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HBC has collected quite a bit of information on illustrators who have drawn images of children over the years. The earliest illustrator od children's images os probanly Kate Greenway and her classisal drawings. One of the first important Anmericam illustrators is Reginald Birch and his illustrations for Little Lord Fauntleroy. By the turn of the 20th century, advances in color lithograpy provided illistrators to present thir wotk ditrectly to the public. The result was some of the most beautiful illustrations of childhood ever produced--the Golden Age of Illustrtions. Some of the illustrators provie rather mundane drawings. Others illustrations provide wionderful insights into childhood and the clothes worn by children. Unfortunately, relatively little information is available on may of these artists. This is in part because illustrators are not often regarded as serious artists by art historians. The images that they produce, however, have in many cases had a greater cultural impact than that of the great masters.
Marcel Marlier is almostantly reconizable to almost every French person. Most of the French grew up learning to read with cheerful illistrations drawn by Marcel Marlier. He illustarted Frebch children at the age that they were beginning to go to school for books that would help them with their reading. His modern and realistic illustrations accuaretly depict, if a little idealized, typical garments that French children were wearing. He began drawing in the early 1950s and chronicled French children through much of the second half of the 20th century.
A Russian HBC reader tells that Evgeniy Medvedev was perhaps the most famous Russian illustrator of children's books during the late Soviet period, the 1970s and 80s. He often illustrated the books of Vladislav Krapivin, the most famous modern Russian author of the books for children. Medvedev organized and headed the specialized "naval" pioneer summer camp "Karavella" in the Crimea.
Maxfield Parish was perhaps the most popular American illustrator in the inter-war era. He had one of the longest careers of any American illustrator. As a boy, Max travelled extensively in Europe with his parents through Europe. He was thus steeped in European culture, including architecture, music, landscapes, and culture. He produced some enchanting illustrations for children's books and some imaginative magazine covers. He is best known for his haunting landscapes and evocative romantic figures. Two of the best known figures ar 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Cinderella'. He loved to paint fantasy figures. Many of his prints are stunning. He had a destinctive way of using color. He was especially known for his ue of blue. This was only a part of his extensive output. There were ambitious murals and machine-tooled maquettes. Some of his last works were hauting landscapes. Some art historians believe that Parish's work has been reporoduced more than any other American illustrator. Parrish prints continue to be in great demand.
We notice a set of fine illustrations by G. Phittingof for a Soviet edition published in 1958. We know nothing about the illustrator at this time. Perhaps our Russian readers will know something about him. The illustrations are nicely done. I don't think a reader could tell that they were done by a foreign illustrator, let alone a Soviet illustrator. The clothing illustrated seems quite accurate.
Francisque Poulbot is one of the most famous French illustrators, especially illustrators of children. Poulbot is particularly known for his drawings of Paris street urchins. Poulbot loved to draw these children as shameless, and often malicious jokesters. Most of Poulbot's work was published in the 1900s-30s. He died in 1946. Given his many anti-German drawings, I'm unsure what happened to him during the German occupation. Many of Poulbot's drawings were sharply aimed at the Germans (le bosch) during World War I (1914-18). Poulbot's drawings illustrate well and highlight the clothes worn by children in the early 20th century. A French reader mentioned that he like Pierre Jobert uses humor in his drawings.
Arthur Rackmn is well known for his Mother Goose illustrations.
The 1928 edition of Tom Brown's School Days had some lovely illustrations by Louis Rhead. This illustration appears to be an accurate depiction about how a new boy arriving at Rugby School might look in the 1850s.
Art ran in Charles Robinson's blood. His father was an early American illustrator and his granfather an engraver. Two brothers also became illustrator. His first major commission was Rober Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Veres in 1895 which included over 100 of his ornate drawings. These masterful line drawings make the first edition a masterpiece that successive editions of the book could not match. He also did many lovely water color illustrations. Robinson illustrated many volumes of fairy tales and other children's books throughout his career. Some of the wonderfull children's books he illustrated included: The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes (1903), The Sensitive Plant by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1911), and the The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde (1913).
One of the most well-known an beloved illustrators is Norman Rockwell. Rockwell's early illustrations were done for St. Nicholas magazine, the same magazine which first published Little Lord Fauntleroy. He also worked for other juvenille publications. He sold his first cover painting to the Saturday Evening Post in 1916 and ended up doing over 300 more. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson sat for him for portraits, and he painted other world figures, including Nassar of Egypt and Nehru of India. In his later years he addressed social issues like the Civil Rights movement. He is perhaps best known by many for his Scout drawings.
