Oscar Berger was born in Prešov, Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia) in 1901. He became a cartoonist in Prague and studied art in Paris and in Berlin before joining one of the largest daily newspapers in the German capital. His political cartoons angered Hitler and he was forced to flee Germany, arriving in London in 1935 where he worked for several notable publications before eventually leaving permanently to settle in the USA, where his career continued to flourish.
Cartoonist and caricaturist Oscar (Oskar) Berger was born in Prešov, Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia) in 1901. He became a cartoonist in Prague and studied art in Paris and at the Berlin School of Art in 1920. In Berlin, he secured an assignment with one of the largest daily newspapers and was one of the few journalists admitted to the 1923 trial in Munich following Hitler's abortive putsch in which he attempted to seize power from the Bavarian state government; Berger created cartoons of the trial and gained a reputation for his theatrical caricatures.
In 1933, following Hitler's accession to the chancellorship, Berger was forced to flee Germany as his cartoons angered the Führer. He travelled via Prague, Budapest, Paris, and Geneva, where he attended numerous sessions at the League of Nations. In 1935, he arrived and settled in London, where he secured a position with The Daily Telegraph. He also drew a series of celebrity caricatures for the Sunday Dispatch, and contributed to the pioneering photo-news magazine, Lilliput (founded by fellow émigré, Stefan Lorant), the Courier, and the News of the World. He also produced posters and advertising for prestigious corporate clients, including Shell, London Transport, and the Post Office. While attending the United Nations in the 1950s, he drew diplomats and world leaders, and became widely recognised for his caricatures of important figures and celebrities, with a special emphasis on politicians. Berger was held in such high regard that many notables, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, and King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, sat to him.
In the early 1950s, he immigrated to the USA, where he permanently resettled and became a naturalised citizen in 1955. He lived in Central Park South in Manhattan with his wife Aran (Anne) Varga, who was originally from Kispest, Hungary. His work subsequently appeared in Life, The New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune and Le Figaro, among numerous other publications. As well as producing cartoons and caricatures of popular figures and current events, Berger also published books of his drawings, including Aesop's Foibles (1947), a' la Carte - The Gourmet's Phantasmagoria in Fifty Cartoons (1948), Famous Faces - Caricaturist's Scrapbook (1950), My Victims - How to Caricature (1952), I Love You - A Selection of Love Poetry (1960), and The Presidents - From George Washington to the Present (1968). He died in New York in 1997. His works are represented in public collections, including in the London Transport Museum in the UK, and in the New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut, and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. in the USA.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Oscar Berger]
Publications related to [Oscar Berger] in the Ben Uri Library