Jules Feiffer on the Artists and Works from His Collection

From Swann Auction Galleries.

David Levine, Jules Feiffer with Cigar, 1983, unpublished.

Jules Feiffer’s career spans decades, producing a remarkable range of projects and generating numerous awards and honors. 

His contributions to the field of comics since his start in the late 1940s have been recognized with his induction into the Comic Book Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Writers Guild of America. 

His satirical strip, Feiffer, which explored contemporary politics and social issues, ran for 42 years and earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1986. 

He produced scripts for plays and films, including Robert Altman’s Popeye (1980), and won the 1961 Academy Award for the animated short Munro, directed by Gene Deitch. 

Yet it was the artistic brilliance of Will Eisner’s comic strip The Spirit that shaped his path as an illustrator and author and gave him his start.

At the age of 16, Feiffer worked as an assistant to Eisner on The Spirit, contributing to the groundbreaking newspaper strip that revolutionized the comics medium. 

Feiffer’s admiration for artists like Eisner spurred his development as a writer and cartoonist, leading to his distinctive gestural inking style. 

By the time he was offered a comic strip in The Village Voice in 1956, Feiffer was well-positioned to become a prominent voice in the emerging counterculture of the late 1950s and early ’60s. 

Through it all, Feiffer’s admiration grew for artists such as David Levine, Ed Sorel, and Milton Caniff, fueling his passion for collecting their work and leading to many personal relationships. 

Today, Feiffer inspires a new generation of artists who revere him as he did his own heroes. 

This collection, amassed by Feiffer, records his enduring enthusiasm for comic art and his lasting friendships.

Feiffer shares in his own words his memories of working with his fellow artists.