The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, and Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, Prints & Photographs Division.
Politically independent and a champion of the little guy, Herbert L. Block (1909–2001)—better known as “Herblock”—spared no one from the wrath of his art. His pointed commentaries offer an opportunity to reflect on history and culture. How much has changed and what remains the same?
While the physical Herblock Gallery is closed, we’re offering ten new cartoons online every six months to highlight topics that filled the news 50 years ago. We also have display cases with original drawings by Herblock to visit in person on the Jefferson Building mezzanine.
During the last year of Richard M. Nixon’s tumultuous presidency in 1974, Herblock drew many cartoons about the Watergate scandal. He used the sands of an hourglass to indicate that Richard Nixon’s ability to avoid complicity was slipping away.
In this energetic cartoon, Herblock portrayed President Richard Nixon actively preventing the movement of the symbolic figure of Justice by tripping her with tape gaps, a locked filing cabinet of presidential papers, claims of executive privilege, and a safe labeled national security. Public support for Nixon’s presidency continued to decline throughout 1974 as new information emerged.
Learn More:
- Find the examples above and more in online collections and exhibitions:
- Tour the online exhibitions, including Herblock Looks at 1974; Art in Action: Herblock and Fellow Artists Respond to Their Times and Herblock!
- Search the online collection, Cartoon Drawings: Herblock Collection (thumbnail versions of the images that have been digitized are available to those searching from outside the Library of Congress because of rights considerations).
- Listen to Herb Block Foundation staff talk about his life and legacy: Art in Action Exhibition: Herb Block Foundation’s Marcela Brane & Sarah Alex.
- Take a guided tour with curator Sara Duke through the Prints & Photographs Division’s cartoon collection, with particular reference to Herb Block: “20th-Century Political Cartoons at the Library of Congress.”
- Dive deeper into Herblock’s perspectives by reading books by and about him – a handy list is available at: Cartoon Drawings: Herblock Collection—Bibliography.