Biographies
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MRS. BLANCHE McMANUS MANSFIELD
An artist of international fame, a writer of charming books of travel which have been widely read, Mrs. Mansfield was, beyond question, the most distinguished of Wilkinson county's daughters. Born in the family home just outside of Woodville she showed unmistakable signs of exceptional talent early in her life. After reaching young womanhood she studied art in New Orleans and Chicago. The designs she submitted for illustrating the prayerbook of the English church at the time of the celebration of Queen Victoria's Jubilee in London in 1897 were selected in an international contest of artists, an honor of which the people of her state were justly proud. Going abroad to continue her artistic career she met and married Mr. Mansfield, an American diplomat and writer of ability who was consul both at Barcelona, Spain and Marsailles, France for a period of years. Subsequently she and her husband made Paris their home and during the World War did much philanthropic work among the French and the American soldiers there. Thus in this cosmopolitan life her experiences were unusual and interesting. She portrayed many of them by word and by illustration in her "An American Woman Abroad" and in her successful series for children, "Our Little Cousins." From: The Woodville Republican, Saturday, June 22, 1935: Also see http://www.kellscraft.com/mcmanusbioandpub.html
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Peter Newell
I don't really know much about Peter Newell except he was famous as an illustrator of children's books at the turn of the century and did appreciated illustrations of Lewis Carroll's Nonsense books (Alice and Snark). His own books tend to be based on a single idea, the holes of the Hole Book and Rocket Book, pictures which can be looked at upside down in the two Topsys and Turvys. What probably makes him unattractive today are the frequent racial jokes in his works, and though they were probably standard at the time he really insisted quite a lot.
What I find interesting is the fact that he seems to have made the typically Victorian children's book more popular and introduced techniques that would be used by newspaper comic artists in their daily or weekly production; in particular the recurring device (hole, turning the picture) recalls the repetitiveness of the early comic strips (Nemo's waking up, Ignatz's brick). He was clearly imitated (and improved upon) by Gustave Verbeek — with whom he collaborated on a Nursery Rhymes for Grown-Ups — who produced a series of Upside-Downs in which you read half the story 'upside', then turn the page 'down' and read the second part — a real tour de force. Newell himself produced a comic series, The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead, published in various newspapers between Feb. 25, 1906 and Sep. 22, 1907. Taken from; http://www.nonsenselit.org/newell/
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Maria L Kirk
Maria L. Kirk is an illustrator from the early 20th century. She did some lovely book illustrations, but we know very little about her at this time. One of her best know commission was an edition of Alice and Wonderland (1904-07). Kirk is one of the hundereds of artists which have illustrated Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass since the late 19th century. Notably Alice in the Kirk drawings wears a gold and not a blue dress. We also note some lovely illustrations for Mopsa the Fairy (1910). A HBC reader tells us that she also did some wonderful illustrations for Pinocchio that published in 1920. Taken from http://www.aliceinwonderlandbooks.com
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Bessie Pease Gutmann
Guttman was born Bessie Collins Pease on April 8, 1876 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Horace Collins. After graduating from high school, Gutmann studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women. From 1896 to 1898, she attended the New York School of Art and the Art Students League of New York from 1899 to 1901.
Gutmann initially worked as an independent commercial artist drawing portraits and newspapers advertisements. In 1903, Gutmann gained employment with the publishing firm of Gutmann & Gutmann which specialized in fine art prints. Her first illustration of a children's book, published in 1905, was A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. Gutmann illustrated several more books including a notable 1907 version of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Gutmann also created artwork for postcards and calendars, and her art adorned 22 magazine covers for McCall's, Collier's, Woman's Home Companion, and Pictorial Review, among others. Gutmann's greatest recognition came from her series of hand-colored prints which highlighted the innocence of young children. Two of Gutmann's most notable works were A Little Bit of Heaven and The Awakening which both focused on the face and hands of an infant tucked under a blanket. Gutmann's work was popular through the 1920s, but by World War II, interest in her style had declined. Due to failing eyesight, Gutmann retired from drawing in 1947. In 1906, Gutmann married Hellmuth Gutmann, one of the brothers who co-owned the publishing firm where she was employed. The couple had three children, Alice, Lucille, and John, who became the models for Gutmann's illustrations.Gutmann died on September 29, 1960 in Centerport, New York at the age of 84 Taken from; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Pease_Gutmann
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Thomas Maybank
Thomas Maybank, British illustrator flourished 1898-1925. He practised in in Beckenham, Croydon, and Esher, contributing a number of startling fairy designs to "Punch" between 1902 and 1904. These include "A Bank Holiday in Goblin Land", "Coronation of Titania", and "New Year's Eve", all taking great inspiration from the work of John Doyle and his four sons.
