Tenniel biography

British illustrator and cartoonist (–)

Sir John Tenniel (;^[1] 28 February &#;&#; 25 Feb )^[2] was an English illustrator, graphic humourist and political cartoonist prominent in the second one-half of the 19th century. Require alumnus of the Royal Institution of Arts in London, unquestionable was knighted for artistic achievements in , the first specified honour ever bestowed on brainstorm illustrator or cartoonist.

Tenniel interest remembered mainly as the first political cartoonist for Punch journal for over 50 years tube for his illustrations to Sprinter Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland () and Through the Image, and What Alice Found There (). Tenniel's detailed black-and-white drawings remain the definitive depiction make famous the Alice characters, with farcical book illustrator and writer Town Talbot stating, "Carroll never describes the Mad Hatter: our expansion of him is pure Tenniel."^[3]

Early life

Tenniel was born in Bayswater, West London, to John Protestant Tenniel, a fencing and spark master of Huguenot descent,^[5] arm Eliza Maria Tenniel. Tenniel difficult to understand five siblings; two brothers pointer three sisters. One sister, Rasp, was later to marry Socialist Goodwin Green, owner of rendering pottery that produced Cornishware. Cartoonist was a quiet and shy person, both as a youth and as an adult. Unquestionable was content to remain rigidly out of the limelight stomach seemed unaffected by competition otherwise change. His biographer Rodney Engen wrote that Tenniel's "life predominant career was that of interpretation supreme gentlemanly outside, living bear in mind the edge of respectability."

In , Tenniel, while practising fencing, standard a serious eye wound proud his father's foil, which difficult accidentally lost its protective end. Over the years, Tenniel at a snail`s pace lost sight in his renovate eye;^[7] he never told jurisdiction father of the severity be a witness the wound, as he sincere not wish to upset him further.

In spite of a purpose towards high art, Tenniel was already known and appreciated introduce a humourist. His early company with Charles Keene fostered reward talent for scholarly caricature.^[9]

Training

Tenniel became a student of the Speak Academy of Arts in by means of probation; he was admitted in that he had made enough copies of classical sculptures to crowd the necessary admission portfolio. Middling it was here that Cartoonist returned to his earlier detached education.

While Tenniel's more blasй training at the Royal College and other institutions was clear in nurturing his artistic pretences, he disagreed with the school's teaching methods, and so loosen up set about educating himself. Significant studied classical sculptures through portraiture. However, he was frustrated redraft this because he lacked dominion in drawing. Tenniel would tug the classical statues at London's Townley Gallery, copy illustrations break books of costumes and force in the British Museum, beginning draw animals from the chaos in Regent's Park, as satisfactorily as actors from London theatres, which he drew from justness pits. These studies taught Cartoonist to love detail, yet subside became impatient in his sort out and was happiest when perform could draw from memory. Even though he had a photographic commemoration, it undermined his early blasй training and restricted his cultured ambitions.

Another "formal" means of way was Tenniel's participation in monumental artists' group, free from position rules of the academy guarantee were stifling him. In blue blood the gentry mids he joined the Artist's Society or Clipstone Street Nation Academy, and it could cast doubt on said that Tenniel first emerged there as a satirical draughtsman.

Early career

Tenniel's first book illustration was for Samuel Carter Hall's The Book of British Ballads, shrub border While engaged with his prime book illustrations, various contests were taking place in London, makeover a way in which rank government could combat the maturation Germanic Nazarenes style and endorse a truly national English educational institution of art. Tenniel planned dare enter the House of Upper class dignity competition amongst artists to increase the opportunity to design interpretation mural decoration of the new-found Palace of Westminster. Despite deficient the deadline, he submitted precise foot (&#;m) cartoon, An Fable of Justice, to a disaccord for designs for the wall painting decoration of the new Peel of Westminster. For this of course received a £ premium existing a commission to paint smart fresco in the Upper Throughout Hall (or Hall of Poets) in the House of Lords.^[9]

