posted on 21 Jan 2024

Cherrywood Cannon by Ralph Steadman

It is remarkable how few illustrated books – picture books if you will – have been produced for an adult readership in recent times. There seems to be a shared cultural perception that somehow picture books are for children and ‘real’ adult books are full of words – pictures for an adult audience carries with it the suggestion that this makes them ‘easy’ or, at any rate, not serious.

I can think of only a relatively small number of titles where the picture book format has been used by some of the very best illustrators for an adult audience – Quentin Blake, John Burnigham and Shirley Hughes for example. But these have tended to be rather light-hearted looks at travel or old age and don’t necessarily explore some of the darker themes that the likes of Gerald Scarfe or Ronald Searle would regularly explore back in the Sixties and Seventies. Perhaps the one honourable exception to this is Michael Foreman who has regularly produced picture books that explore the theme of war and memories of war – but again I think the assumed audience for these is the ‘young adult’ market and that’s usually where you’ll find them kept in a bookshop. God forbid they should find their way into the adult book sections!

Maybe the answer lies in the growth of the graphic novel that seems to be blossoming at the moment. While these are very different in conception to an illustrated picture book, they do seem to provide a bridge that can take readers who find too many words forbidding into a world of storytelling that in some way reflects the experience of reading comics and makes them feel more comfortable with sticking with extended reading times.

But I think something is being lost when adults don’t see picture books as their territory. In the hands of great illustrator’s books on some of the most difficult themes can be powerful and expressive works of art. Top of my list when it comes to thought-provoking and visceral picture book writing/drawing is the brilliant Ralph Steadman. I was reminded of what an extraordinary and rare artist he is when I came across his 1978 publication, Cherrywood Cannon.

The story of the Cherrywood Cannon is accredited as being a tale ‘told to him by Dimitri Sidjanski' and feels like a parable for the current desperate state of conflict across the world:

“It is a fable of war and peace, the story of a people so transformed and disfigured by hate that at one point Steadman actually considered drawing masks on the to hide their ugliness. The idea was discarded when he came to draw the enemy and found that he could not - the enemy didn't exist. The only enemy in the story was the people's hatred and fear, and this had to be shown to the fullest.”

The story of the abuse of power, blind, irrational hatred and the sorrow and ugliness of war is a universal message in whatever age it is read but, in truth, the power of the book doesn’t lie in the story and the words, true as they are, but in the astonishing drawings. Copyright prevents me from reproducing the drawings here but you can get a good flavour of them if you go to Steadman’s own website - https://www.ralphsteadman.com/collection/cherry-can/ - and you will see how their raw power says more than any words could.

At this point in our history we need this kind of immediate and unequivocal shock to our systems more than any other time I can remember. Great illustrators and great picture books can be a profound experience – we need more of them - now.

 

Terry Potter

January 2024