Graham Redgrave-Rust is an English artist-illustrator who has also authoted books. His credits are sometimes under the name Graham Rust. Rust was born in Hertfordshire during 1942. He studied his craft at the Polytechnic School of Art, Regent Street; the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London; and the National Academy of Art in New York. He has a strong interest in architectural art. Rust first exhibited drawings of London and Rome at the Hazlitt Gallery in 1971. He has also exhibited overseas. He has illustrated several books. He gas done two of Frances Hodgson Burnett's books: The Secret Garden (1886) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1993). He also illustrated and Vita Sackville-West's Some Flowers (1993).
While not a major illustrator, Antoine de Saint Exupry, needs to be mentioned because of the importance of his one children's book, The Little Prince which he both wrote and illustrated. Of course the Little Prince is not just a charming children's book, but tells a story that can only be fully appreciated by adults. The drawings that illustrate it are endearing images.
Frank Scooner was a noted illustrator from the Golden Age of Illustration. In a short biographt,. he talks about his youth and how much he loved the outdoors. He spent much of his time in the woods, walking along streams and fishing. In spite of this, his mother refused to cut his hair and at least on some occassions he wore dresses even at school age.
Burgess Sharrocks appeared in many of the original editions of the Secret Seven. His drawings in the 1950s depict the children in traditional school attire, caps, blazers, jumpers, short pants, kneesocks, and school sandals. We have few other details on Lucas' other illustrations.
One of the most delightful childhood memories of Victorian England is Ernest Shepard's lovely book, Drawn From Memory. Shepard is the artist who illustrated A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh. Shepard grew up in London during the 1880s. He recalls remarkably detailed images of horse-drawn London where a penny was wealth for a child. A warm, delightful view of Victorian England emerges from the book, recollections of the Jubilee, seaside bathing at Eastbourne, hop-picking in Kent, the Drury Lane Pantomine, aunts and illnesses, hansom cabs, hobby horses, park outings, and pea-soup fogs. Shepard details the experiences of he and his brother and describes them through their childhood eyes.
Jessie Wilcox Smith is one of the most prolific and highly aclaimed women illustrators from the early 20th century. She is one of HBX's facorote illustrators. Her drawings of children are truly magical. Her illustrations are not the best for HBC's puposes. Her drraightmanship is superp, but the clothing is often not an important part of her drawings. Her illustrations often do not involve a detailed drawing of the children's clothes. Rather the child's may almost be hidden in a forest of bushes are under the covers. Her illistrations are, however, magical depictions of idealized, but not unrealistically protrayed childhood.
The original illustrator for Enid Blyton's Famous Five series was Eileen Soper. Through the first dozen books the children age in the illustrations in line with the passage of time through the stories: Julian from 12 to 18, Dick and George from 11 to 17, and Anne from 10 to 16. In the later stories they appear to be fixed at: J 15/16, D & G 14/15 and A 13/14. Later illustrations to modernise the appearance of the five now look hopelessly dated, with 1970s style flared trousers and androgymous kids. Also the artists are nowherenear as skilled as Miss Soper. Recent paperbacks have restored her illustrations but in a colored form.
Milicent Sowerby illustrated children's books in the early 20th century. Her father was also an illustrator, much influenced by Kate Greenway. She illustrated a large number of children's books and children were perhaps her favorite subject. Perhaps her best known work are the illustraions for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Her illustrations are very nicely done, but she had a tendency to mix garments from different historical periods in the same drawing. Milicent collaborated with her sister Githa on children's books with Githa writing the stories.
Another illustrator of Little Lord Fauntleroy was F. M. Spiegle. Unfortunately I have noinformation on this illustrator, nor do I know if he did only individual illustrations or heillustrated an edition of Mrs. Burnett's book. It looks like a fairlya simple drawing of Cedric rather than illustrating a scene from the book. The drawing appears to be an early one, but I have no information on the date.
Storer was active at the the turn of the century. She drew many wonderfull illustrations of children for Robert Lewis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses first published in 1885. He illustrations may have been in a later addition. Another source has her most active from 1909-14.
We note some charming illustrations By Cicely Steed from an Enid Blyton book titled Down at the Farm . This is the only Blyton book we know of at this time. Unfortunately, like many of the Blyton illustrators, we have little information about her. We have noted many other books she illustrated, including some religous books by Betty Smith. The Down at the Farm story is essentially about the young Bobby who has been ill in bed. The good doctor recommends to his mother for a swift recovery her son should have spell in the country. Published in Great Britain by Purnell and Sons. There is no publishing date but it seems to be from the late 50s or early 60s. Of note is the brown leather strap shoes (for boys) worn with white ankle socks compared to the girls exclusively black leather strap shoes which don't have the middle leather strip. One HBC reader liked Steed's drawing style to Marcel Marlier who did illustrations of the same time. Marcel's illustrations show the children's demeanor and posture far more pointed and studied with the detail of their clothing more precise.
