David Levine
2005 - 2008
Every art form and every artistic “tribe” has its heroes. The art of David Levine, beyond any doubt, sets him as one of the greatest references in the world of the editorial cartoon. He is one of our heroes.
The unmistakable lines of his creations have influenced generations of press cartoonists around the world. The plastic quality of his works is always accompanied by a highly refined editorial sensitivity. Every Levine drawing is a lesson in the art of ‘reading’ the world, as well as showing the reader how to observe it through different eyes.
In inviting David Levine to be the Honorary President of the World Press Cartoon, we seek to accomplish an immense double mission: first, to pay tribute to a Master and second, to declare an ambition. The Master will always receive homage in the form of admiration for his works. The ambition is what burns in us and inspires us. It is best expressed in our desire to emulate symbolically, within the context of a press cartoon salon, the excellence that the Master cultivated and represented.
By accepting our invitation in 2005, David Levine became a brother in arms in this endeavor, in the last years of his life, to our great honor. On that occasion, he sent us the beautiful message reproduced here.
Hermenegildo Sàbat
2010 - 2018
Hermenegildo Sabat and David Levine shared a lifelong passion for freedom of the press. And they cultivated the art of cartooning as the ultimate form of practicing and defending it. When David Levine died, in December 2009, Sabat took his place almost automatically.
By then World Press Cartoon had already established itself internationally as a reference for graphic humour in the press. Among Levine's enormous legacy, for us there was the great responsibility of continuing to guarantee the quality and global dimension of an event to which he has left his name associated and which he generously sponsored.
We could not have found a better successor than Master Hermenegildo Sábat. Sábat have been with World Press Cartoon since its inception. He was a member of our first jury in 2005 and contributed to the growth of our organization with his advice, his experience, and his presence at decisive moments. Sábat's published work and international prestige speak elequently about his human and artistic dimension.
We were honored to carry the privilege of having him as Honorary President between 2010 and 2018, when he left us, continuing to work to make World Press Cartoon the global hall where authors from all continents, all cultures and all sensibilities can compete for awards that distinguish talent, creativity and the courage to show us, with a smile, the facts and protagonists who bring newspapers around the world to life every day.
Hermenegildo Sábat's beautiful message is reproduced here.