His work is found in the Victoria & Albert Museum. From; http://en.allexperts.com/q/Fine-Art-3122/Thomas-Maybank.htm
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Arthur Rackham
To touch on just few of the literally dozens of highlights of a long and successful career, Rip VAn Winkle was followed in 1906 by one of his two masterpieces, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, another 50-plate extravaganza - this from Hodder and Stoughton and 1907 saw an edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from Heinemann. J.M. Dent reissued Ingoldsby and Constable & Co. Grimm, both in revised, updated editions. "Rackham" was a marketable commodity and everybody wanted one of the golden eggs. It appears that Heinemann won the goose, though. In rapid succession, amid a wealth of other books (some minor, some important), they published four books intended for adults: in 1908 - A Midsummer-Night's Dream in 1909 - Undine; in 1910 and 1911 The Rhinegold and the Valkyrie and Siegfried and The Twilight of the Gods. These four books contained 115 color plates from Rackham's paintings. For the full version of this see; http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/rackham.htm
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Charles Robinson
Charles Robinson was obviously enthralled with the idea of the "gift book." Rather than drawing and painting pictures to put alongside an author's text, Robinson approached the task as creating a book that was a gift - with the illustrated equivilent of colorful wrappings and shiny ribbons. He designed the entire book and even those featuring an abundance of tipped-in color plates were not spared his enchanting pen & ink drawings and his intricate gilt-embossed cover designs. And he was prolific, often producing six or seven books a year until WWI. Some classics that he illustrated include: Lullaby Land (1897), Sintram and His Companions (1900), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1907), Grimm's Fairy Tales (1910), The Secret Garden (1911), and many books written by W. Copeland, W. Jerrold, and himself. For the full version of this go to; http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/robinson.htm
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Millicent Sowerby
Millicent Sowerby was born in Northumberland, England, in 1878-1967 the daughter of designer and illustrator John G. Sowerby. Her style was clearly influenced by the famed Victorian illustrator Kate Greenaway, usually depicting innocent children at play using flat colors and strong outlines. Finding encouragement at home, Sowerby started painting at an early age. She took some art classes for several years but distance prevented her from attending them for more than two days a week.
Mostly, she was self-taught, learning from the work of other illustrators. In an attempt to help their family’s finances, Sowerby and her sister Githa collaborated on children’s books. Githa wrote the stories and verses while Sowerby illustrated them for over twenty years. Sowerby was also a prolific illustrator of children’s picture post cards, depicting scenes from Shakespeare, and Kate Greenaway type girls.
Later, she designed thirty sets of cards for a yearly series called ‘Postcards for the Little Ones’.Well into her eighties, Sowerby remained a watercolorist and painted flowers. From; http://loverforbooks.blogspot.com/2009/07/amy-millicent-sowerby.html
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Brinsley Le Fanu
Brinsley Le Fanu was the son of the famous author Sheridan Le Fanu best know for the book Uncle Silas (1864). He used to talk about his father and told that his father wrote mostly in bed, using copybooks for his manuscripts. He always had two candles by his side of on a small table. During the last years he rarely went out into city. His father died on February 7, 1873. I could find little about Brinsley except that he died in 1929.
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Charles Pears
Charles Pears was a prolific poster artist for the Underground, producing highly effective posters in a range of styles. He also created posters for the Empire Marketing Board and the Metropolitan Railway. Elected the first President of the Society of Naval Artists, he was a keen marine painter. During the First World War he was an Official War Artist to the Admiralty as well as holding a commission for the Royal Marines. He again worked as an Official War Artist during the Second World War. Pears also illustrated books as well as Punch, the Graphic and other periodicals. From; http://www.ltmcollection.org/posters/artist/artist.html?IXartist=Charles+Pears
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Harry Rountree
Harry Rountree was born in New Zealand and came to England in 1901, finally settling in West London. He became one of the foremost illustrators of his time with one of his best works being the illustrations of Alice in Wonderland. Other works include Aesop’s Fables and numerous other books by authors including H.G Wells and Enid Blyton. His 64 colour plates, together with Bernard Darwin’s text in Golf Courses of the British Isles are regarded as a classic.Harry Rountree was a member of West Middlesex Golf Club and became Captain in 1919. His caricatures of the members of the early 1900s are much admired by visitors and current members alike. from; http://www.harryrountree.co.uk/
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Mabel Lucie Attwell
At the Age of 29 in 1908 Mabel married fellow artist, Harold Cecil Earnshaw and one year later gave birth to her first child Marjorie Joan, also know affectionately as Peggy who also went on to become a well known artist in her own right. Peggy was Mabel’s inspiration for the chubby cheeky toddler and steadily these images became the drawings that she is so well known for today. Mabel’s success as a commercial artist was phenomenal and led to her being approached to create illustrations for books. Between 1905 and 1913, Mabel had illustrated ten in total with 4 to 5 colour plates in each for publisher W & R Chambers. Later on she also illustrated for the Water Babies and Alice in Wonderland but her most famed achievement was when renowned author J.M. Barrie requested that Mabel illustrate his new book “Peter Pan” in 1918. from; http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/mabellucieattwell/
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George Soper
As an illustrator and trained lithographic printer George Soper was initially more familiar with the new photo-mechanical methods of reproduction than with more traditional printmaking media. Nevertheless, he became an expert printmaker and gained most recognition during his lifetime as an etcher and later as a wood engraver, and over three decades produced more than five hundred prints. As a printmaker, he continued to draw on his strengths as an illustrator and painter in order to convey the maximum amount of information especially regarding the activities of the rural environment. He had exhibited paintings since 1890 (at the Royal Academy), and in 1913 showed his first print (at the Royal Scottish Academy). He studied printmaking under Sir Frank Short at the Royal College of Art (1916-20) and worked extensively as a printmaker during the print boom of the twenties, influenced by such diverse printmakers as William Palmer Robins, Whistler and Sir George Clausen. He was elected ARE in 1918, and RE in 1920. George was inspired to represent the rural world around him, focussing on the agricultural work itself, conveying both the particulars of each task and the degree of energy that it demanded. Considered one of the finest exponents in the representation of the horse he explored the extensive uses of both the horse and his master in different environments; from pulling the plough to hauling logs and retrieving lifeboats. However, George was not averse to learning from the success of Eileen’s preoccupation with children’s play and he reconsidered it in adult terms. In the 1920’s, he replaced the games of children with the country pursuits of the upper classes, producing a number of prints of salmon fishing, polo, fox hunting and steeple-chasing, he also produced several prints of dogs.
