Pictures from an Old Book

The wonderful and mysterious surrealism of Anthony Browne knows no boundaries. I scanned several details from this one illustration(above) to show just how many animals and birds the artist was able to hide within one picture! A real treat for any child's imagination.

There are plenty of visual jokes in the book - in contrast with minimal amount of dialogue. I love the one above with the "x", "z" and "y" fronts hanging from the washing line (along with the superman suit and the three-breasted bra!). A warm, funny story and a classic book.

There are quite a few articles and biographies on Anthony Browne available online - but I couldn't find an official website by the author. Here is an interview about his life and work: http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/illustrators/interviews/69 and the Wikipedia entry is good for listing his large catalogue of picture books: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Browne_(author)

I have finally managed to find time to complete this post on the Belgian artist, Frans Masereel (1889-1972). Masereel was one of the most important and influential graphic artists of the first half of the 20th century. His woodcuts, charged with social and political observations from the years between the two world wars, were an inspiration for future artists like Lynd Ward and Eric Drooker from the US and Clifford Harper. Here's the Wikipedia link on his biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Masereel

Here is an excerpt from Marina Warner's introduction in this book:

"Masereel's city was Paris: he was living there when he made the woodcuts for the book, on the Butte de Montmartre, but he had come there from Ghent, via Berlin, and the excitements and the horrors of the German capital in the Twenties inform the witness he bears in THE CITY. It was however Paris that he had epitomised, since the 19th century, the special character of modern life, the frenzy of urban existence, the new tumultuous conglomeration of the masses."

I could have chosen any of the 100 woodcuts of this book - the are all brilliant in detail, composition and craftsmanship while displaying the horrors and drama Europe was going through during those years. The image below is the artist's self-portrait from 1923.

I'd very much like to know who these two illustrators were. Classic fifties cartoons on the ICI one...

The work of Albert Dubout (1905-1976), famous French cartoonist, painter and sculptor. I was really lucky to find this original 1954 publication last Saturday - in a pretty good condition as well!). My French is very limited but I recognise most of the characters from the Greek mythology!

Here is the link to Dubout's official website: http://www.dubout.fr/ It's got a vast collection of his work spanning from the twenties all the way to the mid-1970's! The size of the images is quite small though and all the beautiful details are lost. Also the text is only in French. You can get a brief biography on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Dubout

Dr Chris Mullen's excellent blog/archive on illustrators from the past also features a selection of Dubout's cartoons: http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/d/dubout/a.htm

I was planning to feature this book for ages and kept postponing it. This, being the Christmas period, is hardly the right time for it but the recent events in the US highlighting police "heavy-handedness" have prompted me to present it!

The book is a collection of Steadman's political cartoons dating from the early sixties to the mid-eighties. Considering that these were illustrating police behaviour some fifty years ago they are terrifyingly close to the current news!! You would have thought there would be some progress by now, that some one would get punished for such horrible behaviour towards other human beings! But instead, nobody is found guilty! Along with the Police, are the Bankers, Politicians, Corporations etc - the bigger you are the more you get away with. And it is the same in every country - with some variations. My only question is: Why do we bother calling it Democracy?....

Ralph Steadman (b.1936) is one of the best known British illustrators of the past fifty years. He produced political cartoons for many publications in the US the UK (including Private Eye, Punch, The Guardian, The Independent, Rolling Stone, Radio Times etc) but is probably better known for his long partnership with the controversial American journalist Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005). Here is an extensive biography on the artist: http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/artists/ralphsteadman/biography

There are also several related links and publication listings on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Steadman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Steadman

Finally, there is Ralph Steadman's own website for more illustrations and information: http://www.ralphsteadman.com/

The eccentric and nonsensical work of Edward Gorey(1925-2000). This is a biography on the great writer and artist: http://www.biography.com/people/edward-gorey-40616#synopsis Here is also the Wikipedia entry with other links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey

A satirical view of man's war machine as it evolved from the ancient times to World War I by the great Austrian cartoonist Paul Flora(1922-2009). Biography here: http://sastreport.x10.mx/flora.html and here: http://www.art4public.com/gallery/paulflora/index.cfm?page=about (the English translation from German is rather poor but informative nevertheless).

Just a few more of Paul Flora's unusual illustrations, depicting the progressive sophistication and potency of man's killing machines and war methods through history. There's great irony in the soldiers' eagerness to destroy the enemy while the Generals are blinded by their own self-importance and vanity.

Another biography of the author-illustrator (for the German speakers) below...

Just testing out my new SAKURA drawing pens and this was the result. The surface of the paper was a bit rough though, which affected the sharpness - I should have known better.

Still in shock from the mindless killings at the Charlie Habdo offices in Paris this week. My heart goes out to the families and friends of all the victims. Such a high price to pay for merely expressing your views on politics! It was so depressing to see so many talented people wiped away by some useless thugs whose only "charisma" was to shoot guns... Well, when it comes to properly influencing and inspiring the masses, guns don't stand a chance against the writer and artists' pens - I think...

"Look What I've Got" By Anthony Browne (published by Walker Books Ltd, London 1996 - Orininally published by Julia MacRae Books 1980) Part 2

"Look What I've Got" By Anthony Browne (published by Walker Books Ltd, London 1996 - Orininally published by Julia MacRae Books 1980) Part 3

"Look What I've Got" By Anthony Browne (published by Walker Books Ltd, London 1996 - Orininally published by Julia MacRae Books 1980) Part 4

"The City" By FRANS MASEREEL (Published in the UK by Redstone Press, London 1988 - originally published by Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich 1925 as "DIE STADT") Part 1

"The City" By FRANS MASEREEL (Published in the UK by Redstone Press, London 1988 - originally published by Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich 1925 as "DIE STADT") Part 2

"The City" By FRANS MASEREEL (Published in the UK by Redstone Press, London 1988 - originally published by Kurt Wolff Verlag, Munich 1925 as "DIE STADT") Part 3

"Reader's Digest - March 1959 (Ads)" - Published By The Reader's Digest Association Ltd, London 1959

"La Mythologie De A. Dubout" By Albert Dubout (Publisher Maurice Gonon, France 1954)

"La Mythologie De A. Dubout" By Albert Dubout (Publisher Maurice Gonon, France 1954) Part 2

"La Mythologie De A. Dubout" By Albert Dubout (Publisher Maurice Gonon, France 1954) Part 3

"Scar-Strangled Banger" By Ralph Steadman (published by HARRAP Limited, London 1987)

"Scar-Strangled Banger" By Ralph Steadman (published by HARRAP Limited, London 1987) Part 2

"The Doubtful Guest" By Edward Gorey (published by Putnam & Co., Ltd, London 1958)

"The Doubtful Guest" By Edward Gorey (published by Putnam & Co., Ltd, London 1958) Part 2

"Das Schlachtross" By Paul Flora (Published by Daniel Keel/Diogenes Verlag, Zurich 1957)

"Das Schlachtross" By Paul Flora (Published by Daniel Keel/Diogenes Verlag, Zurich 1957) Part 2

"Das Schlachtross" By Paul Flora (Published by Daniel Keel/Diogenes Verlag, Zurich 1957) Part 3

"2015, New Year....Happy?" By Harris

"In Memory Of All The Victims Of The Charlie Habdo Attack" by Harris

"Good-Night, Owl" By Pat Hutchins (published by Julia MacRae, Random House, London 1993 - originally published by Bodley Head in 1972)