The Art of the Fat Cat

A  cartoon gallery, created by cartoonist Matt Wuerker, in Politico Magazine.

From left to right (top row) Thomas Nast, Dorman H. Smith, Victor Juhasz, Brad Holland, Tad, (middle row) Joseph Keppler, Frank Nankivell, Art Young, Herblock, Patrik Oliphant, (bottom row) Bill Crawford, Ann Telnaes, Gary Brookins, Martin Rowson, G. E. Ciani, J. Keppler, Alfred Owen Crozier and Matt Taibbi.

Down through the Gilded Ages and all the boom-to-bust bubbles, one icon of American cartoonography has proven unshakable. There’s something about the symbol of big money in politics that always bends toward the pinstriped cigar-chomping fat cat and the voracious vampire squid. Of course, Mr. Moneybags has had a makeover and update or two over the years, but our “malefactors of great wealth” haven’t been able to shake the avatar penned by us ink-stained wretches for a couple centuries now.

A small sample:

Brad Holland works in the deeper, darker end of the metaphorical pool.
Famous for the gravitas he’s brought to the editorial pages of the New York Times for decades, his update to Nast’s Moneybags is the stuff of nightmares.

Ann Telnaes prefers her fat cats in furs and three-piece suits.

If anyone could apply for the copyright, Martin Rowson should, since he’s perfected the fatuous feline in pinstripes. His version has appeared for years in Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
Not afraid to turn the world into a scratch toy, Rowson’s fat cat often can be found doing foul things in his metaphorical litter box as well (British cartoonists get to go so many places American cartoonists would never dare go).