Emile Mercier (cartoonist)
| Emile Mercier | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 August 1901 Nouméa, New Caledonia |
| Died | 17 March 1981 Sydney |
| Occupation | Printmaker, cartoonist, illustrator, translator |
| Nationality | French New Caledonian |
| Period | 1923–1981 |
Emile Mercier (1901–1981) was an Australian cartoonist.
He was born in Nouméa, New Caledonia on 10 August 1901, the son of a French baker. He came to Australia in 1919 and took a clerical position with a commercial house doing translations during the day and spending the evenings taking classes at Julian Ashton's Art School. In the early 1920s following the sale of one of his drawings to a Sydney newspaper he quit his job to make a living from drawing. Constrained by his limited command of English and unable to sell further drawings Mercier took a variety of jobs, including office boy, working on coastal ships, a spruiker at the Royal Easter Show, acting in stage melodramas. From the 1920s to 1940 he worked as a freelance artist selling cartoons and illustrations to Melbourne Punch, Smith's Weekly, The Bulletin and other smaller publications. In 1940 he obtained regular freelance work with Truth and The Daily Mirror. He created two comic strips for Truth, News Splashes and Week Spots. In 1941 Pen Pushers commenced in the ABC Weekly and soon after he linked up with Frank Johnson Publications.
In 1949 Mercier was employed as a cartoonist on a full-time basis with Sydney's The Sun newspaper, a position he held until his retirement in 1968.
Mercier's work was aimed squarely at the lower-middle class Australian reader. His daily single-panel newspaper cartoons were often topical, and mildly satirical. His humour took a neutral stance in politics, preferring to poke fun at politicians in general, rather than any recognisable figure. Generally, Mercier encouraged his readers to laugh at the vicissitudes of daily life. Some of his regular targets included drunks and tramps, fads and fashions in dress or house design, horse-racing, golf, food prices and motoring, all of interest to 1950s Australians.
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