July 28, 2004 Ann Telnaes Exhibition Extended to Sept. 11

Due to its popularity, the Library of Congress exhibition, "Humor's Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes," will be extended to Sept. 11, 2004. It was originally scheduled to close on Sept. 4.

The exhibition is on view in the Great Hall of the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.

Ann Telnaes is a leading editorial cartoonist and the second woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in her field, editorial cartooning.

The exhibition consists of approximately 60 original drawings donated to the Library by Ann Telnaes, whose striking, streamlined style enhances her pointed commentary on national and international issues. Using minimal text, spare composition and bold forms enlivened with telling detail, Telnaes creates distinctive images that forcefully convey political content.

A resident of Washington's Capitol Hill, Telnaes has made generous gifts of drawings to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division in the past. Cartoons in the exhibition were selected from these gifts and include examples of recent and early political cartoons, her 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning work and her drawings for the popular comic strip "Six Chix," which she produces with five other women.

Pomegranate Communications, in association with the Library of Congress, has published an illustrated book titled "Humor's Edge: Cartoons by Ann Telnaes," which contains 87 cartoons, including those in the exhibition; an extensive interview of Telnaes conducted by co-curator Harry Katz; a biographical essay on her life and work; artist's sketches; and detailed captions that provide the historical context for each cartoon. The book is available for sale at the Library's sales shop in the Jefferson Building.

The exhibition and an accompanying brochure are funded through the generous support of the Caroline and Erwin Swann Memorial Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon. The Swann Foundation showcases the collections of the Library of Congress in rotating exhibitions and promotes the continuing Swann Foundation program in the study of cartoon, caricature and illustration, while also offering a provocative and informative selection of works by artists from the past and present.

For more information about the exhibition and related programming, e-mail swann@loc.gov, or visit the Swann Web site at www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/swannhome.html.