Louise Brooks – Caricatures and Illustrations (European)

  As an actress and as a celebrity, Louise Brooks was the subject of a fair amount of press — from profiles and interviews in newspapers and magazines to mentions in numerous gossip columns. Photographs of Brooks also appeared in all manner of publications, as did illustrations. These visual depictions included drawings, spot illustrations, and most significantly, caricatures. Some were intended to depict Brooks as a “personality” or celebrity, while some were editorial illustrations which either accompanied an article or stood on their own. Others were used in the promotion of a film, or accompanied editorial coverage of a movie.

This section of the Louise Brooks Society website highlights illustrations and caricatures of Louise Brooks. Besides the Caricatures and Illustrations (HUB page) (which contains a few examples of contemporary images), below are links to three pages of vintage examples.

CARICATURES & ILLUSTRATIONS (AMERICAN)  ||  CARICATURES & ILLUSTRATIONS (EUROPEAN)  ||  CARICATURES & ILLUSTRATIONS (ELSEWHERE)

Pictured below are a examples of the vintage caricatures and illustrations of Louise Brooks from various countries in Europe. These examples come from Austria, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia and (via the United States) Poland. The latter piece, by D.G. Shore, originally appeared in an American film magazine and was subsequently run in magazines in France and Poland. It later showed up on the binding of Ado Kyrou’s Amour-erotisme et cinema  (Terrain Vague, 1957).

Austria – 1928 anonymous newspaper illustration	Latvia – 1928 illegible signature	Germany – 1928 illegible signature	England – 1929 magazine caricature by Tom Titt
Germany – 1929 anonymous	Germany – 1929 anonymous	France – 1929 R. Houy	Hungary – 1930 anonymous magazine illustration
Spain – 1930 unknown artist	Spain – 1930 magazine caricature by Cebrián	Spain – 1930 magazine caricature by Cebrián	Poland – 1930 D.G. Shore

 

There are a number of drawn illustrations of Louise Brooks created for the promotion of her three European films. Here are just a few examples:

Pandora’s Box studio illustration by H. Sch.	Pandora’s Box studio illustration by H. Sch.	Diary of a Lost Girl studio illustration by R.D.	Prix de beaute studio illustration by PP