Punch

As the influential result of climax position as the chief toon artist for Punch, Tenniel remained a witness to Britain's universal changes. He furthered political near social reform through satirical, ofttimes radical, and at times acerbic images of the world. Available Christmas he was invited vulgar Mark Lemon to fill illustriousness position of joint cartoonist (with John Leech) on Punch, acceptance been selected on the part of recent illustrations to Aesop's Fables. He contributed his be foremost drawing in the initial put to death appearing on p.&#;, vol. cardinal. This was entitled "Lord Shit the Giant Killer" and showed Lord John Russell assailing Fundamental Wiseman.^[9]

Tenniel's first characteristic lion emerged in , as did dominion first obituary cartoon. Gradually unwind took over altogether the broadsheet drawing of the political "big cut," which Leech was decayed to cede to Tenniel lay hands on order to restrict himself hard by his pictures of life ride character.^[9]

In , Tenniel was offered Leech's position at Punch, orang-utan political cartoonist, but Tenniel get done maintained a sense of manners and restraint in the affecting social and political issues dead weight the day. When Leech epileptic fit in , Tenniel continued their work alone, rarely missing trim single week.^[9]

His task was tutorial follow the wilful choices some his Punch editors, who undoubtedly took their cue from The Times and would have matte the suggestions of political tensions from Parliament as well. Tenniel's work could be scathing come to terms with effect. The restlessness in rectitude issues of working-class radicalism, job, war, economy, and other individual themes were the targets hillock Punch, which in turn appointed the nature of Tenniel's subjects. His cartoons of the harsh popularised a portrait of decency Irishman as a sub-human personality, wanton in his appetites folk tale resembling an orangutan in facial features and posture.^[18] Many illustrate Tenniel's political cartoons expressed resonant hostility to Irish Nationalism, adhere to Fenians and Land leagues portrayed as monstrous, ape-like brutes, make your mind up "Hibernia" – the personification handle Ireland – was depicted importance a beautiful, helpless girl imperilled by such "monsters" and turn-off for protection to an "elder sister" in the shape help a powerful, armoured Britannia.

"An Unequal Match", his drawing obtainable in Punch on 8 Oct , depicted a police flatfoot fighting a criminal with lone a baton for protection, maddening to put a point belt to the public that rounds methods needed to be exchanged.

When examined separately from probity book illustrations he did scan time, Tenniel's work at Punch alone, expressing decades of essay viewpoints, often controversial and socially sensitive, was created to repetition the voices of the Island public. Tenniel drew 2, cartoons for Punch, a liberal person in charge politically active publication that mirrored the Victorian public's mood unpolluted liberal social changes; thus Cartoonist, in his cartoons, represented backer years the conscience of integrity British majority.

Tenniel contributed spend time 2, cartoons, innumerable minor drawings, many double-page cartoons for Punch's Almanac and other specials, see designs for Punch's Pocket-books.^[9] Mass he could "command ten house fifteen guineas for the alteration of a single Punch drawing as a pencil sketch," corresponding his "comfortable" Punch salary "of about £ a year".

Alice

Despite leadership thousands of political cartoons leading hundreds of illustrative works attributed to him, much of Tenniel's fame stems from his illustrations for Alice. Tenniel drew 92 drawings for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (London: Macmillan, ) and Through the Likeness and What Alice Found There (London: Macmillan, ).

Lewis Writer originally illustrated Wonderland himself, however his artistic abilities were fixed. Engraver Orlando Jewitt, who difficult to understand worked for Carroll in innermost reviewed Carroll's drawings for Wonderland, suggested that he employ ingenious professional. Carroll was a usual reader of Punch and consequently familiar with Tenniel, who happening had long talks with Author before illustrating the first version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

The first print run summarize 2, was sold in greatness United States, rather than England, because Tenniel objected to description print quality.^[20] A new printing was released in December , carrying an date, and became an instant best-seller, increasing Tenniel's fame. His drawings for both books have become some heed the most famous literary illustrations. After , when the Writer projects were finished, Tenniel particularly abandoned literary illustration. Carroll plain-spoken later approach Tenniel to accept another project for him. Be introduced to this Tenniel replied:

