Beatrix Potter born in London on July 28th 1866, was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Influenced by her father Rupert Potter a barrister who chose not to pursue his profession but his passion for art and photography, Beatrix was an imaginative and independent woman who was way ahead of her time in an era that kept women ‘properly’ inhibited.

“Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.”

A fascination in the sciences and a love for animals and nature was an ongoing inspiration for Beatrix and her paintings and illustrations. At the age of eight Beatrix was already studying and recording the characteristics of a wide variety of animals, birds and insects in a home-made sketchbook.

This habit of spending time observing the form and structure of living things continued throughout her childhood and into adolescence. She observed and dissected animals in order to discover their precise physiognomy and anatomy. Her early passion for scientific investigation became integral to her method as an illustrator.

Educated by private governesses, which was common for wealthy families, Beatrix was able to pursue and excel in literature, science, history and private art lessons.

“I cannot rest, I must draw, however poor the result, and when I have a bad time come over me it is a stronger desire than ever.”

Through her 20s, Beatrix developed into a talented naturalist. She made studies of plants and animals at the Cromwell Road museums, and learned how to draw with her eye to a microscope. Her scientific studies were exceptional though not taken serious since she was a woman. However, her talent and capabilities would eventually earn her the respect she deserved in spite of discrimination.

Beatrix was also an accomplished still life painter and at age 15 produced remarkable paintings – though not widely known for this.

She painted for many years for her own amusement and story telling for family and friends before she decided to pursue commercial work.

“I hold that a strongly marked personality, can influence descendants for generations.”

Peter Rabbit the World’s Oldest Licensed Character

With a fondness for her rabbit character and story, she decided to turn it into a picture book. Determination to see the book published did not stop her even though the book was rejected by several publishers. She printed the book herself with 250 copies.

The “Tale of Peter Rabbit” was a great success with family and friends.

In 1902 Frederick Warne & Co. agreed to publish an initial quantity of 8,000 copies which sold out instantly and her career as a storyteller and illustrator was launched.

In 1903 Beatrix designed and patented a Peter Rabbit doll, making Peter Rabbit the world’s oldest licensed character.

Potter was also a canny businesswoman. As early as 1903 she made and patented a Peter Rabbit doll, the world’s oldest licensed character. It was followed by other “spin-off” merchandise over the years, including painting books, board games, wall-paper, figurines, baby blankets and china tea-sets. All were licensed by Frederick Warne & Co. and earned Potter an independent income as well as immense profits for her publisher.

With the proceeds from the book and a family inheritance she went on to purchase a farm, Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey and over several decades purchased additional farms to preserve the unique hill country landscape.

Beatriz remained single until age 47 when she married William Heelis. They enjoyed a happy marriage of thirty years.

“Most people, after one success, are so cringingly afraid of doing less well that they rub all the edge off their subsequent work.”

Beatrix Potter published over twenty- three books and the best known are those written between 1902 and 1922.

She continued to write, illustrate and design spin-off merchandise based on her children’s books for Warne until the duties of land management and diminishing eyesight made it difficult to continue.

She died at age 77 of complications from pneumonia and heart disease. She left nearly all her property to the National Trust, including over 4,000 acres of land, sixteen farms, cottages and herds of cattle and Herdwick sheep. Hers was the largest gift at that time to the National Trust and it enabled the preservation of the lands now included in the Lake District National Park and the continuation of fell farming.

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Rockwell’s idealistic presentation of family values is expressed in Freedom From Want. The family scene sums up the perfect idealism of the American family in harmony with each other. The painting depicts three generations of a family around a table at Thanksgiving. The father is standing at the head of the table as the mother is about to place a large turkey in front of him.

Embodying nostalgia for an enduring American theme of holiday celebration, this painting is one of the hallmarks of Rockwell’s career.

