Philly History Museum's AUTH-entic Exhibit

October 20, 2013 Over the decades, Tony Auth's cartoons poked fun at City Council members and Mayors. He commented on the public school system and transit and criticized pay to play and corruption.

The Philadelphia History Museum's Executive Director & CEO Charles Croce describes Auth's works as "very poignant. He's very topical. He's contemporary and he makes you stop and think, and then you smile. "

As a cartoonist for the Inquirer, Auth produced 5 drawings a week. That's nearly 10,000 over the span of his career. For the exhibit, Croce says, they curated about 50 of Auth's works. "This museum is not only for residents but it's for people who come in from all over the world," says Croce, "and we thought some of these ideas that are expressed here with government, with mayors, would resonate with anyone who walked in."

Visitors can watch a video on Auth's creative process. The artist also loaned one of his work tables, which is filled with the cartoons he's now producing digitally. Croce says they change out the digital cartoons on a daily basis, "so, as people come in, they can see what he's creating electronically."

AUTH-entic Philadelphia is only the second exhibit to live in the newly refurbished Philadelphia History Museum's Played in Philadelphia gallery. Croce says, "the idea of this gallery is to always talk about Phillies, entertainment, whether it's sports or music or theatre." AUTH-entic Philadelphia will be open at least through the end of January.

If you go to www.TheArtsInPhilly.org, you can learn the history of the Philadelphia History Museum and buy tickets. Or you can visit 6abc.com's Entertainment Channel to find out about other area events.

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