EL CAUDILLO THE ALL BUT HUMAN DOLL (Franco with Hitler and Mussolini)- certainly one of his best concepts, and a suoperior and complex composition. The sinister depiction of Mussolini is a welcome variant on the ways Il Duce was usually shown with a clownishness. Berman was born in 1906, and started early with caricatures for the Hartford Courant then to become staff cartoonist for the Newark Star Eagle. During the Thirties his economic style, capacity to capture a likeness, and highly attractive colour schemes attracted the big names in American Magazines. After the His most celebrated (and sellable) commission of 56 caricatures of celebrities for NBC's Parade of Stars in 1947. See my selection from Bob Reed's Copy. After 1945 his commercial appeal widened to include advertising and children's books. I was amazed to see he had founded his own map-making firm and later retired to Spain. I can't find any reference to his death, and to obituaries that might increase our knowledge of this great professional. Watch that witty film Nothing Sacred and it is Berman drawings that adorn the titles. |