Editorial Issue 86

Editing Illustration is a bit like waiting for a bus, or a train: delays are in place, but just when you’re starting to despair three come along. In the case of our magazine, articles don’t always arrive on time, but then lots of good ones turn up and make the wait worthwhile. Illustration 86 certainly has plentyto enjoy.

Our first essay is Jim O’Brien’s celebration of the drolleries of Graham Clarke, an artist who knows about the British – and their relationships with Europeans. Jim, a long-standing contributor, takes us into the heart of this amusing commentator. Observations of everyday life are also at the heart of Robert Tavener’s art, especially, as Emma Mason explains, in his early lithographs.  These artists guide us through the everyday, and so, in a sense, does Tania Willis, an artist-illustrator-mapmaker whose maps are both informative and humorous, uplifting and easy to read. Tania explains her vision in another ‘Illustrator’s Interview.’

We have plenty of voices from the past as well.  The Editor examines the art of John Farleigh, one of the most versatile wood-engraved artists of the 30s and 40s; David Fletcher introduces the first of his selections from his outstanding library of fantasy illustrators; and Warren Clements traces the multiple visualizations of Aesop’s Fables. Stepping back even further, Philip Allinghan writes about Hardy’s Victorian illustrators and Brian McAvera continues his series on French graphic art, focusing on the work of Hermann-Paul. A final contribution takes us right back to the beginnings of illustration and print-making as Maik Bindewald analyses a fascinating woodcut by Hans Sebald Beham.

Contents of Issue 86

News and Reviews

A round-up of interesting new and forthcoming exhibitions and books, along with information on events.

Graham Clarke

The English homeland has long been a subject for artistic reflection: its landscape, its citizens, its manners and morals. Graham Clarke’s approach is both satirical and appreciative, relishing the foibles of everyday people and the beauties of England’s countryside – while finding time for comments on European artists as well. Jim O’Brien explores the work of this amusing and poetic artist.

Robert Tavener

The printmaker Robert Tavener is best known for his landscapes, but in his early lithographs he focused on everyday people and situations. His images exhibit a keen eye for character, mood, and a vivid sense of here-and-nowness. Emma Mason, the author of a recent book – reviewed in Illustration 85 – provides an intimate portrait of the artist based on her friendship with him.

Tania Willi 

Maps can be purely informative – the documents we all used on car journeys before the SatNav took over. But they can be objects of beauty too. Tania Willis is an artist/illustrator/cartographer whose maps are by turns lyrical and amusing, engagingly easy to read, and reflective of everyday life. Tania explains her art, life and experiences.

John Farleigh

Farleigh was one of the great illustrators of his generation and did outstanding work from the 20s into the 1960s. Mainly working as a wood-engraver, he illustrated a wide range of books in a variety of styles to match and interpret the literary text. He is less well-known today, but deserves to be reconsidered. The Editor reflects on the work of this ingenious practitioner.

Dark Fantasy Illustration

Fantasy can be fey: mere escapism. But it is more often a symbolic language for exploring the darker side of the human psyche and the monsters that lurk in the unconscious mind. David Fletcher, who has collected this material for many years, presents the first of a new series examining some of the advocates of the genre.

Illustrating Aesop’s Fables

On the other hand, animals can comment on human behaviour, most notably in these perennial reflections on human vanity. Warren Clements traces the ways in which illustrators have visualized Aesop’s bizarre moralizing in a wide variety of styles and idioms.

Illustrating Thomas Hardy

Most of the famous Victorian novelists had their work illustrated in their own lifetime, and Hardy’s work was furnished with many rich and provocative images that added a great deal to his literary effects. Philip Allingham introduces the topic in the first of a series of the great author’s illustrated texts.

René Georges Hermann-Paul
 Hermann-Paul is no longer a name to conjure with. His art, nevertheless, is multifaceted and complex – ranging from satirical prints to deeply-felt illustrations as he embraced a variety of media from to woodcuts. Brian McAvera continues his series on forgotten French artists.

Hans Sebald Beham

Woodcuts and wood engravings have long been a significant part of graphic design and printmaking. An early practitioner, associated with Dürer, was Beham. Beham’s cuts are fascinating pieces that invite interpretation. Maik Bindewald decodes these works for the modern reader and shows the small ways in which engravings can be changed.

Resources

Look and Learn

Contributors

Dr Jim O’Brien read History of Art at University College London and completed his Ph.D at the University of Sussex.Alongside working in primary education, he writes on 20th century film, illustration and popular culture.

Emma Mason is an expert on British prints from the 1940s onwards. She and her husband run a gallery specializing in this type of art.

Tania Willis is an artist and illustrator who specializes in map-making. She has worked for international clients, especially in Hong Kong, and is one of the co-founders of “The Good Ship Illustration.”

Dr Simon Cooke is Illustration’s editor and a widely published writer on the book arts, with a specialism in the Victorian period. His latest book, Illustrating the Victorian Supernatural, was published by Ohio University Press in 2025.

David Fletcher was born in the northern city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK, in 1948. He was an illustrator until his retirement at the age of 65 and later moved south to live in Broadstairs, Kent. He is a serious collector of illustrated books – doing much research on the subject.

Warren Clements was for many years a writer and editor with The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto. He now publishes books through a small Canada-only imprint, Nestlings Press, specializing in humour and illustration.

Professor Philip Allingham has published widely on Dickens and Hardy with a focus on their illustrators. Having retired from Lakehead University, he has continued to work for the Victorian Web while teaching part-time for Vancouver Island University and Thompson Rivers University.

Brian McAvera is a playwright art-critic, curator and occasionally an art-historian, his best-known plays include Picasso’s Women, which has been translated for production in over 20 languages. His most recent book is a critical study of the Irish artist Graham Gingles, Brian is an avid collector of French nineteenth century illustrated books.

Maik Bindewald was born in Gelsenkirchen in Germany. After finishing school, he worked as a mechanic and later became an instructor in the Army. He has also worked as a firefighter and paramedic and as a supervisor providing psychological emergency care to firefighters. He has a passionate interest in 15th and 16th century art, particularly prints and drawings, and has published several articles on Dürer in Art in Print, Nouvelles de l’estampe, On Paper and Print Quarterly

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Information about the latest contributions along with details of important resources.