Gerry Gersten

Gerry Gersten (born October 17th, 1927, New York City - died January 12th, 2017) was a political caricaturist, known for his pencil on vellum technique.

Gerry Gersten grew up in the Bronx, born to Polish Jewish immigrant parents who didn't believe in his calling. “I remember once picking up a copy of Life magazine and saying to them, ‘A page in this magazine would cost an advertiser $50,000, of course you can make a living in this field,’” he recalls. “But I couldn’t convince them. They wanted me to be an accountant.” Gersten studied at Cooper Union.

Gersten drew hundreds of illustrations for publications such as The New York Times, New York, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, Harpers, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Harper's and Playboy.

His work also adorned many record covers for RCA. On March 29, 1973 his work adorned the cover of Rolling Stone, with a depiction of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show.

In 1986, he began work for Mad, drawing political caricatures of public figures, for MAD's brand of satire.

Through these notable assignments, Gersten gained international acclaim, and has collected awards from The Society of Illustrators, The Art Director's Club, and The Society of Publication Designers. His work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, the Spectrum Gallery, the Daz-marcel Gallery in New York City, various galleries in Connecticut, the Museum of American Illustration, and the Cornell Museum.

Gerstein died on January 12th, 2017 after a long battle with Parkinson's. Mad included a tribute to Gersten and his career in issue 545 of that publication.