Portrait of Samuel Clemens

This caricature by James Affleck Shephard captures Mark Twain at sixty-two, emphasizing the white shock of hair and prominent mustache that defined the author's public image in his later years. The exaggerated features—bulbous nose, deep-set eyes, pronounced facial structure—reflect the caricaturist's tradition of physical distortion for comic effect. Shephard's economical line work and tonal wash demonstrate the illustrative techniques that dominated early twentieth-century newspaper art. The signature and date suggest this drawing was likely commissioned for publication in a periodical, when caricature portraits of literary and public figures were standard fare in American journalism and humor magazines.