Wednesday 31 December 2014

Tali and Mooni

                      Fig 1 (above) Tell your own fairy Tale poster by Tali and Mooni. Fig 2 (below) detail

This poster is one of a growing series called 'Tell Your Own Fairy-tale' by Tali and Mooni. It is made like a map was designed to inspire children to move around the picture and tell their own story, a lovely idea and method of enhancing oral storytelling skills and building the imagination.
Tali and Mooni are a couple of Lithuanian graphic designers who are involved in making art for children inspired by their own daughters. Their company is named after two characters invented by their second daughter.

References

Fig1: https://www.etsy.com/listing/101123197/little-red-riding-hood-poster-fairy-tale?ref=shop_home_feat_2
Fig2: http://www.talimooni.com/tell-your-own-fairy-tale.html
https://www.facebook.com/TaliMooni?fref=ts
http://www.talimooni.com/index.html

Tuesday 30 December 2014

Grace Drayton

                          Fig 1: Grace Drayton, Dolly Dimples, Fairy Tales Little Red Riding Hood, 1910.

Grace Drayton (1877-1936) was an illustrator, cartoonist and artist who created the incredibly popular Dolly Dimples amongst many other successful commercial illustration endeavours.

                                                   Fig 2: Grace Drayton 

Grace was the third daughter of George Gebbie a Scottish immigrant who was the first art publisher in Philadelphia and his wife Mary Jane Fitzgerald they had six daughters and one son.
Grace Gebbie was married originally to Theodore Wiederseim in 1904 and shockingly for the times and her Catholic upbringing she divorced in 1911 and then married divorcee W. Heyward Drayton III.

Grace was the younger sister of Margaret Hays, who was also an illustrator. The two collaborated on a comic strips and books including 'Vegetable Verselets for Humorous Vegetarians' and 'The Turr'ble Tales of Kaptin Kiddo'.
               Fig 3,4: above and below illustrations from 'Vegetable Verselets for Humorous Vegetarians' written by Margaret G Hays and 
                         illustrated by her sister Grace Drayton, published in 1911.

Graces fame stems from her 1905 Campbells soup advertisements and the immensely popular Dolly Dingles but she was also a talented painter. 

                                                 Fig 5: Campbells Soup Kid No 8 Advertisement (approximately 1905)



References:

Fig 1:    Grace Drayton, Dolly Dimples, Fairy Tales Little Red Riding Hood, 1910.
             http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dolly-Dingle-Grace-Drayton-Red-Riding-Hood-Fairy-Tale-Paper-Doll-Modern-Postcard-/121224972344
Fig 2:    Grace Drayton http://home.comcast.net/~bluepatch/Biographies/Grace_Drayton_web.htm
Fig 3/4: Hays, M,G, 'Vegetable Verselets for Humorous Vegetarians' illustrated by Grace Drayton, J. B. Lippincott 
             Company, London/Philadelphia. 1911.
Fig 5:    Campbell's Soup Kid No8 https://www.cardcow.com/358778/campbells-soup-kid-no-8-advertising/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Drayton
http://home.comcast.net/~bluepatch/Biographies/Grace_Drayton_web.htm

Monday 29 December 2014

Margaret Gebbie Hays

   Fig 1(above): Margaret G Hay's 1913

This second paper doll postcard of Little Red Riding Hood is by Margaret G Hays. 
Margaret Gebbie Hays (1874-1925) illustrated many children's books and many postcards with dolls that could be cut out and dressed. 
Margaret was the older sister of Grace Drayton, who was also an illustrator. 
There is less information available on Magaret G Hays than on her sister Grace who is famous for creating the Campbell Soup Kids advertisements 1905 and the Dolly Dingle paper dolls that were published in the Pictorial Review a women's magazine.
                                               Fig 2 (above) Margaret G Hays
Margaret married Frank (Peg) Hays who was the owner of the doll company Children's Novelty Co, The company produced dolls designed by his wife and her famous sister.


