Provocative cartoons that brought artist Gerhard Haderer to prison

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The art of satirical caricature, being not only the most peaceful, but also a formidable weapon, provokes humanity to think about the modern world, over what it really is. Today we will also reflect on it together with the works of the infamous satirist from Austria Gerhard Haderer.

Looking at how humanity began to live in recent decades, many more and more often ask a rhetorical question: where is our modern world heading, what will an irresponsible attitude towards all living things lead to, and what to do with it? Sometimes we do not notice many terrifying things that seem familiar and insignificant, but they suddenly begin to change their meaning as soon as you look at them from the outside. And it is the cartoonists who help to see the vices of modern life, whose satire pen mercilessly reveals the weaknesses of a person.

A little about Gerhard Haderer

Gerhard Haderer was born in 1951 in Leonding, not far from Linz (Austria). From a young age, possessing an extraordinary ability to transform artistic images, Gerhard studied advertising graphics and the art of engraving. Then, in search of his own style and direction in creativity, the young graphic artist worked as a decorator and advertising artist. It cannot be said that his work was not interesting, but that was not what the fine organization of the artist's soul was striving for. Having transferred an oncological operation in 1985 and rethinking his purpose, Haderer leaves the commercial illustration and advertising business, which seemed to him too mercantile, and becomes a free satirical artist.

And years later, it was the caricature that became the main and lasting core of the artist's work, it was in it that his unique gift manifested itself.

Gerhard's debut in the local press and in the satirical magazine Watzmann3 brought him considerable success, and soon a weekly page was set aside for his work in Profil and Stern. A little more time will pass, and Gerhard will begin to hold personal exhibitions of his creations, and publish a series of cartoons, combining them into whole book editions.

And since the nineties, the cartoonist will be on the crest of world fame and become the most recognizable modern satirical draftsman, and his topical works for decades will become the most replicated in many periodicals in Europe.

For more than thirty years, the satirical cartoonist, Gerhard Haderer has openly exposed the problems of modern people, challenging them and knowing exactly what, when and how to send the viewer to “explode”, gushing with speeches, disputes and discussions, or excuses.

His topical works, striking with truthful frankness and irony, spare no one and nothing, although they often entail persecution of the author himself and litigation against him. Recall at least the scandalous story associated with a series of illustrations published in the book "The Life of Jesus", where the artist touched on a topic related to the Catholic Church. It was in it that the author ridiculed not only human vices, but also made fun of religion, exposing it in a different, slightly impartial light, which caused a lot of disagreements, doubts and mistrust among believers and atheists.

In 2005, for such sedition, the artist even had a chance to appear before a Greek court, which sentenced him to 6 months of probation for insulting the feelings of believers. At that time, this case took a very resonant turn. The artist was accused of disregarding religious dogmas. However, the court's decision itself provoked rather stormy and not the most flattering debates among representatives of the Austrian public, the church, as well as in government circles. As a result, the verdict was overturned on appeal, and Haderer was acquitted.

The satirist himself reacted to the resonant case as follows:

And what can I say, the scandalous story did not frighten Haderer at all and did not silence him, he still continues to tell the unpleasant truth about humanity through his satire. After all, his work is a very sharp mixture, which always hits the set goal accurately, leaving no chance for salvation. His poignant cartoons reveal the weaknesses, flaws and vanity of modern society with evil satire and poignant humor.

And what is interesting, almost every viewer will be able to find himself in his cartoons, even despite the fact that not everyone can admit their weaknesses.

No less interesting a selection of cartoons of the modern world, mired in digital technologies, the Internet, social networks, which in our century have almost completely captured humanity.