ART & ARTISTS: 2016-06-05

Friday, 10 June 2016

Harry Rountree - part 2

Self-Portrait

Harry Rountree (1878 – 1950) was a prolific illustrator, mainly for children. He contributed to such periodicals as the Humorist, Playtime, and Punch.
From 1903 he collaborated with the editor of Little Folks on a very successful series of books. Specialising in animals, he illustrated several classics of children’s literature, including Uncle Remus and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

This is part 2 of a 6 - part series on Harry Rountree.
For earlier works, see part 1 also.

1909 Famine on the Farm
"If not exactly the right food, at all events the right colour"

1909 The Forest Foundling

1909c Our British Sticklebacks
"An excellent example of the devoted and domesticated father"

1910 The Golf Courses of the British Isles
published by Duckworth & Co., London

1911 Folk of the Wild
hardback cover

1912 "The Lost World"
The Strand Magazine

1912 The Twins

1913 Children's Book Illustration

1914 Children's Book Illustration

1914 Goldilocks and the Three Bears

1915 edition of "Uncle Remus"
hardback book published by Leicester and London: Raithby, Lawrence & Co. Ltd.

1915c Simple Samuel and Other Stories (Dust Cover)
published by Charles E. Graham & Co., Newark, NJ

1915c Simple Samuel and Other Stories (Hard Cover)
published by Charles E. Graham & Co., Newark, NJ

1916 Children's Illustration Print "The Witch"

1916 Illustration from "Little Folks":
"The Bunnikin Sea Scouts"

1916 Illustration from "Little Folks":
"The little men of the forest brought the rabbits and other creatures to be introduced to her"

1916 Rountree's Ridiculous Rabbits
hardback published by H. Stevenson & Co.

1917 from "Little Folks":
"Gala Day at the Circus"

1917c Book Illustration

1918 Children's Illustration Print "Polar Bears"

1919 Children's Book Illustration

1919 Children's Illustration Print
"Mouseville Town Market"

1919 The Arkansaw Bear
published by George G. Harrup & Co., London

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Harry Rountree - part 1

Harry Rountree (1878 – 1950) was a prolific illustrator, mainly for children. The son of a banker, Rountree was born in Auckland, New Zealand. He was educated at the city’s Queen’s College, and began work as a lithographer in a commercial studio, designing labels for jam jars and other products.

In 1901, aged 23, he migrated to London and studied under Percival Gaskell at the Regent Street Polytechnic. The style he evolved there developed fin-de-siècle elements for comic ends, and his use of blocks of flat colour surrounded by thick jagged lines was found suitable for both small-scale illustrations and for large posters.

He began to contribute to such periodicals as the Humorist, Playtime, and Punch. From 1903 he collaborated with the editor of Little Folks on a very successful series of books. Specialising in animals, he illustrated several classics of children’s literature, including Uncle Remus and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. During the First World War Rountree served as a Captain in the Royal Engineers. His late work included contributions to the Radio Times during the 1930s. A member of the Savage Club, a leading Bohemian Gentleman’s Club, and one-time President of the London Sketch Club, Rountree was late largely forgotten and died in relative poverty in St Ives, Cornwall in 1950.

This series of posts on Harry Rountree supercedes and replaces an earlier short post about him. This is part 1 of a 6 - part series on Harry Rountree.

The first set of works shown here, from "The Art of the Illustrator" by Percy V. Bradshaw demonstrates Rountree's working method. "Tween Devil & Deep Sea":