The Gentle Art Of Undressing A Friend
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| Valdemar Andersen for the satirical magazine Plat'Menagen, 1908. Photo: Niels C.B. Larsen. |
Then again what is at first glimpse the trope of taking down the true artist with what could be seen as envy from a practitioner of an lesser art turns out to be so much more - as is usually the case.
As a cartoonist Valdemar Andersen was not a humourist. His artistry was much too subtle. Still in the lightness of his line he fused the self-understanding of his sitter - the author and Nobel Laureate Johannes V. Jensen - with Jensen's at the time most recently published novel Bræen (The Glacier). The protagonist of the novel discovers how to make use of nature to his creation of civilisation. Fire not least; it is always the discovery of fire.
Within one tiny sketch Valdemar has incorporated the evolution of man from the furry apes to the present day author as the culmination of all that has ever been achieved by humanity. He calmly lights his cigar with idle pinkies for full visual effect. The cigar is the only solid block of colour on the picture plane.
His head and gaze is as always directed at a level above us.
It is the most striking and precise cartoon ever made of Johannes V. Jensen. His self-understanding as the wonder of man, the mind-set and horizon of his authorship. It is all in here.
Valdemar was morally obligated to make the cartoon. Cartoonist and author both operated within the new media of their day and Jensen in particular had been a major player in resetting its goals. If the author of Bræen was not to be found in the annual satirical magazine Plat'Menagen his self-esteem would have been severely shattered. He belonged to the pages defining the noise of 1908.
Johannes V. Jensen's authorship is embedded in his day and parts of it must be approached with hesitation in a new century. But whatever the situation of his world-view, this cartoon is still at the top of its game.