Margaret Tarrant began her professional carrer drwing Christmas Cards but in 1908 ilustrated Kingsley�s The Water Babies. The succes of the book established her reputation as an imaginative illustrator. She like many other illustartors of the day was active drawing post card images. Her 1916 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was also well received. She worked with Marion St John Webb on a series of Flower Fairy books in the 1920�s that proved very popular. Her drawings are often of fantasy scenes, but she also did many realistic images of contemprary children.
Leslie Thrasher (1889-1936) is an wonderful illustrator who is best knowm for his magazine covers in an era before television and the intenet in which magazins were very important in the public fora. Trasher did some 360 magazine covers, more than ny other single illusdtrator. Most were for Liberty Magzine, but he also did several for the Saturday Evening Post. Both were very important punlications in the inter-War Era. Trasher was born in Piedmont, West Virginia. He studies Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts while still a teenager. He then went to France on a scholarship to the Ecole de Grande Chaumiere. He sold his first civer (1912). His career wa orefectly timed. Lithography wa perfected st the turmn of the 20th century and leading to the Golden Age of illustrators and magazines. World War I interrupted his studies and he served in the War. He was seriously injured in a poison gas which affected his health fir the rst of hisd life, but fortunately not his sunny dispodsition. He returned home to America, married, and moved to Long Island to pursue his career. He studied eurhrt under ythe famed illustrator Howard Pyle. Two very important themes for his work according to Saturday Evening Post were boys and horses. We would disagree, netter said we would say were children and horses. In fact, he did some delightul images of girls of girls getting the upper hand ovr the boys--an early touch of feminism by male illustrator. His covers were similar to J.C. Leyendecker who loved to bring out comic elements in the lives of young and old. He is also likned to Norman Rockwell.
We have very limited information on Harry Theaker. We have noted some lovely Biblical illustrations that he did for Blanche Winder's Children's Stories from the Bible. we are not positive when it was published, but it appears to have been approximately 1930. A HBC reader writes, "The Theaker Biblical illustrations show dramatic and different styles of dress for the boys featured. In all of the illustrations, the boys dress is finely detailed, noting that the illustrator was well versed and knowledgeable of clothing during biblical times. It seems the illustrator details how boys living in the upper hierarchy would have dressed. Whilst I'm not sure if the boys would have always have been dressed like this on a daily basis, the illustrator no doubt took care to detail how ceremonial clothing would have looked like during those times." HBC is less sure how well reserched the illustrations are, but they are certainly beautifully done illustrations.
Frances Tipton Hunter specialized in children and appears to have imitated Norman Rockwell in the selection and treatment of her subjects. One critic reports that "Her work, which stressed comic narrative, almost always verged on the sentimental." [Jan Cohn, From Covers of the Saturday Evening Post, 1995.] Frances Hunter contributed a number of covers to the Post between 1936 and 1941.
Rodolphe Toepffer was a famous Swiss illustrator in Geneva (his father came from Germany) . A Dutch reader believes that he should be considered to be the father of the modern comic strips, not Wilhelm Busch. used to have one of his books (in Dutch) with fabulous illustrations: "De avonturen van Mijnheer Prikkebeen" (Les aventures de Monsieur Jabot). His style reminds one of William Hogarth. The characters are caricatural, but not satirical like Hogarth's.
There are countles images of Tom Sawyer by a miriad of illustrators. In addition it is apopular play for school groups to stage with often imaginative attempts at costuming. Schools all over the worls stage productions of Tom Sawyer, one example of how American or British boyhood heros dominate in the popular mind. True Williams was the original illustrator of Tom Sawyer. Williams worked on each of Twain's books previously published by the American Publishing Company. He did 160 of Tom Sawyer's 162 illustrations. The book was not a long one and these illustrations and chapter headings did a lot to increase the size of the book to what the public expected. Twain was very pleased with the illustrations which he called "rattling pictures." Twain made no suggestions about the illustrations. They were all conceived by Williams on his own as he read the book.
Blanche Fisher Wright is the illustrator of The Real Mother Goose, originally published in 1916. It is a real classic, still in print, and the illustrations are classic turn of the 20th century. Pretty much the full text and illustrations are on line at Mother Goose. Click on the cover to look at the contents. She also did the lesser known Peter Patter's Pretty Book of Rhymes. One HBC reader reports liking the illustrations better, but the rhymes are not in the same class as The Real Mother Goose.
N.C. Wyeth is perhaps the most famoos of all American book illustrators. He illustrated boys' adventure books, but did realtively few illustrations of children. His illustrations are marvelous. I remember them in books I read as a boy in the 1940s. I remember in particular Black Arrow and The Boy's King Arthur, and Treasure Island. No one could illustrate an adventure story with same energy as Wyeth. His villans in particular were classic studies. He had a way of drawing the most amazing people and events, but making them look very realistic and ordinary. [Michaelis]
Michaelis, David. N.C. Wyeth: A Biography (Harper Perennial).
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