All of the people in the painting were friends and family of Rockwell in Arlington, Vermont, who were photographed individually and painted into the scene. Rockwell’s wife Mary is in this painting, and the family cook, Mrs. Thaddeus Wheaton is serving the turkey, which the Rockwell family ate that day. The nine adults and two children depicted were photographed in Rockwell’s studio and painted into the scene later.

Why did Norman Rockwell Paint Freedom from Want?

In January 1941, FDR delivered his State of the Union address in which he outlined his idea of the four basic human freedoms, which included:

• freedom of speech
• freedom of worship
• freedom from want.
• and freedom from fear.

To symbolize the Four Freedoms, Rockwell was chosen for his symbolic paintings. Rockwell spent six months painting the Four Freedoms, which were published in a series of Saturday Evening Post issues in 1943. The paintings were a instant success and defined Rockwell’s career. The original art is approximately 45.75 by 35.5 inches, and are now in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Freedom from Want is considered one of Rockwell’s finest works. As one of the four paintings in the Four Freedoms, it is the one most often seen in art books with critical review and commentary. Although all were intended to promote patriotism in a time of war, Freedom from Want became a symbol of “family togetherness, peace, and plenty”, according to Linda Rosenkrantz, who compares it to “a ‘Hallmark’ Christmas”.

Norman Rockwell – A Quick Rundown

He was born in New York City on February 3, 1894 and died November 8, 1978. He is known to be talented at a young age, and he received his first commission at age 17!

Norman Rockwell illustrated American life for over 47 years at The Saturday Evening Post. He produced more than 4,000 original works in his lifetime. Most of his works are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes.

Source: Wikipedia

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Thomas Nast first drew Santa Claus for the 1862 Christmas season Harper’s Weekly cover and center-fold illustration to memorialize the family sacrifices of the Union during the early and, for the north, darkest days of the Civil War. His use of Santa Claus was melancholy, sad for the faltering Union war effort in which Nast so fervently believed, and sad for the separation of soldiers and families. Between 1863 and 1886 he drew 33 Christmas drawings for Harper’s and Santa Clause was referenced in 32 of those drawings.

Before Thomas Nast’s popular version of Santa Claus, the legend can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas.

The Ancient Santa Claus – Travels the Countryside Helping the Poor and Sick

It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father by providing them with a dowry so that they could be married.

The painting above is known to be one of the first paintings of “Santa Claus” which was created in 1294 by Russian artist Aleksa Petrov.

The Coca Cola Santa Claus – Coke is the real thing!

Haddon Hubbard “Sunny” Sundblom (June 22, 1899 – March 10, 1976) was a Finnish illustrator and American artist best known for the images of Santa Claus he created for The Coca-Cola Company. Sundblom is best remembered for his advertising work, specifically the Santa Claus advertisements he painted for The Coca-Cola Company in the 1930s.

Sundblom’s Claus firmly established the larger-than-life, grandfatherly Claus as a key figure in American Christmas imagery.

A Drum For Tommy

Almost every year Rockwell painted at least one Santa Claus painting.

A Drum for Tommy, also called Santa with Drum, completed in 1921 is also the only Rockwell Santa to appear on the pages of The Country Gentleman.

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Ann Turner Cook (born November 20, 1926 – Died June 3rd, 2022)

The iconic Gerber baby illustration has been a familiar brand seen throughout the world. The face for the trusted baby food, propelled the Gerber brand forward.

However, not much has been shown on the actual artist/illustrator who was inspired to create the sketch of original Gerber Baby, Ann Taylor Cook. Keep reading to learn about Dorothy Hope Smith.

Ann Taylor Cook: Then and now, 4 months to age 95.

In 1927 when she was about 4 months old, her image was sketched in charcoal by their neighbor and friend artist Dorothy Hope Smith. Dorothy submitted a preliminary charcoal sketch to a Gerber baby contest. The sketch was created from a snapshot of Ann Turner. Dorothy’s unfinished submission was intended more as an inquiry as to what the age of the baby should be and what the ad size would be. Dorothy intended to finish the sketch if accepted. The judges loved it. They preferred the simplicity of the illustration compared to more elaborate entries.

