Martin Anderson

Martin Anderson, (1854 – 14 April 1932), better known by his pseudonym Cynicus, was a Scottish artist, political cartoonist, postcard illustrator, and publisher. Early life Martin Anderson was born in Leuchars, Fife, in 1854. After his mother, Margaret Martin, separated from his father, she moved with her children to Cambuslang, Glasgow. Anderson studied at Glasgow School of Art under Robert Greenlees, in Ingram Street Glasgow. On leaving he worked as a designer at a calico printer. Career When he was 19, he founded The St. Mungo Art Club in Glasgow, intended to be an alternative to the grander Glasgow Art Club. In 1877, he began to provide small illustrations for serial stories in the short-running News of the Week. In 1878 his painting The Music Lesson was accepted for the Royal Scottish Academy's annual exhibition. In 1879, age 24, he decided to move to London, ("to study art proper" he explained in an 1894 interview in The Sketch). In 1880 he was invited to join John Leng and Co., (the publisher of titles such as the Dundee Advertiser, the Evening Telegraph, People's Journal, and The People's Friend), as its staff artist. Accepting the position, Andersen became the first such artist to be employed by any daily newspaper in Britain (until then daily newspapers were un-illustrated). He moved to Broughty Ferry near Dundee.