs labelled On/off, ppp/fff, Wobble, and Sobs. He depicted Malcolm Sargent as "Elegantemente", conducting with a full-length mirror at the front of his rostrum. After Hoffnung's death, some of the cartoons were turned into short animated films by Halas and Batchelor with music by Francis Chagrin in the television series Tales from Hoffnung (1965).
Drawings on musical subjects
- The Maestro (1953)
- The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra (1955)
- The Hoffnung Music Festival (1956)
- The Hoffnung Companion to Music (1957)
- Hoffnung's Musical Chairs (1958)
- Hoffnung's Acoustics (1959)
The six volumes were reissued as a uniform set in 2002 with forewords by Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Ustinov, Ronald Searle, Harry Enfield, Ian Hislop, and Hoffnung's daughter, Emily.
Our thoughts
It is tragic that a talented, accomplished, funny, prolific, highly regarded artist, musician, raconteur and impresario, that was Gerard Hoffnung, died of a brain haemorrhage at 34. A man in his prime and still with much to offer. But in his short time he managed to produce timeless little lovely pieces of work, exuding a gentle humour which induces a smile in all ages. He was and is a great loss who left the world having filled it with much to be thankful for.
Item data
Medium: Monte Carlo 300gsm watercolour paper
Frame: Black satin
Mount: Window mount
Framed dimensions: 34 x 42 cm
Image area dimensions: 23 × 30 cm
Medium
Monte Carlo 300gsm watercolour paper
This premium paper made on a traditional cylinder mould machine by St Cuthbert’s Mill in Somerset where they have been making fine papers on the same site since the 1700’s. They are the only commercial paper mill in England to still use this paper-making process. Mould made paper combines the consistent quality of machine made papers, but with the individual character of handmade papers. A specialist coater adds an ink receptive coating layer, allowing us to print perfectly to conservation standards.
| Dimensions | 33 × 42 cm |
|---|
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