Can You Help Me Identify This Artist?

**The information I sought was received 23 April  2012 - see post Success! An answer to my inquiry.

I have always loved the work of this artist but have not been able to identify the person behind these beautiful illustrations.  I'm hoping that if someone comes across this post and is familiar with these paintings, they will leave me a comment and help me shed some light on the artist who painted these enchanting scenes.  It would be wonderful to have a name to associate with this work.  I have included illustrations from these stories before in two previous posts - Wonderful Weddings and Perfect Princesses.  

My enduring passion for fairytale illustrations can largely be traced back to a magazine publication called 'Once Upon a Time' that appeared weekly from 1969 to 1973.  (I have referred to this magazine on a number of occasions in previous posts.)  It was printed and published in England but (as was common at the time) was available throughout the Commonwealth.  This meant I was able to collect these magazines as a child in South Africa and many I've seen for sale recently on eBay can be found in Australia.

The quality of the issues and the wealth of artwork they contain is simply astounding.  Many illustrators that we now consider giants of the era contributed on a regular basis.  I have included a number of these artists in previous posts and still have more to feature.  

Artists already showcased are:      

Jesus Blasco       

  Jose Ortiz 

                                                   

 Nadir Quinto

 Gerritt Vandersyde  

  

Gerry Embleton

And the giant amongst giants, Ron Embleton, whose work I have been extremely privileged to collect on a small scale and who has featured fairly prolifically before in my blog. 

Ron Embleton   

The artist featured today is part of this group, but to date I have not been able to trace anything from this work.  Nothing appears to be signed.  This is not unusual (none of the Ron Embleton boards I have bought are signed although some that were used as covers might have the initials RE in a bottom corner - this automatically puts them outside my price range!)  The practice at the time was also not to include any credits inside the publication or acknowledge the contributing artists.  Today I think a lot more recognition is automatically given when anything is published.

I may be wrong but I suspect this artist is probably a man.  I do get the impression of a sort of 'boys club' and I think these illustrators had a good sense of camaraderie and knew each other well.    

The first three illustrations included at the beginning of this post are from a story called 'The Magic Emerald'.  Below are others from a number of different stories.  From the style of the work I'm assuming they are by the same person as they all have the same delicate touch.

'The Magic Horn'

                                               

                             

Wizzie the Wizard'

'The Magic Mirror'

'Prince Adrian's Birthday'

'Bola the Magician'

'Prince Simon's Long Nose'

'The Statue and the Pigeons'

Earlier today I received a lovely surprise.  I am the winner in giveaway from Donna's Designs .  Last week Donna included a commemorative post about the Titanic.  Her giveaway is a CD called 'Music Aboard the Titanic' - I am thrilled to have won it and can't wait for it to arrive.  The Titanic was carrying many immigrant passengers from Ireland so the 100 year anniversary of its sinking has been a very poignant event here.  Donna's blog is beautiful - please pop in to visit (you won't be disappointed.)  Thank you Donna - you have made my day!

   

Sharon's Little Sunbeam Award - Week 4

Timing (as they say), is everything.     

                                  

I decided this week that my little sunbeam would shine on Kylie at:

 Lucy Violet Vintage  

After last week's recipient (Garden of Daisies), Kylie is my longest standing blog friend.  I stumbled across her blog early on by accident looking for something (I can't remember what now) and was instantly drawn into her inviting and interesting world.  I love Kylie's sense of style and her warm Australian friendliness and enthusiasm.

Now for my reference to timing.

I had just decided to shine my little sunbeam on Kylie when a parcel arrived in the post from her.  It was a present for my birthday, a lovely vintage book called 'Ballet' by Arnold Haskell published in 1959.  

So this post gives me an opportunity to both thank Kylie for being such a great blog friend and for her sweet thoughtfulness in sending me such a lovely gift.  It also gives me a chance to show off my new treasure - I've included the cover and one of my favourites photographs from inside. 

Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes in  Giselle

Anya Linden in Les Sylphides

I do have a recollection of this book from my childhood.  It is a long time since I last saw it though, so it is wonderful to have it in my collection.

In all the 'Sharon's Little Sunbeam' Awards I've been re-using pictures featured in earlier posts.  This week is no exception, but the two images I've chosen were not selected at random.  Both are from my Ladybird Books post.  Kylie is a collector of vintage Ladybird Books and is hoping to find all the titles that were published.  I thought this made these two images particularly appropriate!  (I also think the first one of Little Jumping Joan is the best illustration for the sunbeam award that I have found so far.)

