Campus Caricatures

IN April 1943, Wyncie King, one of the foremost illustrators and cartoonists from the “Golden Age” of caricature artists, offered the College his talents in support of student scholarships. King was the husband of faculty member Hortense Flexner King, who taught literature and writing at the College from 1942 to 1950. In addition to appearing in premier newspapers, such as The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and The New York Times, King’s art was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Archives of American Art in Detroit.

His first caricatures—of Constance Warren, Joseph Campbell, Leo Gershoy, Harry Hawthorn, Kurt Roesch, William Schuman, Jerome Swinford, Frederic Hart, and Marian Knighton Bryan—were used for publicity for the April 1943 Faculty Show and were later sold at the student auction, raising $415 for the scholarship fund. In a letter to King, President Constance Warren wrote, “You have not only contributed financially to our scholarship fund, but you have also contributed enormously to our enjoyment.” Students, faculty, and staff alike were delighted by the caricatures of notable members of the community.

After the success of the first caricatures, Wyncie King offered his talents again for the Faculty Show and student auction in March 1945. He drew Norma Lloyd, Genevieve Taggard, Bert James Loewenberg, Maxwell Geismar, and Rudolf Arnheim. Despite his declining health, Wyncie King again donated his fantastic caricatures to the 1948 Scholarship Fair. This time, he drew Leo Smit, Horace Gregory, Stephen Spender, and Norman Dello Joio. Noting the success of the caricatures, President Harold Taylor wrote to Mr. King: “I want to thank you on behalf of the whole College for your kind and unselfish devotion to our common cause.”

As part of Reunion 2007, College Archivist Abby Lester assembled a selection of caricatures by King, featuring various faculty and presidents at Sarah Lawrence College from 1943 to 1948. Collections of King’s drawings are housed at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Bryn Mawr College Special Collections in Pennsylvania.