Keith Henderson, 'Buckaroo'

Keith Henderson, 'Buckaroo', 1934. Museum no. E.15-1935

Keith Henderson (1883-1982)
'Buckaroo'
1934
Title page for 'Buckaroo' by Eugene Cunningham (London, 1934)
Museum no. E.15-1935

This image is for the title-page of Buckaroo, published in 1934. In style and technique it connects Keith Henderson with the world of advertising. Henderson started out as a painter and his first book illustrations, for the Romaunt of the Rose in 1908, come from this painterly past. Later, Henderson worked in advertising, designing posters for London Transport and the Empire Marketing Board. A connection between advertising and book jacket design was being established at this time and many poster artists like Henderson also designed book jackets.

For his later illustrations, Henderson used scraperboard to combine boldness of design with decorative effects. Scraperboard is a drawing board coated in white clay and covered with black ink from which the ink is scraped away to reveal the white. Developed towards the end of the 19th century to replace wood-engraving in books, it was also widely used in advertising from the 1920s until the 1950s.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Kay Nielsen, 'You'd Best Go Down to the Gardener'/'A Giant Seated on a Rock'

Kay Nielsen, 'You'd Best Go Down to the Gardener'/'A Giant Seated on a Rock', probably 1916. Museum nos. E.508-1916, E.509-1916

Kay Nielsen (1886-1957)
'You'd Best Go Down to the Gardener' /'A Giant Seated on a Rock'
Probably 1916
Pen and ink on paper
Illustrations probably for 'The Widow's Son' and 'Billy Goats Gruff'  in 'East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, Old Tales from the North' by Peter Christen Asbjornsen (publication unknown)
Museum nos. E.508-1916, E.509-1916

The Widow's Son is a traditional Norse tale and an appropriate choice for Danish-born Kay Nielsen to illustrate. Nielsen's Scandinavian roots inspired him to become an illustrator. As a child he drew Viking sagas as they were read aloud to him. He was also influenced by Swedish fairytale artist John Bauer and later became known for his own fairytale illustrations, published as limited edition gift-books by Hodder and Stoughton from 1913.

This image also shows elements of Art Nouveau. Nielsen studied in Paris at a time when Art Nouveau was still influential. He combined the Art Nouveau style with patterns inspired by Japanese art, also in vogue at the time.

These images can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Arthur Rackham, 'The Professor Can't Stand that Sort of Thing'

Arthur Rackham, 'The Professor Can't Stand that Sort of Thing', 1932. Museum no. E.171-1969

Arthur Rackham
'The Professor Can't Stand that Sort of Thing'
1932
Illustration, for 'Fairy Tales by Hans Andersen' (London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., 1932)
Museum no. E.171-1969

The style of this illustration reveals Arthur Rackham's background as a caricature artist. It was made for Hans Christian Anderson's Fairy Tales, published in 1932. Nicknamed the 'beloved enchanter', Rackham was the leading British illustrator of the early 20th century. He is best known for his illustrations to fables and fairytales, featuring gnomes, fairies, ogres and plants and trees with human characteristics. He combined sometimes disturbing settings with humour, making his images loved by children and adults alike.

Rackham began his career drawing caricatures for magazines like the Pall Mall Budget and Punch. His career took off when he turned to fantasy illustration in 1898 and began to work in colour. He illustrated sumptuous gift-books until the 1920s. He continued to caricature even in his fantastical work, sometimes including portraits of himself. He said that whether or not an artist believed in the world of fairies, he 'must make it as real as if he did'. Even the furniture and crockery for the Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice in Wonderland (1907) were modelled on his own. Rackham continued to illustrate books into the 1930s. His last work, fulfilling a longstanding wish, was in 1936 for The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Edmund Dulac, 'The Prince Leading the Lady to the Tomb'

Edmund Dulac, 'The Prince Leading the Lady to the Tomb', 1914. Museum no. E.391-1948

Edmund Dulac
'The Prince Leading the Lady to the Tomb'
1914
Illustration, probably intended for 'Sinbad the Sailor, and other stories from the Arabian Nights' (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1914)
Museum no. E.391-1948

Edmund Dulac was one of the leading illustrators at the beginning of the 20th century. He is known for his vivid watercolour illustrations, inspired by Indian and Persian miniature paintings. This illustration was for one of his very successful Christmas books, published in London by Hodder & Stoughton from 1907 until 1939. Favourite themes of these books were traditional fairy tales or Eastern stories such as this one, a scene from Sinbad the Sailor and other Stories from the Arabian Nights (1914). The drama in this picture also reflects Dulac's interest in designing stage sets for the theatre.

