Peggy Bacon
American illustrator, caricaturist, and etcher
(1895-1987)
Born: Ridgefield, Connecticut
“The aim of a caricature is to heighten and intensify to the point of absurdity all the subject’s most striking attributes; a caricature should not necessarily stop at ridiculing the features but should include in its extravagant appraisal whatever of the figure may be needed to explain the personality, the whole drawing imparting a spicy and clairvoyant comment upon the subject’s peculiarities.”
— Peggy Bacon
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Biography
An American illustrator, caricaturist, and etcher, born in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Peggy Bacon illustrated more than 60 books including works by George Ade, Carl Sandburg, and Louis Untermeyer, as well as her own poems and her stories for children.
Much of her work is satirical and lighthearted and frequently a commentary on the New York art world in the 1920s and 1930s. She also chose many ordinary events in the lives of city people, giving these pieces a wry twist.
Her shrewd and caustic observations have found expression in her writings and in her graphic work. Socialist Meeting (Metropolitan Museum) is characteristic. Among her published works are Off With Their Heads (1934); Cat-Calls (1935), a volume of light verse; and, for children, The Ghost of Opalina (1967) and Magic Touch (1968). Bacon was married (1920-40) to the painter Alexander Brook.
