Artist Profile | Cartoon & Caricature

Anton Reisenger

Anton was born in 1927 in Rankovci, Murska Sobota, Slovenia, but from his early days he lived in Zagreb, where he finished primary and secondary school and graduated in architecture. Since his childhood he was interested in the comic strip, Reisinger also tried this type of visual narratives. In the entertainment weekly "Petko" the comic historical issue "The Collapse of the Stone Summit" was published in 1952, which was his only trip to the so-called. Great popularity was experienced by his comics about ŠTEFEK and his family, published between 1964 and 1966 in "Blue Vjesnik". The first cartoons were published when he was still in high school in the humorous weekly "Shiloh" (Zagreb, 1943), and he settled permanently in the humorous weekly "Kerempuh" (Zagreb), of which he has been a constant contributor from 1946 to the present. publication ceased in 1958. In 1950 he joined the "Vjesnik" publishing house, where he worked as a cartoonist and cartoonist until his retirement in 1986, but he also continued to deal intensely with caricature. From 1960 to 1993, cartoons from "Pen" were published in the "Vjesnik" column, humorously commenting on current affairs and opportunities in society. By his account, he drew some 30,000 cartoons and illustrations. Cartoons with Reisinger's notes from "Vjesnik" and "Vjesnik on Wednesday" and other Croatian newspapers are often published and respected all over the world. He drew equally virtuoso in black and white and in great color, published in a series of editions of local and international magazines (perennial collaboration in the "Start", the Dutch "Panorama", the Swiss "Nebelsparteru", the German "Quick", the British "Punch" and others.) Abroad he has released several albums with cartoonish thematic cycles ("Good People", "High Society", "Have a good trip!", "Five laps", "Love, love") In the album "War and Peace" (Zagreb, 1995) he presented his satirical chronicle of the war years during the breakup of Yugoslavia, and in the book "Pen" (Zagreb, 1997) he published a selection of cartoons from the section of the same name. "Vjesnik". In addition to participating in numerous group exhibitions, he held several individual exhibitions at home and abroad, and in September 2008 he prepared a major retrospective exhibition at Klovićevi dvori in Zagreb. He has won numerous awards at cartoon festivals in Belgium, South Korea, Croatia, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, Portugal, and Turkey. As the doyen of Croatian cartoonists, he received numerous social and professional awards, including the "Vladimir Nazor" State Lifetime Achievement Award, the City of Zagreb Award and the Croatian Association of Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award. Reisinger was a successful newspaper illustrator, illustrator, and designer of books, posters, drawings, film set design, tourist brochure writing, industrial design, and other forms of artistic pursuits. As one of the participants in the early days of our cartoon, he painted the background for the films "Big Meeting" and "Goool!". With Reisinger's departure, Croatian and international cartooning lost one of its brightest representatives, the caricaturist, an irreplaceable member of the Croatian Society, which, due to its simplicity, characterizes great artists and people who represent a model and encouragement for younger colleagues in making caricatures. On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, at the age of 89, Otto Anton Reisinger, a legendary Croatian cartoonist and a great name in European and world cartooning, passed away.