Caricatures By Barry Fantoni At London Portrait Gallery

Fantoni's involvement in the media world of the 1960s gave him a unique perspective when creating these portraits. After studying Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art, Fantoni joined the staff of the magazine, Private Eye, as cartoonist and columnist. He also wrote scripts for the BBC's groundbreaking satirical show That Was the Week That Was. In 1966 he became a television star himself, hosting the fashion and music programme, A Whole Scene Going On, where Twiggy made her television debut, and for which he was voted Television Personality of the Year.

Fantoni worked as a caricaturist for the RadioTimes from the mid-1960s. Founded in 1923 to preview BBC radio programmes, it incorporated television listings in the early 1950s. From its conception, the Radio Times was a showcase for the finest contemporary illustrators and Fantoni joined an illustrious pantheon of artists, including William Heath Robinson, Edward Ardizzone and Ronald Searle, who provided drawings for the magazine. Although photographic stills from television programmes were beginning to replace illustration by the time Fantoni was employed, caricatures were considered to be a potent alternative to the obsequious photographic portrait. Fantoni's style eschews extreme distortion, but subtly exaggerates features whilst adhering closely to the sitter's literal appearance.

Working from standard black and white publicity shots, Fantoni was required to produce finished artwork in a single day. He often knew very little about the shows or their stars, and there were no preview tapes. Fortunately, the comedy programme The Two Ronnies had been running for four years when he created the double portrait of its stars for the Radio Times in 1976, and was able to provide a witty observation of their relationship. Colour printing, introduced to the Radio Times in 1960, was expensive and only used occasionally, and Fantoni's 'cut-out-doll' feature, illustrating the many guises of comedian Dick Emery, was part of an eight-page special promoting the BBC's new season.

Fantoni worked as cartoonist for the BBC's other entertainment magazine, The Listener, for two decades from 1968. Until 1990 The Listener was 'the BBC's literary weekly', and included reviews and arts-related articles. Many of the caricatures in this display were created as part of a series of profiles of the 'face behind the voice'. The BBC launched the pop music channel, Radio One, in September 1967, and one of Fantoni's earliest commissions was a caricature of Tony Blackburn, its first DJ.

These caricatures provide a fascinating insight into the importance of illustration during this period in creating and popularising these media personalities.

This display is curated by Assistant Curator, Rosie Broadley. Commenting on this remarkable group of caricatures, she says: 'it is a valuable record of a period in recent history when entertainment publications were not reliant on candid photographs of stars, and the work of illustrators was still an essential means of popularising television and radio personalities'.

The exhibition runs through October 2007. -- www.npg.org.uk