Duncan Macpherson

Duncan Ian Macpherson, CM (September 20, 1924 in Toronto – May 3, 1993 in Beaverton, Ontario) was a Canadian editorial cartoonist. He drew for the Montreal Standard (starting 1948) and for Maclean's, illustrating the writings of Gregory Clark and Robert Thomas Allen. He is most famous for his humorous political cartoons for the Toronto Star; from 1958 until 1993. His syndicated cartoons appeared in seven other Canadian newspapers, in Time, The New York Times, Chicago Daily News and nearly 150 newspapers across the world.

Career Born in Toronto, Macpherson dropped out of high school in 1941, aged 17 to join the Royal Canadian Air Force and serve in World War II. While stationed in England, he began taking art classes, and also studied the cartoons of British cartoonist David Low. In 1958, he joined the Toronto Star where readers tended to identify with "the poor little guy" in his cartoons. His work has been described as "a combination of Mary Poppins, Mark Twain, and Attila the Hun" with "peerless draftsmanship in the classical tradition — savagery made sublime". but his humour always was directed against pomposity of all kinds.

In 1965, Macpherson exhibited his work with its bold and distinctive brushwork On April 25, 1993, Macpherson retired a second time from the Star, and died eight days later.

There is a Duncan Macpherson fonds at Library and Archives Canada. The archival reference number is R5671. The material in the fonds dates from 1958 to 1988. It consists of 1,399 drawings and 18 watercolours. In 2013, aided by the R. Howard Webster Foundation and the Toronto Star newspaper, the McCord Museum purchased and made available online a complete collection of Duncan Macpherson editorial cartoons, known as the Duncan Macpherson Fonds in the McCord Museum, 751 caricatures and illustrations created by Macpherson.

Political cartoons Duncan Macpherson was well known for his ruthless style. Terry Mosher refers to him as the "king of the third wave." One of Macpherson's most celebrated cartoons featured John Diefenbaker as Marie Antoinette saying "Let them eat cake," after Diefenbaker cancelled the Avro Arrow project and its 14,000 jobs. Pierre Berton said this cartoon was "the beginning, I think, of the country's disillusionment with the Diefenbaker government...scarcely anybody had taken a crack at Diefenbaker until then."

Awards and honours Molson Prize: 1971. National Newspaper Award for Editorial Cartooning: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965, 1970, 1972. Royal Academy of Arts Medal (1966). Inducted posthumously into the Giants of the North Hall of Fame, as part of the 2018 Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning.

Stamp news In 2021, Canada Post honoured Macpherson with a stamp featuring his black-and-white "Thirsty or Hungry?" design, highlighting U.S. interests in Canada. It shows a large cat representing the United States sitting behind a fishbowl with the phrase "POWER RESEVOIR"[sic] along the waterline and a small fish with "CANADA" across its side. It was the fourth in a set of five honouring Canadian editorial cartoonists.