Born in London, David Langdon studied at the London School of Economics. From 1937 he was a regular contributor to Punch and from 1948 a cartoonist for Mirror Group newspapers. His work has also appeared in Radio Times and Paris Match, and he illustrated a number of humorous books. Langdon’s work appeared on a number of advertising campaigns but the wartime Billy Brown character is probably the best remembered. Langdon was a member of the London Sketch Club in the 1940s.
Information taken from: London Transport Museum Database, February 2000, Farman, J., ‘galleryonthegreen.co.uk’,http://www.galleryonthegreen.co.uk/mainfiles/sketch/history.htm, accessed October 03 2003
“David Langdon, who was born in London in 1914, probably had more cartoons published in “Punch” than any other single contributor, drawing at least 5000 cartoons for that magazine alone over a period of 55 years (1937-92), thereby also making him one of the longest-serving artists ever. His work has appeared widely in Britain and the USA and is notable for its economical, deceptively simple style. As one commentator has put it, Langdon’s world is “peopled by quaint souls who wear a continual look of surprise, who are obviously trying very hard to do their various jobs seriously – and failing. For they all prove themselves to be unconscious comedians”. He also claims to have been the first to introduce “open mouth” into humorous art, has written and illustrated numerous books and contributed to a great many well-known advertising campaigns. David Langdon was awarded an OBE for his work in 1988 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cartoon Art Trust in 2001. This book brings together nearly 200 of his finest drawings from 1937 to 2002.” (Amazon)
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