                    Fig 3 (above) Cover illustration by Margaret G Hays from The Mary Francis Cookbook (Adventures 
                                 Among the Kitchen People)  by Jane Fryer 1912


                                          Fig 4, 5 (above and below) Illustration by Margaret G Hays from The Mary Francis Cookbook 
                                          (Adventures Among the Kitchen People)  by Jane Fryer 1912



References 

Fig 1:        Margaret G Hay's 1913 http://hedgehogstudio.com/red-riding-hood-paper-doll-by-margaret-hays/
Fig 2:        Margaret G Hays circa 1893-1903 http://home.comcast.net/~bluepatch/Biographies/Grace_Drayton_web.htm
Fig 3:        Margaret G Hays Book Cover for The Mary Francis Cookbook (Adventures Among the Kitchen People) 1912
                 http://whatscookinvt.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/tale-two-covers-mary-frances/
Fig 4,5:     Fryer, J, E. The Mary Francis Cookbook (Adventures Among the Kitchen People) 1912 
                 

https://archive.org/details/vegetableversele00hays 
http://home.comcast.net/~bluepatch/Biographies/Grace_Drayton_web.htm
https://archive.org/details/maryfrancescookb00frye
http://www.vintagevalentinemuseum.com/2014/03/artists-margaret-g-hays.html
http://mostlypaperdolls.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/turrble-tales-of-kaptin-kiddo-ad-1909.html
The Mary Francis Cookbook (Adventures Among the Kitchen People) 1912 

Sunday 28 December 2014

Louis Wain

In the next few posts I will be showcasing paper dolls that were usually printed as postcards or magazine supplements. Paper dolls were produced as simple inexpensive toys for children throughout the last two centuries. The first documented one 'Little Fanny', being produced by S&J Fuller, London in approximately 1810, and in America 'The History and Adventures of Little Henry', published by J. Belcher of Boston in 1812.

         Fig 1: (above) Louise Wain,  Little Red-Riding Hood, Fairy Tale Dressing Dolls, paper doll postcard. 1912


                                    Fig 2 (above) Louis Wain

Louis Wain (1860-1939) was an illustrator who specialised in anthropomorphic cat imagery. He was born with a cleft lip, which at the time led doctors to recommend that he be kept from education until he was ten years old. Eventually, after what must have been a difficult childhood, he attended West London School of Art.

Louis was the oldest of six children and the only boy born to a French mother and an English father both of whom worked in textiles and embroidery.
Louis's father died in 1880 leaving Louis at twentyyears old to support his mother and five sisters. None of Louis's sisters married, however Louis caused great scandal by marrying his younger sisters governess, Emily Richardson. Tragically Emily died only three years later of breast cancer. Louis was said to have entertained his convalescing wife by drawing pictures of their cat Peter.
It was these drawings of cats that were to make Louis Wain a household name both in Britain and America as his illustrations were published in newspapers and magazines in both countries.
Louis lived in America, supposedly fleeing from debts, for over two years returning to Britain after the death of his mother in 1910.
"I take a sketch-book to a restaurant, or other public place, and draw the people in their different positions as cats, getting as near to their human characteristics as possible. This gives me doubly nature, and these studies I think [to be] my best humorous work." Louis Wain
There is much discussion about Louis Wain's mental health, his work developed through his life into a very psychedelic form, particularly considering the age in which it was created and it is the chronology of his work that has been studied and used as evidence of degenerating mental stability. Wain was known in Britain as 'The Man Who Drew Cats' and he was very successful publishing many books, postcards and cartoons up until the first world war. His career waned after the war and he struggled to make a living.
Louis was certified insane in 1924 and lived the remaining fifteen years of his life in mental hospitals where he continued to practice his art.

