Gerald Scarfe, cartoonist
Date: 1971
Region: Europe
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Print Journalism
Artist: Gerald Scarfe, cartoonist (b. 1936)
Confronting Bodies: Councillor Clive W. Venn, chairman of Newport Corporation's amenity and leisure services committee
Date of Action: May, 1971
Location: Londan, England
Description of Artwork: Scarfe depicted Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the nude and surrounded by the Gnomes of Zurich. His cartoons often contain images of genitalia and fully naked figures. His cartoon of Princess Diana being raped by the media has never been published in a newspaper. His cartoon of Mao Zedong was unpopular with Chinese printers and his cartoon of Ronald Reagan was unpopular with the owner of the Times Newspapers, Rupert Murdoch.
The Incident: Councillor Venn called Scarfe's work "lavatory wall artistry" and convinced the Newport Art Gallery to remove the artist's work depicting Wilson.
Results of Incident: Scarfe has enjoyed a successful career as a political cartoonist since 1967 at The Sunday Times.
Source: The Independent, http://news.independent.co.uk