Cliff Sterrett
Encyclopedia
Clifford Sterrett was an innovative comic strip
cartoonist who created the influential Polly and Her Pals
.
Born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota
, where his father was a druggist, Cliff Sterrett was of Scandinavian ancestry. His mother died when he was two; Cliff and his younger brother Paul were then raised by a maiden aunt, Sallie Johnson, after their father moved to Seattle.
With a letter of introduction from a local Episcopal clergyman, the 18-year-old Sterrett moved to New York, where he enrolled in the Chase Art School for two years of study. He signed on at the New York Herald
in 1904 as a staff art assistant and submitted cartoons to the New York Telegram, embarking on his first comic strips: Ventriloquial Vag, Merry Ha-Ha, When a Man’s Married, Before and After and For This We Have Daughters. Leaving the Telegram, he drew illustrations for The New York Times
.
) in order to concentrate on the Sunday strip
. Sterrett also created the Sunday "topper" strips Dot and Dash, and Belles and Wedding Belles.
Sterrett's work was influenced by the abstract art
of the early 1920s, incorporating "striking patterns of abstraction much in the style of cubism
and surrealism
." Coulton Waugh
regarded this as an innovative step forward, noting that Sterrett's style "appeared in Polly long before modern art was accepted by American art critics."
's Boots and Her Buddies
, Chic Young
's Blondie
and Fritzi Ritz, the comic strip by Larry Whittington that later spawned Nancy
. Although Polly and Her Pals was highly influential, it was never wildly popular and lacked the merchandising and spin-off books associated with other strips.
The comic was not only remarkable for its creation of a new subgenre and prototype, but also for its cubism-inspired graphics. It is now regarded as one of the masterpieces of American comic strips for its graphic design, storytelling and unique humor, while Sterrett is lauded as a leading graphic stylist and innovator.
When Polly and Her Pals was included in the Library of Congress
exhibition Cartoon America, it was praised for its unique graphic style and ranked alongside Krazy Kat
as the epitome of the Art Deco
style in comics. Sterrett had considerable influence on later cartoonists, including Jules Feiffer
.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
cartoonist who created the influential Polly and Her Pals
Polly and Her Pals
Polly and Her Pals is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Cliff Sterrett, which ran from 1912 until 1958. It is regarded as one of the most graphically innovative strips of the 20th century...
.
Born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Fergus Falls is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,138 at the 2010 census.-Today:...
, where his father was a druggist, Cliff Sterrett was of Scandinavian ancestry. His mother died when he was two; Cliff and his younger brother Paul were then raised by a maiden aunt, Sallie Johnson, after their father moved to Seattle.
With a letter of introduction from a local Episcopal clergyman, the 18-year-old Sterrett moved to New York, where he enrolled in the Chase Art School for two years of study. He signed on at the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
in 1904 as a staff art assistant and submitted cartoons to the New York Telegram, embarking on his first comic strips: Ventriloquial Vag, Merry Ha-Ha, When a Man’s Married, Before and After and For This We Have Daughters. Leaving the Telegram, he drew illustrations for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
.
Polly and Her Pals
At the New York Evening Journal he launched Polly and Her Pals (originally called Positive Polly) in 1912. Sterrett eventually turned the daily strip over to others (notably Paul Fung and Vernon GreeneVernon Greene
Vernon Van Atta Greene was a prolific cartoonist and illustrator who worked on several comic strips and was best known for his artwork on Bringing Up Father....
) in order to concentrate on the Sunday strip
Sunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
. Sterrett also created the Sunday "topper" strips Dot and Dash, and Belles and Wedding Belles.
Sterrett's work was influenced by the abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
of the early 1920s, incorporating "striking patterns of abstraction much in the style of cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
." Coulton Waugh
Coulton Waugh
Frederick Coulton Waugh was a cartoonist, painter, teacher and author, best known for his illustration work on the comic strip Dickie Dare and his book The Comics , the first major study of the field.His father was the marine artist Frederick Judd Waugh, and his grandfather was the Philadelphia...
regarded this as an innovative step forward, noting that Sterrett's style "appeared in Polly long before modern art was accepted by American art critics."
Girl strips
Polly was the first of numerous comic strips about flirting pretty girls, including Edgar MartinEdgar Martin
Edgar Everett Martin , known to his family and friends as Abe Martin, was an American cartoonist, who kept his comic strip, Boots and Her Buddies, running for decades, eventually reaching an audience of 60,000,000 readers.Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the youth moved with his family to Nashville,...
's Boots and Her Buddies
Boots and Her Buddies
Boots and Her Buddies is an American comic strip by Edgar Everett Martin. Syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association, it ran from 1924 to 1969. Some newspapers ran the strip under the shortened title Boots...
, Chic Young
Chic Young
Murat Bernard Young , better known as Chic Young, was an American cartoonist who created the popular, long-running comic strip Blondie. His 1919 William McKinley High School Yearbook cites his nickname as Chicken, source of his familiar pen name and signature...
's Blondie
Blondie (comic strip)
Blondie is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip has been published in newspapers since September 8, 1930...
and Fritzi Ritz, the comic strip by Larry Whittington that later spawned Nancy
Nancy (comic strip)
Nancy is an American daily and Sunday comic strip, originally written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller and distributed by United Feature Syndicate....
. Although Polly and Her Pals was highly influential, it was never wildly popular and lacked the merchandising and spin-off books associated with other strips.
The comic was not only remarkable for its creation of a new subgenre and prototype, but also for its cubism-inspired graphics. It is now regarded as one of the masterpieces of American comic strips for its graphic design, storytelling and unique humor, while Sterrett is lauded as a leading graphic stylist and innovator.
When Polly and Her Pals was included in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
exhibition Cartoon America, it was praised for its unique graphic style and ranked alongside Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat
Krazy Kat is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George Herriman, published daily in newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It first appeared in the New York Evening Journal, whose owner, William Randolph Hearst, was a major booster for the strip throughout its run...
as the epitome of the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style in comics. Sterrett had considerable influence on later cartoonists, including Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
.