VISIONS OF HOPE

From the covers of the American television-listings magazine, TV GUIDE, across four decades, here are seven portraits of comedy legend, BOB HOPE – as depicted by the pens and paintbrushes of six masters of cartoon and illustration.

 

Hope's familiar features – the chin, nose, forehead and eyebrows – are brilliantly captured in caricatures by Hirschfeld, Searle. Scarfe and Davis, portraiture by Bernard Fuchs and the photo-realistic artwork by Richard Amsel.

 

 

TV GUIDE, January 26, 1957 by Al HIRSCHFELD (1903-2003)

 

 TV GUIDE, January 16, 1965 by Ronald SEARLE (1920-2011)

TV GUIDE, January 11, 1969 – Gerald SCARFE (b. 1936)

 

TV GUIDE, January 11, 1969 by Gerald SCARFE (b. 1936)

 

  TV GUIDE, April 10, 1971by Jack DAVIS (1924-2016)

 

TV GUIDE, February 28, 1976 by Bernard FUCHS [Again!] (1932-2009)

TV GUIDE, May 21, 1983 by Richard AMSEL (1947-1985)

 

A 'RADIO TIMES' CHRISTMAS

Remember those days in the Twentieth Century when the arrival of the Christmas Issue (later 'Bumper Issue') of Radio Times signaled the true beginning of seasonal festivities? 

Historically, Radio Times was always a showcase for the work of some of the finest graphic and illustrative artists of the age and examples of their work is showcased in this very personal selection of classic covers from before-my-time, but by artists whose work I love – John Gilroy (he of the classic Guinness posters), Rex Whistler, Edward Ardizzone and Eric Fraser; from my childhood and adolescent years – C. Walter Hodges, J. S. Goodall, Ronald Searle, Rowland Hilder, Victor Reinganum and, again of course, Eric Fraser; and, lastly, from more recent years – the impeccable art of Tony Meeuwissen and a wonderful cavalcade of Santas and Snowmen by my friend, Mick Brownfield. 

Among the later are his Father Christmas and Dalek cover and the alternative variant Strictly Come Dancing version for families with tiny tots who were scared of Doctor Who's inter-galactic, mechanical nemesis!

 Rex Whistler, 1931

Edward Ardizzone, 1932

 

John Gilroy, 1940 

 

J. S. Goodall, 1946

Ronald Searle, 1947

 Edward Ardizzone, 1948

 

 Eric Fraser, 1949

C. Walter Hodges, 1950

 

Rowland Hilder, 1951

(inspired by The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1965)

 

J. S. Goodall, 1953 

 

 

Monica Walker, 1956 
  

James Hart, 1957 

Eric Fraser, 1958

 Victor Reinganum, 1959

 

Eric Fraser, 1962

 

Tony Meeuwissen, 1970

 

Mick Brownfield, 1991 

 

Mick Brownfield, 1993

 

 Mick Brownfield, 1993 

Mick Brownfield, 1995

 

Mick Brownfield, 1997

 

 Mick Brownfield, 2009

 

Mick Brownfield, 2009 (variant) 

 

 

BEETLEMANIA!

Chris Beetles Gallery, my favourite selling art gallery, has just had a website face-lift making its extraordinarily diverse stock of artworks more tantalizingly accessible to the the online gallery-goer.

Former doctor, watercolour expert, past and present collector, Chris Beetles is an idiosyncratic dealer in English watercolours, illustrations, cartoons, photography and oils. In a profile, a few years ago, Renaissance: The Fine Art Collector, wrote: "If you want to buy a beautiful 19th century Edward Lear watercolour, an original Quentin Blake from a classic Roald Dahl book, an up-to-date Matt cartoon from the Daily Telegraph or a stunning Norman Parkinson photograph from the pages of Vogue, then this is the place to visit with everything just 'waiting in the wings'. It is virtually impossible to enter this venerable, approachable and reassuringly British gallery without adding to your collection. This also makes it the perfect place to start one…"

As a regular visitor (in real and virtual time) to Chris' gallery – and as a sometime (very modest) collector – I have, for many years, enjoyed the opportunity to discover more about the joys of many aspects of art and, in particular, those that are almost universally ignored by our great art institutions and, indeed, most commercial galleries too: illustration art, cartoons and caricatures. 

