Celebrity caricature in America has become a popular twentieth-century permutation of the longstanding art of caricature—the distortion of the face or figure for satiric purposes—which claims an extensive tradition in Western art. For centuries, comically exaggerated portrayals have served the purpose of ridicule and protest, probing beneath outward appearances to expose hidden, disreputable character traits. In the early twentieth century, however, American caricaturists based in New York City deployed a fresh approach, inventing a new form of popular portraiture. They chose for their subjects the colorful rather than the corrupt personalities of the day, reflecting the preoccupation with mass media-generated fame. During the height of its vogue between the two World Wars, celebrity caricature permeated the press, leaving the confines of the editorial cartoon to flourish on the newspaper's entertainment pages, at the head of a syndicated column, on a magazine cover, or color...