Cartoon depicting Nelson Mandela's liberation, 25 January 1990. South African Prime Minister F.W. De Klerk opens his door, but through an optical illusion it appears as if De Klerk is simultaneously retrieving in a cage of his own.
Derek Bauer was a South African political cartoonist, who flourished between the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. He is notorious for his aggressive and biting political cartoons, particularly the ones made during the apartheid regime. His brutal, scrambled and blotched drawings have lost none of their vitriolic power. Bauer was the house cartoonist of The Weekly Mail (1985-1990), but also ran in The Argus and The Star. Many of his drawings caused controversy and were subject of government censorship. Already a legend during his lifetime, his career was tragically cut short by a fatal car accident. Derek Bauer should not be confused with U.S. cinematographer Derek Bauer.
Two comics caricaturing U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Early life and career
Derek Bauer was born in 1955 in East London, South Africa. He admired the work of cartoonists Gerald Scarfe and Ralph Steadman, but also of more classic artists like Francisco de Goya and George Grosz. He graduated as a graphic designer at East London Technicon after which he worked as a lay-out artist, renderer and eventually art director for De Villiers and Schonfeld, today known as Young and Rubicam. He eventually left the field of advertising and design and focused on drawing.
Political cartooning career
In October 1985, Bauer approached the newly founded newspaper The Weekly Mail in Johannesburg with a portfolio of drawings. He remained affiliated with the newspaper until 1990, drawing cartoons about national politics, international politics and sports in his personal column, 'Derek Bauer's World'. As a white man, Bauer was privileged under the apartheid regime, yet used his sharp pencil and pen to create dozens of cartoons fiercely critical of South Africa's government censorship, the racial injustice and brutalities of the regime. In the late 1980s, the South African government censored all criticism of its policies. Alternative newspapers were an important voice of rebellion, with Bauer rising as the most significant political cartoonist. While his colleagues often self-censored their drawings out of precaution, Bauer simply put his thoughts on paper, without caring whether it would bring him into trouble. His confrontational drawings challenged the reader, leaving him or her behind with a disturbed, uneasy feeling.
Interviewed in 1991, Bauer expressed his personal attitude as follows: "An artist only has a responsibility to his subject and to himself. Fuck the constituencies, fuck the political parties, fuck the political persuasions, fuck the mood of the day. You only have responsibilities to your artwork, to your subject, for yourself. If it is anything else, it then stops being art." Anton Harbert, editor of The Weekly Mail, once described Bauer as follows: “There are not many people who can make an editor worry about defamation in a caricature.”
One of Bauer's most famous cartoons depicts South African Prime Minister Botha in his palace, where a large crowd of protesters has gathered outside. A man informs him that "the people have come to say goodbye!". Misinterpreting the situation, the politician then replies: "Goodbye? I wonder where they're going?" This cartoon has been homaged with other politicians by other South African cartoonists like Enca Findlay and Zapiro ever since.
Censorship and controversy
In June 1986, large sections of The Weekly Mail were censored, with Bauer's cartoons completely blanked out. The P.W. Botha administration defended these actions as being part of emergency regulations. When the restrictions were loosened again, Bauer didn't let himself be silenced. In August 1987, he drew a cartoon about Tony Heard, editor of Cape Times, who was forced to resign under government pressure. He drew The Cape Times' managing editor Gordon Mulholland, mowing down free press with use of a scythe. This time Bauer's paper took the precaution to censor the cartoon beforehand. They removed the original caption "I love the smell of blood in the morning: In memoriam Tony Heard" and replaced it with the less offensive line: "Cape Times: the sickle is mightier than the pen."
On 12 September 1987, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko's death in a police cell, Bauer drew a gruesome portrait of Biko's corpse, head smashed in by police clubs. The image shocked many readers, but to Bauer the murder itself was far more shocking. In August 1988, Bauer depicted Minister of Defense Magnus Malan as a military tank accusing opponents of government censorship of being "the vanguard of those forces that are intent on wrecking the present dispensation and its renewal." The government instantly banned The Weekly Mail again.
Post-apartheid career
Bauer lived long enough to see P.W. Botha resign as Prime Minister in 1989. His successor, F.W. de Klerk, took important steps to dismantle apartheid, including letting political prisoner Nelson Mandela free in 1990. By 1993, apartheid was officially abolished in South Africa. A year later, Nelson Mandela was elected the country's first black President. While Bauer was one of the icons of the anti-apartheid movement, he was equally critical of any political party or ideology.
Recognition
Bauer's work has been included in a number of collections of South African cartoons and can be found in the National Gallery. He produced a book showcasing his best works from 1985 to 1987, called 'SA Flambé and other Recipes for Disaster'. The copy for this book was written by Bauer's wife, Susan de Villiers. In May 1991, the first exposition of Derek Bauer's work was held at Heritage Square. Several others followed, including a posthumous exhibition held at the Iziko South African National Gallery between 22 September 2017 and 30 April 2018.
Death, legacy and influence
In December 2001, Derek Bauer died in a car accident. He was only 45 or 46 years old. His work was an influence on Russ Cook, Chip Snaddon and Zapiro.
1989 homage cartoon by Derek Bauer to the Amsterdam comics store Lambiek, depicting our salesman Klaas Knol and founder Kees Kousemaker.