Lawson Wood
Lawson Wood | |
---|---|
Born | Highgate, London, England | 23 August 1878
Died | 26 October 1957 | (aged 79)
Other names | Clarence Lawson Wood |
Occupation(s) | Painter, illustrator and designer |
Lawson Wood, sometimes Clarence Lawson Wood[note 1] RI FZS, (23 August 1878 – 26 October 1957), was an English painter, illustrator and designer.
Biography
Lawson Wood was born on 23 August 1878 in
In 1896, at age 18, he was employed with periodical publisher C. Arthur Pearson.[2][note 2] He soon became Pearson's chief artist, leaving after six years to turn freelance.[4]: 246
In 1902, he married the fashion artist Charlotte Forge.[4]: 246 The couple had two sons and one daughter.[5]
Work
From the age of 24 he pursued a successful freelance career and was published in
His books include The Bow-Wow Book (1912), Rummy Tales (1920), The Noo-Zoo Tales (1922), Jolly Rhymes (1926), Fun Fair (1931), The Old Nursery Rhymes (1933), The Bedtime Picture Book (1943), Meddlesome Monkeys (1946) and Mischief Makers (1946).[2] Frederick Warne of London a seried of Mr. books by Wood in 1916:Mr Prickles, Mr Quack, Mr Trunk, Mr Grunt, Mr Fox, and Mr Pup[6].
Assessment
Peppin and Micklethwait stated that Wood's wide reputation as a humorous illustrator and commercial artist was based in part on astute management. He retained the copyright in his work and licensed it in Britain and abroad for posters, postcards, etc.[7] Cran'pop was merchandised in pottery, calendars, postcards, and cigarette cards.[4]: 246 Wood worked in pen and ink, pencils, chalk, and watercolour[7]. He used a specially made enamel palette about one foot (300 mm) square and worked on Milburn Drawing Board at an architects desk.[4]: 246
Houfe said that most of Wood's work was "humorous in drawing and content, his repertoire of characters including peppery army officers, namby-pamby men and dominating old dames. The figures are heavily caricatured and he was one of the group of artists who made capital out of imaginary prehistoric scenes."[8] Kelly calls a watercolour by Wood "a welcome holiday from the prehistoric monsters and chimpanzees on which he wasted so much talent."[9] Peppin and Micklethwait cite Percy Bradshaw as saying the Wood had a "breadth, ease and fluency which many an infinitely more serious artist must envy".[7]
Later life
Wood lived in a 15th-century medieval manor house he moved brick by brick from Sussex to the Kent border. He died in Devon on 26 October 1957 at the age of 79.[2]
Notes
References
- ISBN 0-9583154-2-6.
- ^ ISBN 0-7858-1427-2.
- ^ a b Smith, Jane Felecity. "Lawson Wood: Guest Biography courtesy of Jane Felicity Smith". JVJ Publishing: Illustrators. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Bryant, Mark (2018). Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Cartoonists and Caricaturists. London: Routledge.
- ^ A. & C. Black Ltd. (1964). Who Was Who: Volume V 1951-1960: A Companion to Who's Who Containing the Biographies of Those Who Died During the Decade 1951-1960. Vol. 5: 1951-1960 (2nd ed.). London: Adam and Charles Black. p. 1188. Retrieved 25 August 2020 – via The Internet Archive.
- .
- ^ .
- ISBN 1-85149-193-7– via 0.
- ^ Kelly, C. M. (1975). The Brocks, A family of Cambridge Artists and Illustrators. London: Charles Skilton Ltd. p. 113.
External links
- Lawson Wood on Artnet
- Lawson Wood artworks
- Lawson Wood at Library of Congress, with 6 library catalogue records