Thomas Nast

Visual Arts, 1840-1902

Thomas Nast was born in Landau, Germany, and immigrated with his mother and sister to New York in 1846. Young Nast was a indifferent student—he never learned to read or write—but showed an early talent for drawing.

He began his career at Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, worked briefly at Harper's Weekly, then took an assignment in England. His illustrations were published in European and American newspapers.

After returning to the United States, Nast began to make a national name for himself with his cartoons during the Civil War, which were published in Harper's Weekly. His real breakthrough, however, came with a series of drawings depicting the foibles of Reconstruction and the political corruption in New York City. His efforts were instrumental in dismantling the Tweed Ring.

Nast became a wealthy man, in part though the publication of his drawings, but also from a lucrative series of public lectures in which he both spoke and sketched. Nast also was an illustrator and oil painter of note.

Thomas Nast made lasting contributions to the American political and cultural scene. He:

• Created the elephant as the symbol for the Republican Party and the donkey for the Democrats
• Developed the popular appearance of Uncle Sam as the personification of the United States; the concept, however, had been used earlier by others
• Popularized a conception of Santa Claus which remains to the present. Previous renditions had placed a greater emphasis on the figure's religious qualities. Nast, however, was greatly influenced by Clement Moore's poem, The Night Before Christmas, which was read to the illustrator by his wife.

Nast died from yellow fever in 1902 while serving as ambassador to Ecuador.