Wednesday, August 7, 2024

679. A Series of Cartoons by Charles Shannon (4)

Shannon's final drawing in The Alarum depicts a domestic scene with a woman and a man in their living room between plants on side tables, rattan chairs, a piano, tall windows with curtains, a work of art on a chest of drawers (or a cabinet), a tea table, and a carpet.

Charles Shannon, 'A Diplomatic Answer', The Alarum, Vol. 1, No. 4 (10 November 1886), p. 7.

All his drawings in this magazine are not only signed with his full name, but also dated. The latter has a reason. Magazines by no means always published such drawings, for which they paid, in the next issue. To prevent an artist, once famous, from being criticised for such drawings, the signature proved that it was an early work, which the artist no longer had to account for. Indeed, some of the drawings for Judy remained unpublished for several years - Shannon himself had since taken a different path.