                                              Fig 3: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf by Louis Wain 1917

References:

Fig 1: http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/3538210
Fig 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Wain
Fig 3: Wain, L. Little Red Riding Hood and Other Tales, Gale and Polden, London.1917
         http://www.pinterest.com/pin/419679258996414118/
         https://www.jonkers.co.uk/products/detail/productid/5521

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTwbTgX_imE
http://www.buderimrarebooks.com.au/featured-books/joan-lindsay-first-edition-of-picnic-at-hanging-rock/
http://www.pawsonline.info/care/louis%20wain.htm
http://www.stellabooks.com/articles/wain.php
http://www.opdag.com/history.html

Saturday 27 December 2014

Margaret Evans Price

                   Fig1: Margaret Evens Price, Little Red Riding Hood. 1921

Margaret Evans Price (1888-1973) was a Chicargo born American illustrator born to a wealthy family. Margaret showed early talent and had an illustrated story published in the Boston journal when she was only 12 years old. Margaret went on to study art in Massachusetts, Boston and Paris. Margaret married Irvine Price in 1909 and in 1930 the couple with Herman Fisher founded Fisher Price toys.

                                             Fig 2: Margaret Evans Price

Margaret illustrated many fairy tales during her long career. This Little Red Riding Hood of 1921 is very Art Nouveau in its style but like all of Margaret's illustrations has a wonderful clarity in its visualisation, her works are not cluttered with pattern or unnecessary content, they succinctly and very stylishly relay the essence of the story.

References:

Fig 1: Bates, Katharine Lee, editor. Once Upon a Time: A Book of Old-Time Fairy Tales. Margaret Evans Price, illustrator. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1921.
Fig 2: Margaret Evans Price. http://www.meibohmfinearts.com/artists.aspx?ID=60

Waldrep, M. C, editor. Women Illustrators of the Golden Age, Dover Publications, New York. 2010
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Evans_Price
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/illustrators/price.html

Review

My research and enquiry into Little Red Riding Hood has proved in a very short time to be a path with multiple destinations, dead ends and deviations, which has added to the fun and interest.

This blog has given me the space to really focus my research and practice in this subject. I have explored the literary history which is fascinating in terms of the social, economic, political and personal circumstances of Charles Perrault and Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, but also the storytellers, singers and culture that gave them the oral versions of folk tales.
The research has led to my discovery of the work of many folklorists and academics particularly Jack Zipes and Alan Dundes whose life's work has often been dedicated to discovering and discussing the origins, evolution and interpretations of these tales and their influence and reflection of our culture.

The subject of Little Red Riding Hood is compelling due to its continuing re-evaluation, evolution and interpretation up to present day. From its oratory origins, through its literary stabilization and anchorage in the 17th and 18th century through to its pictorial interpretation which extends and adapts the story, it's meaning and continuing relevance, through genres of illustration, photography, animation and film to name a few.

I did not want my study to be a dry and wordy examination of the subject as I am an artist and illustrator and it is the imagery of this subject that drives my research and interest.
Therefore I have attempted to layer the more heavy research articles, history and insights among introductions, interviews and articles on illustration, contemporary and historic.

Often there is very little information on illustrators and their work. I have attempted to address this by requesting statements from contemporary illustrators about their engagement with this story and insights to their approach and relationship with the story. The illustrators are from all over the world and sometimes they have given very thoughtful detailed responses and other times just tiny insights but they all add to the richness of the subject as well as to the contemporary relevance of the research.

As I intend to proceed with this blog beyond the requirements of my studies, I have allowed myself to explore odd paths such as the story of Dorothea Viehmann (story teller to the Grimms). More for the joy of discovering and sharing her story than it's relevance to Little Red as it is doubtful that she supplied the Grimms with this tale.

I have where possible labeled posts with the date of the illustrations, so that a time line will evolve as my work progresses. I have many posts in draft form awaiting further information, either directly from the artist or from further research or resourcing through books.
I look forward to consolidating these as I progress.

