Original pencil sketch by political cartoonist Alois Derso, showing the 'father of the atomic bomb,' J. Robert Oppenheimer, wearing his trademark porkpie hat as he paces through a field, drawn on an off-white 8.25 x 11 sheet, signed and dated along the bottom by the artist, "Derso, June 5/1950." Derso also identifies the subject, "Oppenheimer," at the top, and sketches a simple atomic model at the bottom. In fine condition.
The Hungarian cartoonist Aloïs Derso (1888-1964) and fellow Hungarian artist Emery Kelèn served as unofficial caricaturists to the League of Nations in Geneva, then emigrated to New York, where they performed the same role for the United Nations. Their caricatures appeared in leading newspapers, as illustrations to books and in their own portfolios of lithographs and works such as The United Nations Sketchbook (1950). Their archive is held at Princeton University, and they are the subject of a recent monograph by Stefan Slater and David MacFadyen.
