Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Al Kaufman gags it up

Al Kaufman was an American gag cartoonist whose work appeared virtually everywhere for many years. I've found over 20 examples alone in the book, YOU'VE GOT ME IN THE SUBURBS, edited by Lawrence Lariar. As you can see by the credit lines on each cartoon Kaufman's work covered a wide range of publications. His gags were witty. His drawing was solid and his inking spontaneous.

I'm unable to find out anything personal about Kaufman, birthdate or otherwise. If you have any information on Al Kaufman please share it with us.

YOU'VE GOT ME IN THE SUBURBS Copyright © 1957 Lawrence Lariar























6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know that Al Kaufman was Jewish. I own a piece of his work - a black and white drawing of a Jew (possibly a rabbi) reading the Torah in front of the western wall. It is #66 of 150.
I, too, would like to know more about Al Kaufman.

Unknown said...

I also am trying to find out some information about Al Kaufman. He is my father's first cousin. Unfortunately, all the cousins or anyone with any information is gone??? My dad was very proud that his cousin's work was in all the major magazines of the 50's. He has a distant relative through marriage still alive in Palm Desert, California, he also have some niece's still living, also his brother's wife may still be alive. He might of lived in the Connecticut area at one time. That is all I know. info please

Unknown said...

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/190614

The Art Institute of Chicago has Al Kaufman listed as American born in 1917

Couchhman said...

I have a large collection of Kaufman originals, his address listed on them is in Elberon, NJ.

Jeff said...

I grew up next to Al or Uncle Al, as I called him when I was young. He Lived in Oakhurst, NJ. Al passed away in the late 70's. Leaving behind his wife Rhoda, and a son Van, who played the stand-up base. Al would draw tattoos on both my brother and myself. Pin-up girls, sailors, anchors, dragons, fish, whatever we asked for. I wish I had the cartoons he drew for us on paper to hang in our rooms. A great man!

missziss said...

I'm his niece!
I have wonderful memories of visiting him in Jersey.
He was ALWAYS entertaining me with doodles.
I have a few original cartoons and early work from his youth as well as photos of him as a young man, but they're all in storage.
He used to paint objects and I have three painted rocks sitting here on my desk as I write this.
Happy to post photos if you're interested.
Best,
Debra Ziss
www.debraziss.com (yeah, I'm an illustrator too)