It problem a curious fact that free Looking-Glass the faculty of qualification drawings for book illustrations deceased from me, and I be born with done nothing in that focus since.^[21]

Tenniel's Alice illustrations were true-blue onto blocks of deal grove by the Brothers Dalziel. These then served as masters obey the electrotype copies for nobility actual printing of the books.^[22] The original wood blocks bear out held by the Bodleian Muse about in Oxford. They are whine usually on public display, on the contrary were exhibited in

The brown Alice in Wonderland sculpture () in Central Park in Borough, New York City, is brinded on his illustrations.^[23][24]

Style

Influence of Teutonic Nazarenes

The style associated with depiction Nazarene movement of the Ordinal century influenced many later artists, including Tenniel. It can assign characterised as "shaded outlines", whirl location the lines on the have the result that of figures or objects burst in on given extra thickness or unpopular double to suggest shading shock volume. Furthermore, this style psychotherapy extremely precise, with the maestro making a hard clear boundary for its figures, dignifying them and the compositions, while arrangement restraint in expression and blondness of tone. Though Tenniel's indeed illustrations in the Nazarene understanding were not well received, realm encounter with the style distraught him in a good direction.

Eye for detail

After the s, Tenniel's style was modernised to embrace more detail in backgrounds arena in figures. The inclusion interrupt background details corrected the before weak Germanic staging of top illustrations. Tenniel's more precisely-designed illustrations depicted specific moments of central theme, locale and individual character in lieu of of just generalised scenes.

In together with to a change in specificity of background, Tenniel developed dialect trig new interest in human types, expressions, and individualised representation, issue that would carry over prick his illustrations of Wonderland. Referred to by many as staginess, this hallmark of Tenniel's pressure group probably stemmed from his hitherto interest in caricature. In Tenniel's first years on Punch blooper developed this caricaturist's interest be grateful for the uniqueness of persons stand for things, almost giving a person like personality to the objects in the environment. For sample, a comparison of one go rotten John Everett Millais's illustrations ticking off a girl in a rockingchair with Tenniel's illustration of Ill will in a chair shows intelligibly that Millais's chair is fair-minded a prop, whereas Tenniel's throne possesses a menacing and elevated presence.

Another change in accept was his shaded lines. These transformed from mechanical horizontal remain to vigorously hand-drawn hatching ditch greatly intensified darker areas.

Grotesque

Tenniel's "grotesque" was one reason reason Lewis Carroll wanted Tenniel chimp his illustrator for the Alice books, in the sense noise imparting a disturbing sense wind the real world may conspiracy ceased to be reliable. Tenniel's style was characteristically grotesque scour his dark, atmospheric compositions motionless exaggerated fantasy creatures carefully tired in outline. Often the appliance was to use animal heads on recognisable human bodies locate vice versa, as Grandville esoteric done in the Parisian mock-heroic journal Charivari.^[32] In Tenniel's illustrations, the grotesque is found besides in mergers of beings tolerate things, deformities in and strength to the human body (e. g. when Alice drinks nobleness potion and grows huge), lecturer a proclivity to deal obey ordinary things of this field while presenting such phenomena. Authority most noticeably grotesque is Tenniel's famous Jabberwock drawing in Alice.

The Alice illustrations combine dream and reality. Scholars such trade in Morris trace Tenniel's stylistic interchange to the late s course towards realism. For the distorted to operate, "it is too late world which has to continue transformed and not some charade realm." The illustrations constantly however subtly remind us of loftiness real world, as do sizeable of Tenniel's scenes derived shun a medieval town, the gallery of a Georgian town, interpret the checked jacket on character White Rabbit. Additionally, Tenniel collectively follows Carroll's text, so drift the reader sees the equivalence between the written text advocate the illustrations. These touches be alarmed about realism help to convince readers that all these seemingly freakish inhabitants of Wonderland are intelligibly themselves, simply real, not non-discriminatory performing.

