b'WHO IS TONY SARG?BY DEBORAH SORENSEN, ROBYN & JOHN DAVIS CURATOR OF EXHIBITIONS AT THE NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONTony Sarg: Genius at Play is a new exhibition organized by the Norman Rock-well Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in partnership with the Nan-PHOTOGRAPHER UNIDENTIFIED / PH8-25-3 tucket Historical Association on display at the Nantucket Whaling Museum Tony Sarg, 1930s from May to December 2024. But who is Tony Sarg? Known as the father of mod-ern puppetry in North America, Sarg was an accomplished illustrator, animator, designer, and nimble entrepreneur who summered on, and took inspiration from, Nantucket for over twenty years. The first comprehensive exhibition exploring the life, art, and adventures of Tony Sarg (18801942), Genius at Play includes more than 200 objects and images from the NHA collections. Highlighting Sargs tremendous talent and legacy within the fields of puppetry and illustration, the exhibition will also reveal how Nantuckets historic sites and colorful characters came to inspire his work and the many ways that this influential artist gave back to the island he loved so much.AN OFFICER AND AN ARTISTAnthony Frederick Sarg was born in Cobn, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, on April 21, 1880, to a diplomatic family of German and English descent. His family returned to Germany in 1887 and, after a brief stint in the military, twenty-five-year-old Sarg chose to resign his post as lieutenant and move to England to pursue a career as a professional artist. COMMERCIAL ILLUSTRATIONFROM LONDON TO NEW YORKThough he was self-trained as an artist, Tony Sarg possessed a keen wit and a natural ability to draw. In 1905, he launched his professional career in Lon-don, where he worked as an illustrator, cartoonist, and theatrical artist. Free-lance opportunities were plentiful, as the publishing industry boomed during illustrations Golden Age. With the outbreak of World War I and the spread of anti-German sentiment, Tony Sarg made the decision to emigrate to the United States with his wife, Bertha, and baby daughter, Mary, in 1915. They settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and Sarg quickly established himself as a sought-after commercial artist and popular figure in creative circles.continued on next pagePH8-34-3Tony Sarg conducting a 1927 rehearsal with his crew. Many hundreds of puppeteers, sculptors, wood carvers and carpenters, scenic painters, cos-tumers, and stagehands worked to bring his productions to life for audi-ences around the country. This is Hy-Line 17'