Kate Greenaway: Born on March 17, 1846

Posted in #5WomenArtists, Women Artists by Christy

K is for Kate…Kate Greenaway

English artist and writer, known for her children’s book illustrations. She studied graphic design and art at the South Kensington School of Art; the Royal Female School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art. She began her career designing for the burgeoning holiday card market, producing Christmas and Valentine’s cards. In 1879 wood-block engraver and printer, Edmund Evans, printed Under the Window, an instant best-seller, which established her reputation. Her collaboration with Evans continued throughout the 1880s and 1890s.
https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/name/kate-greenaway

Still more about Kate Greenaway here: http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/art/illustration/greenaway/index.html and here: https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/kate-greenaway

13Mar2016

Al Jaffee: Born March 13, 1921

Posted in Artists Born Today Include: by Christy

…And in 1964 he had an idea. Playboy, Life and other magazines had their lavish color fold-outs, so Mad, he thought, should parody them with a cheap black-and-white fold-in.
From 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/arts/design/30genz.html?pagewanted=all

Instead of conducting a formal interview, we invited Mr. Jaffee to explain the thought process behind his favorite Fold-Ins from over the years. He certainly didn’t disappoint. Read on to discover how one of the world’s finest optical satirists creates his magic on a monthly basis.
From 2014: https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/state-of-the-art-mad-magazine-icon-al-jaffee-on-hi/

Al Jaffee, Iconic Mad Magazine Cartoonist, Retires at Age 99 … and Leaves Behind Advice About Living the Creative Life
From 2020: https://www.openculture.com/2020/06/al-jaffee-iconic-mad-magazine-cartoonist-retires-at-age-99.html

Al Jaffee, Now 102, Is Ready to Be Added to Mount Rushmore:
MAD’s longest-serving contributor on comedy, art, and the origins of the “Fold-in.”
From 2023: https://www.vulture.com/article/al-jaffee-interview.html

Al Jaffee on Artnet: https://www.artnet.com/artists/al-jaffee/

(updated 2023)

28Feb2016

Sir John Tenniel: Born February 28, 1820

Posted in Artists Born Today Include: by Christy

John Tenniel was born in Kensington, London, on 28 February 1820, the youngest son of John Baptist Tenniel, of Huguenot lineage. He was a skilful artist from an early age, and later studied at the Royal Academy Schools, but became dissatisfied with the teaching there, and decided to follow a more independent line…in 1845 he was commissioned to paint a fresco for the House of Lords. He spent a short time in Munich to study the art of fresco in preparation for his mural painting in the House entitled, “Saint Cecilia.”

Continues~ https://illustratorsjournal.wordpress.com/tag/alice-in-wonderland/

Realising that paintings in oils were unlikely to bring him either fame or fortune, he decided to turn his hand to book illustration…His skill at drawing animals and men in dramatic situations caught the eye of Mark Lemon, editor of Punch, a magazine then in the early stages of establishing itself as a popular Victorian weekly publication of satire and humour. Richard Doyle, one of the key artists associated with the magazine resigned in 1850 leaving a vacancy which, on the suggestion of Douglas Jerrold, was filled by Tenniel. Thus began a lifelong position at the Punch Office culminating in Tenniel becoming the foremost illustrator of its pages.

Continues~ https://illustratorsjournal.wordpress.com/tag/alice-in-wonderland/

Tenniel cartoons for PUNCH:
http://punch.photoshelter.com/gallery/John-Tenniel-Cartoons/G0000JCRWVO.C79Y/

Tenniel illustrations for Alice in Wonderland:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:John_Tenniel%27s_illustrations_of_Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland

Tenniel illustrations for Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:John_Tenniel%27s_illustrations_of_Through_the_Looking-Glass_and_What_Alice_Found_There

26Feb2016

Elihu Vedder: Born February 26, 1836

Posted in Artists Born Today Include: by Christy

During the second half of the nineteenth century Elihu Vedder was among the most imaginative and independent of the American expatriate artists. After studying with the genre painter Tompkins H. Matteson in New York, Vedder traveled to Paris…In 1857 he moved to Florence…Vedder returned to the United States in 1860 and began to establish a reputation for imaginative literary paintings and book illustrations. He became a member of the Tile Club and the Century Association and an intimate of notable artistic and literary circles in New York.
FROM About This Artist~ https://collections.lacma.org/node/167054

Elihu Vedder (1836–1923)~ http://www.questroyalfineart.com/artist/elihu-vedder/
From the Met Collection~ https://bit.ly/3guaUML

16Feb2016

Illustrator Pamela Colman Smith: Born February 16, 1878

Posted in Artists Born Today Include: by Christy

I’ve never given any thought to who might have designed and/or illustrated Tarot Cards, I suppose because I figured they were something that evolved over time and were already established by the time card/game companies began printing them. The popular version that I am familiar with turns out to have been illustrated by one Pamela Colman Smith, an illustrator who attended (but did not finish) Pratt.

Pamela Colman Smith (16 February 1878 – 18 September 1951), also nicknamed Pixie, was an artist, illustrator, and writer. She is best known for designing the Waite-Smith deck of divinatory tarot cards (also called the Rider-Waite or the Rider-Waite-Smith deck) for Arthur Edward Waite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamela_Colman_Smith