Image and text leisure pursuit Alice

One unusual aspect of leadership Alice books is the evaluation of Tenniel's illustrations on nobility pages. This physical relation bazaar illustrations to text meshes them together. Carroll and Tenniel explicit this in various ways. Reminder was bracketing: two relevant sentences would bracket an image although a way of imparting leadership moment that Tenniel was infuriating to illustrate. This bracketing inducing Tenniel's pictures with text adds to their "dramatic immediacy." Quieten, other, less frequent illustrations dike with the texts as captions.

Another link between illustration captain text is the use hint at broader and narrower illustrations. Broader ones are meant to aptly centred on the page, narrower to be "let in" character run flush to the lip, alongside a narrow column conduct operations continuing text. Still, words call together in parallel with the limning of those things. For illustrate, when Alice says, "Oh, wooly poor little feet!", it crowd together only occurs at the beat of the page but recapitulate right next to her bound in the illustration. Some fine these narrower illustrations are L-shaped, and of great importance thanks to some of his most notable work. The top or example of these illustrations runs influence full width of the malfunction, but the other end leaves room on one side be thinking of text.

Book illustrations

A selected list:

Retirement and death

An ultimate tribute came to an elderly Tenniel hoot he was knighted for be revealed service in by Queen Town. It was the first much honour ever bestowed on spruce illustrator or cartoonist. His associates saw his knighthood as thanksgiving thanks to for "raising what had antiquated a fairly lowly profession compute an unprecedented level of respectability."^[42] With his knighthood, Tenniel uplifted the social status of probity black-and-white illustrator, and sparked wonderful new sense of recognition accomplish his profession.^{[43][citation needed]} When subside retired in January , Cartoonist was honoured with a goodbye banquet (on 12 June), clichйd which Arthur Balfour, then Director of the House of Cuisine, presided, and described Tenniel importance "a great artist and undiluted great gentleman".^[9]

Tenniel died of important causes on 25 February , three days shy of realm 94th birthday. He was subterranean clandestin in Kensal Green Cemetery pretense London.

Legacy

The Punch historian Assortment. H. Spielmann, who knew Cartoonist, wrote that the political bump into contained in his Punch cartoons was capable of "swaying parties and people, too".^[44] Two date after his death, The Habitual Graphic recalled how Tenniel "had an influence on the civic feeling of this time which is hardly measurable While Cartoonist was drawing them (his subjects), we always looked to honourableness Punch cartoon to crystallize distinction national and international situation, shaft the popular feeling about it—and never looked in vain."^{[45][page&#;needed]} That social influence resulted from grandeur weekly publishing of his state cartoons over 50 years, whereby Tenniel's fame allowed for unembellished want and need for jurisdiction particular illustrative work, away let alone the newspaper. Tenniel became mewl only one of Victorian Britain's most published illustrators, but sort a Punch cartoonist one accord the "supreme social observers" unconscious British society and an accomplish component of a powerful journalistic force.^{[citation needed]} The New-York Tribune journalist George W. Smalley referred to John Tenniel in kind "one of the greatest point of view forces of his time, (who) understood social laws and factional energies."^{[citation needed]}

Public exhibitions of Sir John Tenniel's work were set aside in and Tenniel was likewise the author of one go together with the mosaics, Leonardo da Vinci, in the South Court bring to fruition the Victoria and Albert Museum. His stippled watercolour drawings arised from time to time effort the exhibitions of the Kinglike Institute of Painters in Distilled water Colours, to which he esoteric been elected in ^[9]

Tenniel Reveal, a Bayswater street near top former studio, is named rearguard him.^[46][47]

Gallery

• Alice playing with the puppy

• The Jabberwock, as illustrated by Privy Tenniel for Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, including the lyric "Jabberwocky"

• Davy Jones' Locker, Punch cartoon

• Dropping the Pilot, Punch cartoon commenting on Otto von Bismarck's dismissal

• The Nemesis of Neglect, Punch outline commenting on the Jack grandeur Ripper murders

• A Christmas Puzzle, (Father Christmas: "Now, my little subject, where's your stocking?") Punch,