Dulac's debut as a book illustrator came at a time when a new method of printing in colour was introduced into the book industry. Four-colour process blocks allowed colour to be printed more accurately from the originals than before, which showed Dulac's work to advantage.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Edward Bawden, 'The Lord of the Tower Looked Out and Saw a Damsel

Edward Bawden, 'The Lord of the Tower Looked Out and Saw a Damsel, a Dwarf and a Knight Armed at all Points', 1982. Museum no. E.430-1982, © The Fine Arts Society

Edward Bawden
'The Lord of the Tower Looked Out and Saw a Damsel, a Dwarf and a Knight Armed at all Points'
1982
Print, for 'The Chronicles of King Arthur' by Sir Thomas Malory (London: Folio Society, 1982)
Museum no. E.430-1982
© The Fine Arts Society

This linoprint belongs to a series of illustrations that accompany The Chronicles of King Arthur. Its graphic feel comes from Edward Bawden's design training and the special qualities of linoprinting. Being rather soft and crumbly lino cannot produce fine lines and works best with bold and uncluttered designs.

Taught by graphic designer Paul Nash, Bawden began his career when the boundaries between fine and applied art and design were becoming blurred. This is shown by Bawden's varied career as fine artist, graphic designer and designer of ceramics and wallpaper.

Bawden also approached book illustration like a designer. He said: 'the illustrator was not just a watercolour painter handing in his work to the printer and letting him get on with it, instead he considered himself a designer, a member of a team responsible for producing a book in which type and decorations harmonized'. He illustrated many books during a long career and also worked for the Curwen Press in the 1920s and 1930s designing wallpaper and borders.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Kate Greenaway, 'Children'

Kate Greenaway, 'Children', 1880. Museum no. E.726-1948 to 736-1948

Kate Greenaway (1846-1901)
'Children'
1880
Pen and ink on paper
Illustrations for 'Kate Greenaway's Birthday Book for Children' (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1880)
Museum nos. E.726-1948 to 736-1948

The Birthday Book for Children was published in 1880. It had 12 colour and 350 tiny black and white illustrations like this one, with verses by Sale Barker. Kate Greenaway is known for her drawings and watercolour illustrations of quaint children in bonnets, sailor suits and pinafore dresses. She drew from life and made the clothes worn by her models. Her career took off around 1877 when Edmund Evans, a well known printer of children's books, risked printing large numbers of a book of her verses and illustrations. Despite being sold at six shillings instead of sixpence, Under the Window still sold out at Christmas in 1878. Under the Window and The Birthday Book established a following for Kate Greenaway almanacs and calendars for the next 20 years. As with Beatrix Potter, the enthusiasm for her characters was exploited through the sale of dolls, wallpaper, fabrics, christening sets and clothes.

These images can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Tony Ross, 'The ogre didn't have many visitors on account of his bad temper

Tony Ross, 'The ogre didn't have many visitors on account of his bad temper, and he blinked at the cat in yellow boots peeping through his door', 1981. Museum no. E.290-1982, © Andersen Press Ltd

Tony Ross
'The ogre didn't have many visitors on account of his bad temper, and he blinked at the cat in yellow boots peeping through his door'
1981
Illustration for 'Puss in Boots, the Story of a Sneaky Cat', by Tony Ross (London: Andersen Press, 1981)
Museum no. E.290-1982
© Andersen Press Ltd

This illustration for Puss in Boots, the Story of a Sneaky Cat, published in 1981, is typical of Tony Ross's style. A well-known illustrator of children's books, he has produced over 50 books since 1976. He combines humour with a lively use of line and colour. Although there is a strong sense of colour in his work, line is the most important element and he judges the quality of his work from its ability to hold its own as a black and white line drawing: 'if it doesn't work in line it's no good. To me colour always comes second'. He used the same pen for 20 years because its bluntness produced the scratchy finish he sought. His work has an international appeal and has been adapted for television animations, his best known characters being Dr Xargle and Towser.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Ronald Searle, 'And this is Rachel - our head girl'

Ronald Searle, 'And this is Rachel - our head girl', 1951. Museum no. E.5492-1958

Ronald Searle
'And this is Rachel - our head girl'
1951
Illustration for 'Back to the Slaughterhouse' (London: Macdonald & Co., 1951)
Museum no E.5492-1958

Ronald Searle made this image for Lilliput magazine, but it later appeared in the book Back to the Slaughterhouse in 1951. Searle created the infamous girls' school, St Trinians, in October 1941 with a cartoon in Lilliput magazine. These cartoons were later collected and published as books starting with Hurrah for St Trinians in 1948. His St Trinians characters also inspired a series of films.