Past recipients of Sharon's Little Sunbeam Award:

Garden of Daisies

March House Books

Always Crave Cute

Sharon's Little Sunbeam is my own personal 'no strings attached' award.  It is my way of thanking some of the wonderful people who enrich my blogging experience.  The recipient is introduced in a post like this one and a link to their blog remains on my sidebar for a week.  There are no conditions attached to the award.  The recipient does not need to answer any questions, pass the award on or even acknowledge that they have received it.  All they need to do is bask in my little sunbeam and enjoy it!

The Art of Sulamith Wulfing

I was a teenager when I first discovered the art of Sulamith Wulfing (1901-1989).  I found her work absolutely enchanting and spent what money I had of my own on prints and posters that could be used to decorate my bedroom walls.

A Christmas illustration by Sulamith Wulfing can be found here.

.

I'm not going to provide a potted history of Sulamith Wulfing's life.  There is enough online information available should anyone wish to find out more about her, including this Wikipedia Biography .  Instead what I thought I'd do is share some of my favourite examples of her work.  (This is just a small sample of her beautiful and complex art.)

Two thoughts struck me when I looked at these prints again recently.  The first is how timeless they are.  If I did not know when they were drawn I would find it very difficult to place them in any historical context.  To me they evoke the 1970's because that is the decade when I first saw them and I associate her work very much with that time.  In fact, the examples shown here were all completed between the 1930's and 1950's.  To my mind though they belong to a time outside time and this is what makes them so powerful.  

The second thought I had when studying these works again is how universal they are.  Sulamith Wulfing was a German artist, but I don't find her work limited to a single region.  The Wikipedia entry mentions that some of the patterns on the clothing and furniture resemble Norse knot-work.  From my perspective I've always thought there is a distinctly Celtic influence, especially in the designs on the dresses and material.  I love her imagery - it creates a world that is spiritual and ethereal but also firmly rooted in the beauty of nature.  

Looking these images across a gulf of many years has also made me realise what an incredible journey I have experienced myself - from the southernmost tip of Africa to my current surroundings at the edge of a fairy forest in the mountains of Ireland.  When I bought these prints I had no inkling of the direction my life would take.  In many respects I've always felt the driving force behind events as they have unfolded was not mine - I've been carried along by a tide that has been outside my control.  And yet, somehow at the end of it all, I've found myself in a geographical environment that is perhaps the closest it is possible to be in this world to the surroundings depicted in these scenes.      

Detail of the figure above:

This painting called 'The Veil' is perhaps my favourite of them all.  Here is a close-up of the figure - I love the detail on the chair and the burnt out candles.

  

I was so in awe of Sulamith Wulfing's art that I spent quite a lot of time studying and copying it in my teens.  I've mentioned before that when I draw, colour or copy something I'm able to escape almost physically into that world, and this was a magical place to venture into.

Unfinished study based on a Sulamith Wulfing painting 

The head on the right of this drawing is copied from 'The Veil' shown above.  The other figure is copied from a work I have not included here as the print I have is far too big to fit into my small scanner.

I've also mentioned in at least one previous post that I was fairly obsessed as a teenager with designing my own (opulent fairytale) wedding.  Sulamith Wulfing's work gave me masses of inspiration.  The two scans below should be one image but it is too big so I've split in in half.  This was my dream wedding and I've drawn a bride, flower girl, maid of honour and bridesmaid.

Another variation of the maid of honour and bridesmaid.  I was fairly adamant that this was what I wanted!

The next figure (also a bride) was not copied directly from a Sulamith Wulfing drawing but was certainly inspired by her.  Bear in mind that I was a teenager when I did these so hopefully that excuses some of my excessive exuberance!

I don't think this last drawing is linked to anything by Sulamith Wulfing, but as I have it kept together with the one above and it has a medieval theme I decided to include it as well.

Again I've included these photos in bridal related posts before, but I'm finishing with them as they show that even though my wedding (both the ceremony and reception were held in my mom's garden in Everton, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) was a fairytale occasion I did not in the end manage the opulent medieval pageantry that I dreamt of as a child and teenager!  (I was 37 when I married so long past the age of these flights of fancy.)