From; http://www.chrisbeetles.com/pictures/artists/Soper_prints.htm
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Frank Adams
Frank Adams was a book illustrator and landscape artist. He exhibited watercolours in London from 1923 to 1935 and illustrated many children's books. In 1925 he designed a poster for the Underground in collaboration with Gerald Dickson, Eric George Fraser, Ernest Wallcousins and Reginald Percy Gossop.
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Alice B Woodward
Alice Bolingbroke Woodward, (1862–1951) an English illustrator, was born October 3, 1862 in Chelsea, London. Her father Henry Woodward, was an eminent scientist and the Keeper of Geology at the Natural History Museum. As a child, Alice was educated at home by governesses, along with her four sisters and two brothers (she was the fourth of seven). From a young age the children were encouraged to draw, with all of the sisters eventually becoming artists and all of the brothers becoming scientists. By her late teens, Alice was skilled enough to illustrate for her father's lectures and for the papers of his colleagues. This allowed her to earn enough money to begin her studies at South Kensington School of Art, and later at the Westminster School of Art followed thereafter by the Académie Julian in Paris. She took lessons in illustration from Joseph Pennell and Maurice Greiffenhagen and her connection with Pennell led to commissions from J. M. Dent and Macmillan and Company to illustrate children's books. She also continued to illustrate for scientific work throughout her career. Alice Woodward died in 1951. from; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_B._Woodward
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Margaret Tarrant
Margaret Tarrant is a published author and an illustrator of children's books. Some of the published credits of Margaret Tarrant include Water Fairies (Margaret Tarrant's World of Fairies & Flowers), Seed Fairies (World of Fairies), Heath Fairies (World of Fairies), and Insect Fairies (World of Fairies).
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A E Jackson
Albert Edward Jackson (1873-1952). Studied at Camden Art College, London. Main illustrative works were for Alice in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Stories from Shakespear and Water Babies (probably the finest artistically), which typically contain up to 48 colour illustrations. Prolific illustrator in many other publications with either a single colour illustration or small black and white line drawings between chapters. Most of the first editions of the large illustrative works were dated between 1910 and 1920 and contain the finest print quality. Subsequent editions significantly lose definition. He also painted fine art as Albert Jackson.
I know this from research as I live in his house built in 1910 in Hertfordshire. Some of the scenes in Alice and Wonderland are related to the house here and locals who knew Jackson and modelled for him as children were interviewed by a local historian in the 70's. From; http://childillustration.blogspot.com/2009/01/ae-jackson-alice-illustrations.html
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Willy Pogany
Willy Pogany was born in August 1882 in Szged, Hungary. He attended Budapest Technical School for less than a year and took an art class for only six weeks. He went on to develop his art skills himself as he traveled. He sold his first painting to a wealthy patron for twenty-four dollars. He lived in Munich for a short time and added German to the other five languages that he fluently spoke. He moved to Paris from 1901-1904 where his character sketches for Le Rire became well known. He became friendly with Bernard Shaw, Herbert Morrison and others.
From 1904-1914 Pogany lived in London. He worked for several illustrators including Fischer, Unwin and Hutchinson. In 1908 George Harrap published Thomas Crowell?s ?A Treasury of Verse for Children? which contained Pogany?s illustrations and was sold to the American market. He continued his commissions for Harrap with illustrations in ?The Rubiayat? in 1909, ?Folk Tales from many Lands? and ?The Ancient Mariner? in 1910, ?Tannhauser? and ?Parsifal? in 1912 and ?Longerin? in 1913. Over eighty volumes of his work were published during his stay in London. He won gold medals at the Budapest Expo, Leipzig Expo, the London Masonic Medal and finally became a Fellow in the London Royal Society of Art. from; http://www.architecturals.net/biography-willy-pogany/
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