With a distinctive and lively pen and ink style, which has become blotchier and more angular in later years, Searle is one of the most recognisable British artists. His work is distinguished by its humour. As biographer Russell Davies said: 'He was not making the world look funny, but experiencing it as funny; it was less a style than a psychological condition'. Searle started work at just 15 years old as a professional cartoonist for the Cambridge Daily News. He continued to work for newspapers and magazines, including Punch, well into the 1950s. Since then he has produced numerous illustrated books including Merry England, etc (1956), The Illustrated Winespeak (1983) and Slightly Foxed but Still Desirable (1989).

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Margaret Tempest, 'The Witch's House'

Margaret Tempest, 'The Witch's House', about 1920. Museum no. E.101-1980

Margaret Tempest (died 1982)
'The Witch's House'
About 1920
Watercolour on board
Museum no. E.101-1980

Margaret Tempest's children's book illustrations are characterised by subtle shades of watercolour as seen in this image of a witch's house. Tempest began her illustrating career in the 1920s and is best known as the illustrator of the long-running series of children's books written by Alison Uttley, which featured the characters Little Grey Rabbit and Fuzzypeg the Hedgehog. The individual characterisation in Tempest's images made the characters household names and artist and author often disagreed as to who could take the most credit for creating them. Published from 1929, the series is still being re-issued today. Tempest illustrated the first 30 of them until 1970 and also wrote and illustrated 20 books of her own in the 1940s and 1950s, including the Pinky Mouse and Curley Cobbler series.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Stephen Ryan, 'Ned Kelly Organising the Drones to Type his Letter'

Stephen Ryan, 'Ned Kelly Organising the Drones to Type his Letter', 1978. Museum no. E.412-1982

Stephen Ryan
'Ned Kelly Organising the Drones to Type his Letter'
1978
Pen and ink and some scraper-work on board
Illustration for 'Ned Kelly and the City of Bees' by Thomas Keneally (London: Jonathan Cape, 1978)
Museum no. E.412-1982

This illustration by Stephen Ryan is for the only children's book written by Thomas Keneally. Published in 1978, and called Ned Kelly and the City of Bees, this story is about a ten year old boy who is shrunk so that he can live in a hive for the summer and learn about the life of bees. The image is made up of tiny lines, cross-hatching and zig-zags of an intensity that almost buzzes like the bees in the story.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Anthony Meeuwissen, Cat Falling off a Broomstick

Anthony Meeuwissen, Cat Falling off a Broomstick, 1973. Museum no. E.1-1976

Anthony Meeuwissen
Cat Falling off a Broomstick
1973
Gouache and aniline dyes on board
Illustration for 'The Witch's Hat' by Irwin Dermeer (London: G. Wizzard Publications Ltd., 1975)
Museum no. E.1-1976

Looking at this image, it is easy to see why Tony Meeuwissen once won the Francobollo d'Oro award for the world's best postage stamp. Although designed as a book illustration, this painting shows a minute precision and yet poster-like clarity that would suit a format as small as a postage stamp. In a similar vein, Meeuwissen was commissioned to design a set of playing cards, published also as an award winning book Key to the Kingdom, in 1993. Based on the Transformation decks that were popular in the 19th century, each card contains a different miniature image illustrating a nursery rhyme. Meeuwissen has also designed book and magazine covers.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Cecil Mary Leslie, 'Elephants' 'Apes'

Cecil Mary Leslie, 'Elephants' 'Apes', 1963. Museum nos. E.1572-1984, E.1577-1984

Cecil Mary Leslie
'Elephants' 'Apes'
1963
Pencil, pen and ink and Chinese white highlights on paper, pasted onto card
Illustrations for 'Crowds of Creatures' by Pauline Clarke (London: Faber & Faber, 1964)
Museum nos. E.1572-1984, E.1577-1984

