C. 1900 Pen And Ink Illustration By John Hassall
Item History & Price
Original c. 1900 pen andink illustration by John Hassall “He somehow was attracted by the rather Cockney voice.”Artist: John Hassall (1868-1948)Medium: pen and ink on paper backed with thicker paperSize: sight: 10.25 x 7.25" (26 x 18.5 cm); signed lower center.Description: Drawing of a waiter listening to a speaking tubewith the words, “Half a pound of” coming out. Below is a penciled note, “Friday 10 am.”Biography: Hassall was born in Walmer, ...;Kent, and was educatedin Worthing, at Newton Abbot College, and at NeuenheimCollege, Heidelberg. After twice failing entry to The Royal MilitaryAcademy Sandhurst, he emigrated to Manitoba in Canada in 1888 tobegin farming with his brother Owen. He returned to London two years later whenhe had drawings accepted by the Graphic. At the suggestion of DudleyHardy (along with Cecil Aldin, a lifelong friend), he studied art inAntwerp and Paris. During this time he was influenced by the famous posterartist Alphonse Mucha.In 1895, he began workas an advertising artist for David Allen & Sons, a career which lastedfifty years and included such well-known projects as the poster "SkegnessIs so Bracing" (1908). Between 1896 and 1899 alone, he produced over 600theatre poster designs for this firm while, at the same time, providingillustrations to several illustrated newspapers. In 1901, Hassall waselected to the membership of the Royal Institute of Painters in WaterColours and the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. He also belongedto several clubs, including the Langham (until 1898), the Savage, and the LondonSketch Club, of which he was a President from 1903-1904. He belonged to theliterary club The Sette of Odd Volumes and illustrated their privately printedmenus, including one of a broken bust of Jane Austen for the club's"Night of the Divine Jane" in 1902.In 1900, Hassall openedhis own New Art School and School of Poster Design in Kensington where henumbered Annie Fish, Bert Thomas, Bruce Bairnsfather, H. M.Bateman and Harry Rountree among his students. The school wasclosed at the outbreak of the First World War. In the post-war period, heran the very successful John Hassall Correspondence School.Arguably John Hassall'smost famous creation was "The Jolly Fisherman" in 1908, which isregarded as one of the most famous holiday advertisements of all time. His 1910design for the Kodak Girl, in her iconic striped blue and white dress, became afeature of Kodak's advertising to the 1970s. Hassall's design wascontinually updated to reflect changing fashions and trends and waslonger-lasting and of greater international significance than his JollyFisherman. [Wikipedia]Condition: very good, some surface dirt.
