In the 1920s John Held Jr., like no other artist before him, used an abstract cartooning and comic illustration approach to capture the essence of a whole young generation. His thin, angular girls with long legs, short skirts, and pouty lips were cute and provocative—and the symbols of social revolution.
John Held, Jr., Life magazine cover, 1926
Illustration (detail) above: John Held Jr.
Russell Patterson
Russell Patterson portrayed upper-class characters from the same generation in drawings and comic panel pages.