This illustration for Crowds of Creatures, published in 1964, is typical of the book illustrations of British artist Cecil Mary Leslie. Leslie began illustrating children's books in the 1930s, but was also an aquatint engraver and painter of portraits and still-lifes. She worked mainly in pen and ink, but used watercolours, crayon or chalk to add texture and provide highlights, as seen here. She always drew from life and her illustrations were well researched.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Frank Cheyne Papé, 'Christian Slaying Apollon'

Frank Cheyne Papé, 'Christian Slaying Apollon', 1910. Museum no. E.488-1981

Frank Cheyne Papé
'Christian Slaying Apollon'
1910
Illustration for 'Pilgrim's Progress' by John Bunyan (London: Dent, 1910)
Museum no. E.488-1981

This illustration, for Pilgrim's Progress (1910), dates from the early part of Papé's career when his work was characterised by his use of colour. He tended to work in black and white after the First World War. He always painted from imagination, combining fantasy and a sense of drama.

Papé's illustrations sparked a cult following for his work. Papé first illustrated fairytales in the 1890s, but became famous for his satirical illustrations in the 1920s, starting with James Branch Cabell's Jurgen. Jurgen was an ironic fantasy novel set in the Middle Ages, which, because of its erotic symbolism, was the subject of an obscenity trial in 1919. When it was eventually published in 1921, it sold out on the first day.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Fulvio Testa, 'He Would Scramble Up the Mountains Where No Foot Has Ever Trod'

Fulvio Testa, 'He Would Scramble Up the Mountains Where No Foot Has Ever Trod', 1978. Museum no. E.289-1982

Fulvio Testa (born 1947)
'He Would Scramble Up the Mountains Where No Foot Has Ever Trod'
1978
Illustration for 'The Butterfly Collector' by Naomi Lewis (London: Andersen Press, 1978)
Museum no. E.289-1982

The Butterfly Collector, published in 1978, falls into Fulvio Testa's early career as a children's book illustrator. The vivid colour in this watercolour landscape scene is typical of his style. Testa enjoys using watercolour because of its unpredictable qualities and the blotches and run-ins add character to his work. He began his career as a children's book illustrator in 1971 but he is now known as a landscape artist, generally of abstract mountain scenes. He pays great attention to his materials, using the finest hand-made paper which adds to the textural quality of his work.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Paula Rego, 'Three Blind Mice'

Paula Rego, 'Three Blind Mice', 1989. Museum no. E.285-1990

Paula Rego
'Three Blind Mice'
1989
Print
Museum no. E.285-1990

Paula Rego was born in Lisbon in 1935 and trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London in the 1950s. As Rego herself explained in 1965, she is inspired by 'caricature, items from newspapers, sights in the street, proverbs, nursery rhymes, children's games and songs, nightmares, desires, terrors'. Twenty-five years later she revisited the English nursery rhymes of her childhood with a series of etchings, which she made in honour of her infant granddaughter. Three Blind Mice is from that series, which was exhibited at the Marlborough Graphics Gallery in London in 1989.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.

Mike Wilks, 'Dinosaur in Pond'

Mike Wilks, 'Dinosaur in Pond', 1979. Museum no. E.3205-1980

Mike Wilks
'Dinosaur in Pond'
1979
Illustration for 'In Granny's Garden' by Sarah Harrison, 1980 (London: Jonathan Cape; New York: Holt, Reinhart & Winston, 1980)
Museum no. E.3205-1980

This illustration for In Granny's Pond shows a combination of intense realism and surrealism which characterises Mike Wilks' work. This is the second book illustrated by Wilks, published in 1980. Crammed full of birds and animals it is reminiscent of his work in the puzzle book The Ultimate Alphabet.

Born in 1947, Mike Wilks studied the Flemish Renaissance at art school. The intense realism of Jan Van Eyck, Rogier Van der Weyden and Hans Memling, the fantastical darker world of Pieter Breughel and surrealist edge of Hieronymus Bosch can all be seen in Wilks' work. It comes as no surprise to learn that he is also inspired by the surrealists and artists like Maurits Escher. He sometimes uses pen and ink, but works mainly in acrylic and gouache, producing work of poster-like intensity and colour.

This image can be found in Print Room Box 1.