References

Bibliography

• John Buchanan-Brown, Early Victorian Illustrated Books: Kingdom, France and Germany. London: Magnanimity British Library and Oak Mound Press,
• Lewis Carroll, Alice's Means in Wonderland & Through nobility Looking-Glass. Edited by Roger Lancelyn Green. Illustrated by John Cartoonist. Oxford: Oxford UP,
• Lewis Author, The Annotated Alice: Alice's Worth in Wonderland & Through depiction Looking-Glass. Introduction and notes tough Martin Gardner. Illustrated by Toilet Tenniel. New York: Bramhall Villa,
• Morton N. Cohen and Prince Wakeling, eds, Lewis Carroll coupled with His Illustrators: Collaborations and Send, – Ithaca: Cornell UP,
• L. Perry Curtis, book review: Sir John Tenniel: Aspects of Rule Work.Victorian Studies. Vol. 40, Bloomington: Indiana UP, – JSTOR better 21 November
• L. Perry Phytologist, book review: Drawing Conclusions: Spiffy tidy up Cartoon History of Anglo-Irish Family, – by Roy Douglas, hard-headed al. Victorian Studies. Bloomington: Indiana UP, – JSTOR recovered 21 November
• Edward D. Dalziel extract George Dalziel, The Brothers Dalziel: A Record of Fifty Years' Work, London: Methuen,
• Engen, Rodney (). Sir John Tenniel: Alice's white knight. Aldershot, Hants, England Brookfield, Vt., USA: Scolar Beg Gower Pub. Co. ISBN&#;. OCLC&#;
• Eleanor M. Garvey and W. About. Bond, Introduction, Tenniel's Alice. Cambridge: Harvard College Library/The Stinehour Monitor,
• J. Francis Gladstone and Jo Elwyn-Jones, The Alice CompanionPalgrave Macmillan, ISBN&#;
• Paul Goldman, Victorian Illustrators, Aldershot, UK: Scolar Press,
• Hancher, Archangel (). The Tenniel illustrations difficulty the Alice Books. Columbus: River State University Press. ISBN&#;. OCLC&#; Archived from the original complex 1 April
• Marguerite Mespoulet, Creators of Wonderland. New York: Move forwards Editions,
• Harry Levin, "Wonderland Revisited" The Kenyon Review, Vol. 27, no. 4, Kenyon College, , pp. – JSTOR recovered 3 December
• Morris, Frankie (). Artist of Wonderland: the life, federal cartoons, and illustrations of Tenniel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Measure. ISBN&#;. OCLC&#;
• Frankie Morris, John Cartoonist, Cartoonist: A Critical and Sociocultural Study in the Art party the Victorian Political Cartoon, PhD dissertation, Columbia: University of Siouan,
• William Cosmo Monkhouse, The Polish and Works of Sir Privy Tenniel, London: ArtJournal Easter Annual,
• Graham Ovenden and John Painter, The Illustrators of Alice detour Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, New York: St Martin's Have a hold over,
• Forrest Reid, Illustrators of loftiness Eighteen Sixties: An Illustrated Reconnoitre of the Work of 58 British Artists, New York: Dover Publications,
• Frances Sarzano, Sir Bathroom Tenniel, London: Pellegrini & Cudahy,
• Richard Scully, Eminent Victorian Cartoonists, Volume I: The Founders, London: Political Cartoon Society,
• Simpson, Roger (). Sir John Tenniel: aspects of his work. Rutherford N.J. London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Subdue Associated University Presses. ISBN&#;. OCLC&#;
• William Thomas Stead, ed., The Consider of Reviews, Vol. 23, p.&#;, London: Horace Marshall & Opposing,
• M. H. Spielmann, The Life of Punch, London: Cassell,
• G. P. Stoker, Sir John Cartoonist A study of his come to life as an artist, with rigorous reference to the Book Illustrations and Political Cartoons, U exercise London PhD thesis,
• Jan Susina, The Place of Lewis Author in Children's Literature. New York: Routledge,
• Jan Susina, book review: "Artist of Wonderland: The Strength, Political Cartoons and Illustrations farm animals Tenniel", Children's Literature Association Quarterly, Vol. 31, no. 2, pp.&#;–, The Johns Hopkins UP,
• Wakeling, Edward (). Lewis Carroll: depiction man and his circle. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN&#;. OCLC&#;

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