Hector Breeze RIP
January 6, 2019 in General
Cartoon from Private Eye – A Cartoon History
Rupert Besley writes:
The sad news of the passing of Hector Breeze not long after celebrating his 90th birthday, has, unsurprisingly, brought in a flood of tributes from fellow cartoonists, all recognising the greatness of the man along with the warmth, charm and wit of his cartoons. Hero, wonderful, great, favourite, brilliant, classic, prolific… are words piling up on the PCO forum from the pens of Pete Dredge, Noel Ford, Roger Penwill, Mike Turner, Neil Dishington, Andrew Birch, Glenn Marshall – and expect more to come as the news spreads.
Hector Breeze
Hector Breeze developed what was surely the perfect cartooning style for the kind of pocket-sized gags he churned out so prolifically and successfully over so many years (since the late 50s). With their robust lines, economy of detail and strong use of solid blacks, HB cartoons were instantly recognisable as his and stood out a mile off as funny. Central to them were his stock characters, ever charming, ever bewildered. Tramps, army chaplains, oddballs, kings. You had to warm to them.
‘Gentle humour’ is a damning phrase, usually coded for ‘not funny’. Hector Breeze cartoons were never savage or angry, but they were funny. Damned funny.
Private Eye cartoon
He sold his first cartoon to Melody Maker in 1957 and over the following five decades and more, Hector Breeze cartoons brought sheer enjoyment to national publications that included Private Eye, Punch, the Evening Standard, the Mirror, Sketch, Guardian and Express. Having begun in a government drawing office, he later worked in advertising. Among his other skills (no surprise from the clarity of his signature) was letter-carving in stone.
A collection of Hector’s work produced by Private Eye in 1973
As with Sprod, it took me some while to discover that Hector Breeze was his real name and not something dreamt up as pen-name (he couldn’t have hit on better if he had tried).
In 2011 the PCO Blog team put together a piece on the Top Ten of Cartoonists’ Favourite Cartoonists. Pete Dredge’s choice was Hector Breeze, illustrated with a perfect gag and summed up exactly right:
‘Out of the mouths of his mundane, benign, chunkily drawn characters comes the sharpest of captions.’
In 1996 Ralph Steadman wrote that Breeze’s “clumsy bewildered characters restore my faith in the seriously daft.”*
Cartoon from the Hector Breeze Private Eye Cartoon Library
From Pick of Punch, 1973
Our thoughts are with Hector’s family.
*Quote and photo courtesy of The British Cartoon Archive
Latest Blog
by Glenn Marshall
Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival 2019 preview
April 13, 2019 in Comment, Events, General
It’s only two weeks until Shrewsbury International Cartoons Festival. This years theme is ‘Animals’ and has a very full programme. This year all the speakers happen to be Procartoonists members.
Friday 26th, 7.30pm
Fist up on the Friday night The Guardian’s Steve Bell will share his lifelong close-up study of ‘Political Animals’, from Tarzan Hesletine to Leopard May on Friday 26th April. Tickets are £10 and can be booked online via this link. A donation will be made from the event to Guide Dogs UK.
Saturday 27th April, 10.30am
On Saturday Beano and Private Eye regular Zoom Rockman will be hosting a strip cartoon workshop. Zoom first started drawing his strip ‘Skanky Pigeon’ for the Beano when when he was just 12 years old!
Saturday 27th April, 11.00am
An exploration of the world of cartooning with ‘Fintan Fedora’ author, cartoonist and PCO Chair-human Clive Goddard.
Saturday 27th April, 1.30pm
After his earlier session Clive will be back again with more Fintan fun at new venue.
Saturday 27th April, 11.00am
The Surreal McCoy presents a preview of her audio-visual graphic memoir based on her Iraqi-Jewish family’s memories of their lost homeland.
The Wolf of Baghdad explores themes of displacement, refugees, identity and belonging.
After presenting an excerpt of the work, Carol will give an illustrated talk on the making of it and take questions from the audience in a Q and A.
Tickets can be booked online via this link.
Saturday 27th April, 12.00pm
An animal cartoon masterclass with Radio Times caricaturist Jonathan Cusick. Jonathan is also one of the festival organisers. You’ll be drawing using exhibits from the gallery, as Jonathan says ‘The great thing is the animals will not be moving’.
Team Goddard creating a big board at last years festival.
On Saturday a menagerie of cartoonists will be be going animalistic drawing on big boards and caricaturing in the town square.
Throughout the weekend various exhibitions will be running including ‘Drawn To Be Wild’ at The Bear Steps Gallery and ‘The Lizards of Oz and Other Creatures’ an exhibition animal related cartoons by Australian cartoonist. More details on the festival website.
Tags: Animals, Bear Steps Gallery, Big boards, caricatures, caricaturist, Clive Goddard, Fintan Fedora, Guide Dogs UK, Jonathan Cusick, PCO, Private Eye, Procartoonists, Radio Times, Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival, Shrewsbury International cartoon Festival 2019, Shropshire, Skanky Pigeon, Steve Bell, The Beano, The Guardian, The Surreal McCoy, The Wolf of Baghdad, Zoom Rockman No Comments »