Dorothy won $300 in the contest, selling the rights of her drawing to Gerber.

The drawing wasn’t intended to become the brand ‘face’ for Gerber. It was actually for a marketing campaign, however the public loved it so much that they even wanted to purchase copies of the sketch. Gerber was on to something big and the sketch of Ann Cook by Dorothy Hope Smith became a trademark.

Who was Dorothy Hope Smith?

Although today many may not know her name, her creation is household knowledge.
Dorothy was born October 1st in 1895 and died in 1955 at age 60. She studied illustration at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was a talented commercial illustrator specializing in babies and children. She was one of the “Ivory Soap Baby” illustrators for Procter & Gamble, illustrating children’s books for Putnam and several magazine covers. She married and her husband was also an Illustrator.

Her work represents an era of when advertising was mainly illustration based. She was also one of the few women Illustrators in a time when the industry was dominated by males.

Today you can find copies of the Gerber Baby prints (the same ones that were sold years ago) at auctions.

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Growing up Theodor had a grand imagination and was a curious observer of the places and experiences around him. Many of these places can be seen in his illustrations. For instance Drawings of Horton the Elephant meandering along streams in the Jungle of Nool,  mirror the watercourses in Springfield’s Forest Park from the period.

Later enrolled as an English major, his Father hoped he would become a college professor, however ‘Ted’ had other ideas. It was in college that he discovered his love of designing books with pictures and words, combined with his quirky humor. Ted began to pursue a career as cartoonist after he left Dartmouth College.

Lucky Break and Exposure in The Saturday Evening Post

The Saturday Evening Post and other publications published some of his Ted’s pieces. His first cartoon appeared in the magazine in 1927 and was purchased for twenty-five dollars. This was the lucky break and encouragement he needed along with the early exposure of his work that opened doors that launched his career.

Much of Ted’s activity during his early career was devoted to creating advertising campaigns for Standard Oil, which he did for more than 15 years. One of the most popular was a Judge cartoon in which Ted used Flit bug spray in the punch line that led to a seventeen-year Flit advertising campaign. Ted’s catchphrase “Quick, Henry, the Flit!” was a popular phrase and Flit sales increased wildly. “Flit,” was a popular bug spray of the day – especially against flies and mosquitoes. It was one of many Standard Oil Company of New Jersey consumer products derived from petroleum.

From Bugs to Books – Persistence, Rejection & Lucky 28

Ted got his first real break into Children’s literature And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, published, however, required a great degree of persistence – it was rejected 27 times before being published by Vanguard Press!

Ever determined, Ted moved forward and captured the biggest defining moment in his career which was The Cat in the Hat. This was the beginning of a stream of the most loved books throughout the world. Ted had written and illustrated 44 children’s books, including such all-time favorites as Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, the Places You’ll Go, Fox in Socks, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His books had been translated into more than 15 languages. Over 200 million copies had found their way into homes and hearts around the world.

Why Dr. Seuss?

Besides the fact that his father had wished that he would have got a doctorate, Ted wasn’t a doctor. He used his Mother’s maiden name “doctor.” And besides it gave him an extra layer of credibility to his work.

Humor Aside – The Serious Work of Dr. Seuss

The secret collection The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss shows a side of the artist that most readers, familiar with him through his classic children’s books, have never seen. These “Midnight Paintings,” along with significant drawings and sculpture, were often created by Dr. Seuss at night for his own personal enjoyment and were rarely, if ever, exhibited during his lifetime. More on this collection can be found here.

Oh the places you’ll go – And 87 is never too old!

It’s never too late for an artist, illustrator and writer! Just look at Ted.

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, was published in 1990 when Dr. Seuss was 87. This clever book is packed full of meaning, wisdom and encouragement.

Dr Seuss died one year later on September 24th, 1991.

Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

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Circus Posters & Advertising – Set the Expectation for the Ringling Brothers Circus

When it all began, before the Internet and social media, expectation and promotion for the circus was set with stunning posters that depicted circus acts, animals, oddities, clowns and more. These visuals were installed and promoted weeks ahead of the show and were often the first form of communications. The posters set the stage for excitement and anticipation as bold colorful graphics expressing the awe and excitement of the circus were placed in store windows, telephone poles and billboard signs.

Circus Advertising was a challenge before the media, as we know it today. The circus owner had to create a bold brand and also stir an excitement that no one could miss. These visuals and graphics had to have a WOW impact like no other!

Often these advertisements only ran for a day. Everything hinged on the design of circus poster. Throughout the circus decades there have been dozens upon dozens of unique circus poster designs. Here are a few of our favorites.

Charles Livingston Bull

One of most memorable designs ever produced as a circus poster design was that of a ferocious leaping tiger for Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey combined Shows. The poster was designed by Illustrator Charles Livingston Bull in 1915 and used continuously to 1928.

Edward Potthast

Equestrian acts were a big draw for circuses and in 1920, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows featured “Chariot Race” on this poster designed by significant 19th-century American artist Edward Potthast.

Take a look at more unique Barnum and Bailey Vintage Circus Posters!

Circus Animals Illustrated

THE LARGEST GORILLA EVER EXHIBITED
Gargantua was one of the most famous headliners in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was born in the jungles of the Congo in 1929.

Circus Performer’s

Child Protege
Mr. Mistin Jr. was a child prodigy on the xylophone who performed for RB in the early ’50’s.

Clowns

And what is a circus without clowns!

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If you have children you no doubt have heard of Maurice Sendak… One of his most popular books is “Where the Wild Things Are”!

Maurice Sendak was considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, whose works tore the picture book out of the ordinary, happy, safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and nightmarish recesses of the human psyche.

Sendak was born to Polish Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn New York on June 10, 1928. At an early age he was exposed to the reality of death and tragedy. His childhood, described as was a “terrible situation” was filled with grief and horror from the his extended family being killed during the Holocaust.

As a child Sendak was sickly with health problems and was confined to his bed where he spent time drawing. At the age of twelve he decided to become an illustrator after watching Walt Disney’s film Fantasia.

As he grew up — lower class, Jewish, gay — he felt permanently shunted to the margins of things. “All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy,” he told The New York Times in a 2008 interview. “They never, never, never knew.” He lived with his partner, psychoanalyst Dr. Eugene Glynn, for 50 years before Glynn’s death in May 2007.

Sendak’s illustrations were first published in 1947 in a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff. He spent much of the 1950s illustrating children’s books written by others before beginning to write his own stories.

In 1963 Sendak masterpiece was published Where the Wild Things Are which was a shocking contrast found in typical children’s book of the time.

He died on May 8, 2012, at the age of 83 from complications of a stroke.

Maurice Sendak Quotes

“There must be more to life than having everything.”
― Maurice Sendak

“I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more.”
― Maurice Sendak

“And Max, the king of all wild things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.”
― Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

“You cannot write for children. They’re much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them. ”
― Maurice Sendak

“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen”
― Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

“F**k them is what I say. I hate those ebooks. They can not be the future. They may well be. I will be dead. I won’t give a s**t.”
― Maurice Sendak

“Let the wild rumpus start!”
― Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are

“Art has always been my salvation. And my gods are Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Mozart. I believe in them with all my heart. And when Mozart is playing in my room, I am in conjunction with something I can’t explain — I don’t need to. I know that if there’s a purpose for life, it was for me to hear Mozart. Or if I walk in the woods and I see an animal, the purpose of my life was to see that animal. I can recollect it, I can notice it. I’m here to take note of. And that is beyond my ego, beyond anything that belongs to me, an observer, an observer.”
― Maurice Sendak

“A book is really like a lover. It arranges itself in your life in a way that is beautiful.”
― Maurice Sendak

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Sendak

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