At Beetles' London gallery – 10 Ryder Street in the heart of  St James’s – I have met the aforementioned Quentin Blake, fellow illustrators Michael Foreman, Helen Oxenbury, John Burningham and others and enjoyed brilliant exhibitions either devoted to the work of specific artists or, in his legendary annual Illustrators blockbuster where an astonishing variety of graphic artists are hung shoulder to shoulder among them Mervyn Peake, Ronald Searle, Rowland Emett, Mabel Lucy Atwell, Arthur Rackham, Charles and William Heath Robinson, Eric Fraser, Al Hirschfeld, Lawson Wood, George and Eileen Soper, Edward Ardizzone, Norman Thelwell and Louis Wain.

The rejuvenated gallery website allows the visitor to browse its extensive collection by artist A to Z or by area of interest from 'Victorian' to 'American', from 'Cartoons' to 'Decorative Arts', 'Prints and Etchings' to 'Literary Manuscripts' or, in these days of Brexit uncertainty, 'Early English' to 'European'!

You can explore the current exhibitions featuring the vibrant paintings of Geraldine Girvan and a bicentennial celebration of the work of John Ruskin, reflecting on the work of artists who either helped him hone his aesthetic and skills or who received his praise and support.

Enthusiasts can also create a 'My Beetles Wall', a personal exhibition space on which to display your favourite exhibits.

I won't keep you further from your exploration of the delights in store, but I will just encourage you further to visit with a handful of fantastic images currently available to pursue or maybe, depending on your bank balance, take home to hang on your wall!

 Arthur Rackham

 Al Hirschfeld

 William Heath Robinson


Lesley Anne Ivory

 Edward Ardizzone

 Kathleen Hale

Eric Fraser

 Lawson Wood

 Michael Foreman


George Soper

 Mervyn Peake

 Paul Cox

 

Ronald Searle

E. H. Shepard

You can also visit Chris Beetles Gallery in person (Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5.30pm) at: 

8 & 10 Ryder Street, 

St James’s, 

London 

SW1Y 6QB

ILLUSTRATING DICKENS

The Chris Beetles Gallery's annual The Illustrators exhibition is claimed to be the world's biggest single event for fans and collectors of cartoons and illustrations and this year features a staggering 800+ works ranging across three centuries of memorable British art.

Many of my favourite artists are generously featured in the exhibition, among them John Tenniel via E H Shepard, Ronald Searle, Eric Fraser, Charles Keeping to Anthony Browne, but perhaps the most delightful aspect is the bicentennial tribute to the genius of Charles Dickens: a collection of almost 60 pieces of art illustrating what are among the greatest novels in the English language featuring some of the most engaging characters – comic, scary, sentimental – to engage the imaginations of generations of readers.

Here are just a few...

Mervyn Peake - Bleak House

  Edward Ardizzone - David Copperfield

H M Brock - The Cricket on the Hearth

Ron Embleton - The PIckwick Papers

Eric Fraser - A Child's History of England

Harry Furniss - The Old Curiosity Shop

Harry Furniss - Oliver Twist

Ronald Searle - A Christmas Carol

 

Arthur Rackham - A Christmas Carol

Ron Embleton - A Christmas Carol

Claude Shepperson - The Haunted Man

J F H Bacon - Dombey & Son

The Illustrators 2012: The British Art of Illustration 1837-2012 remains on show at Chris Beetles Gallery until 3 January 2013

8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James's, London, SW1Y 6QB
Telephone: 020 7839 7551

Gallery Opening Times: 
Monday - Saturday, 10:00 - 17:30

Accompanying the exhibition is a 272-page catalogue with over 400 full colour images, which – for £20 – is both an engaging anthology of great illustrative art and a lasting record of an immensely impressive show.

Above illustration: 'Charles Dickens: A Tribute to Genius' by Stephen Reid