Pictures from an Old Book

The inimitable Ronald Searle (1920-2011) - every mark on each illustration is vibrant, exciting and utterly brilliant! Looking at the expressions on the faces, the shapes of the bodies and the sharp irony of the various situations makes me laugh every time. I've scanned the artist's biography from the back cover of the book (previous post) but here's also an extensive entry from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Searle The pictures in this book are arranged in themes - pets and their owners, from the first post, sale slogans, dancers, artists, musicians and some surreal ones like the last two below...

Just three more from Ronald Searle (1920-2011). These are under the heading "Signing Off"....

Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Bemelmans

"Madeline And The Gypsies"(1959)

"Madeline And The Bad Hat"(1956)

This book is a wonderful anthology of the "Madeline" books (six titles in a 320 page volume!). Fantastic drawings and stories by American artist Ludwig Bemelman. The colours, shapes and compositions remind me of the work of Chagall and Matisse. I love the sketchy line work and the funny animated figures.

"Madeline In London" - 1961

Couldn't resist showing some of these! Rupert Fawcett's biography and portfolio can be found here: http://www.rupertfawcettcartoons.com/ He also has a blog on tumblr with many many more funny Fred strips: http://rupertfawcettfredcartoons.tumblr.com/

Four more from Rupert Fawcett's dark humour - here's the artist's website again for more info and links: http://www.rupertfawcettcartoons.com/ By the way, prints and other merchandise by the artist can be purchased here: http://www.cafepress.com/offtheleashdoggycartoonsshop

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_and_Allan_Ahlberg

Allan Alhlberg (b.1938) and Janet Ahlberg (1944-1994) created dozens of children's picture books - many considered classic now. They still enjoy high sales to this day and they are among the most borrowed picture books from public libraries! "Burglar Bill" came a year before "Each Peach Pear Plum (1978) - that won the Kate Greenaway Medal of that year from the British Library Association. Some of the many titles that followed are: "Cops And Robbers"(1978), "Peepo!"(1981), "The Baby's Catalogue"(1982), "Please Mr Butler"(1983), "Woof"(1986) and their biggest seller "The Jolly Postman"(1986).

This book is just so brilliant in so many ways. The characters are great, the story is really funny and full of twists while the illustrations are so well executed and laid out. There is a lot of careful planning and designing in the compositions as well as the pacing of the story. With so many objects and narratives going on in every page you could read through it again and again and find something different each time! Here's a small biography on Janet Ahlberg who sadly died at the age of 50 in 1994: https://www.waterstones.com/author/janet-ahlberg/50385

http://www.paulcoxartist.com/

The remarkable work of British illustrator Paul Cox (born London 1957). I've been a fan of his work since my student days in the early nineties. I love the retro feel he achieves, which brings to mind magazine and book illustrations from the first half of the 20th century. It's got a lovely rhythm and movement while descriptive and humorous. I find the economy with which he creates his characters and background amazing - the postures and expressions on the faces with just a few brush strokes! Here is his official website again with biography and many more colour examples of his work: http://www.paulcoxartist.com/Biography.html

Barbara Remington is an American artist better known for her work on J.R.R. Tolkien's books "The Hobbit" and "The Lord Of The Rings" for Ballantine's Books in the early 1960's. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Remington

There is no biography available on her apart from a small article on wikipedia but I scanned the small note on the artist printed on this book (below). I just loved the strange animal characters found all over the book as well as the two hairy characters of the story.

This book is packed with James Daugherty's wacky and funny pictures (I counted 45!). I was so impressed with all the energy and excitement created by the artist's skilful drawing. The book was re-printed several times since its original publication in the late 1930's and is probably a classic by now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_and_the_Lion Here is an excellent website dedicated to the life and work of James Daugherty (born in Asheville, North Carolina 1887-1974) who, apart from the large volume of published books (both written and illustrated by him), he was a significant American artist and a muralist: https://daughertyfoundation.com/

Great design on this book - yes, I did buy it just for its cover as I already had a copy of this classic. Art work on the cover by British designer Peter Rudland - couldn't find any information on him but here's another blogger and collector with some more covers by the artist: http://callumjames.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/book-collecting-as-disease-case-of.html

"The Penguin Ronald Searle" By Ronald Searle (published by Penguin Books Ltd, London 1960) - Part 4

"The Penguin Ronald Searle" By Ronald Searle (published by Penguin Books Ltd, London 1960) - Part 5

"Mad About Madeline" By Ludwig Bemelmans (published by Viking, The Penguin Group, New York 2001)

"Mad About Madeline" By Ludwig Bemelmans (published by Viking, The Penguin Group, New York 2001) - Part 2

"The Best Of Fred" By Rupert Fawcett (published by Headline Book Publishing, London 1998)

"The Best Of Fred" By Rupert Fawcett (published by Headline Book Publishing, London 1998) Part 2

"Burglar Bill" By Janet & Allan Ahlberg (published by Puffin Books, Penguin Books Ltd, London 1999 - originally published in 1977 by William Heinemann Ltd)

"Burglar Bill" By Janet & Allan Ahlberg (published by Puffin Books, Penguin Books Ltd, London 1999 - originally published in 1977 by William Heinemann Ltd) - Part 2

"Burglar Bill" By Janet & Allan Ahlberg (published by Puffin Books, Penguin Books Ltd, London 1999 - originally published in 1977 by William Heinemann Ltd) - Part 3

"The Best After-Dinner Stories", Selected and Introduced By Tim Heald, Illustrated By Paul Cox (published by The Folio Society Ltd, London 2003) Part 1

"The Best After-Dinner Stories", Selected and Introduced By Tim Heald, Illustrated By Paul Cox (published by The Folio Society Ltd, London 2003) Part 2

"The Best After-Dinner Stories", Selected and Introduced By Tim Heald, Illustrated By Paul Cox (published by The Folio Society Ltd, London 2003) Part 3

"Boat" - Written and Illustrated by Barbara Remington (published by Macdonald And Jane's Publishers Limited, London 1977 - originally published in the US by Doubleday and Company, Inc. New York 1975) - Part 1

"Boat" - Written and Illustrated by Barbara Remington (published by Macdonald And Jane's Publishers Limited, London 1977 - originally published in the US by Doubleday and Company, Inc. New York 1975) - Part 2

"Boat" - Written and Illustrated by Barbara Remington (published by Macdonald And Jane's Publishers Limited, London 1977 - originally published in the US by Doubleday and Company, Inc. New York 1975) - Part 3

"Andy And The Lion" Story and Pictures by James Daugherty (published by Scholastic Book Services, New York 1968 - Originally published by The Viking Press Inc. 1938) Part 1

"Andy And The Lion" Story and Pictures by James Daugherty (published by Scholastic Book Services, New York 1968 - Originally published by The Viking Press Inc. 1938) Part 2

"Andy And The Lion" Story and Pictures by James Daugherty (published by Scholastic Book Services, New York 1968 - Originally published by The Viking Press Inc. 1938) Part 3

"Moby Dick" By Herman Melville, Cover Art By Peter Rudland (This edition published in 1969 by J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, Everyman's Library, London, New York)

"Pierre-Joseph Redouté's LES LILIACÉES", Sotherby's Auction Catalogue - 20th November 1985 (publisher: Sotherby's, New York 1985)