As far as my practice I think that the research has fed my ideas and passion for the subject immensely and I look forward to continuing my research, building a resource and further crafting my own interpretations.

Friday 26 December 2014

Mika Hirasa II

                  Fig 1 (above): Mika Hirasa 2010 Vol 17 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
                  Fig 2 (above): Mika Hirasa 2013 Vol 36 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
                  Fig 3 (above): Mika Hirasa 2009 Vol 16 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
                  Fig 4 (above): Mika Hirasa 2011 Vol 23 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
                  Fig 5 (above): Mika Hirasa 2009 Vol 13 Ukatama Magazine Cover.

Mika Hirasa has been the producer of the cover of Ukatama magazine since 2009. It is a production that focuses on a healthy life and healthy food.The origin of the name "Ukatama" is God of the food called "Uka-no-mitama-no-kami"
Mika has used a little girl with a red hood for these illustrations and often she is accompanied by a wolf, though sometimes the wolf's character is assumed by a different wild animal, a bear or mole for example. The illustrations are made in textiles but have real food items collaged into the
finished composition.

References:

Fig 1: Mika Hirasa 2010 Vol 17 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
Fig 2: Mika Hirasa 2013 Vol 36 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
Fig 3: Mika Hirasa 2009 Vol 16 Ukatama Magazine Cover.
Fig 4: Mika Hirasa 2011 Vol 23 Ukatama Magazine Cover
Fig 5: Mika Hirasa 2009 Vol 13 Ukatama Magazine Cover.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/17644641/Ukatama
http://www.e-micao.com/framepage13.htm
http://www.e-micao.com/about-rev-english.htm
http://www.ukatama.net/


Thursday 25 December 2014

Natascha Rosenberg II

I love this illustration by Natascha Rosenberg.
Happy Christmas.

References:
http://www.natascharosenberg.com/

Wednesday 24 December 2014

My What Hairy Knees You Have . . .

                 Fig 1 (above) 'My What hairy knees You Have' by Hazel Terry 2014
                                 
                                   Fig 2,3 (above): Sketches of  'My What hairy knees You Have' by Hazel Terry 2014
I wanted to do a Christmas interpretation of Little Red Riding Hood and decided to depict visit to Santa's grotto, with the wolf as Santa and Little Red disturbed by his hairy knees.

I loved seeing Father Christmas when I was little, his parade through the town on a float or going to visit him in a grotto was magical. These times of innocence are long gone Santa is no longer allowed to have children perched on his knee and this is why I played with the suspicion and revulsion of little red.

References

Fig 1 'My What hairy knees You Have' by Hazel Terry 2014
Fig 2,3 Sketches of  'My What hairy knees You Have' by Hazel Terry 2014

Mika Hirasa I

   Fig 1 (above) oblique view from exhibition of Mika Hirasa's Christmas Eve. Fig 2 (below) Mika Hirasa's Christmas Eve.

Mika Hirasa is a Japanese illustrator who works often in textiles and embroidery. Red Riding Hood is a reoccurring theme in Mika's work and here she has applied it to the Christmas Eve deliveries of Santa Claus with the wolf as the faithful sky running reindeer and Little Red as Santa.

References:

Fig 1,2 https://www.facebook.com/mika.hirasa

https://www.behance.net/e-micao
https://www.facebook.com/mika.hirasa

Tuesday 23 December 2014

Merlijne Marell

                         Fig 1 (above): 'Versierpoging' Merlijne Marell, 2013

This illustration by Dutch illustrator and printmaker Merlijne Marell made me think of the wolf reluctantly getting ready for a Christmas Party and leads into the next few posts which will be Christmas themed Red Riding Hood illustrations.

References

Fig 1 https://www.facebook.com/merlijnemarell.nl/photos/pb.307433006053255.-2207520000.1419976110./307458879384001/?type=3&theater

http://www.merlijnemarell.nl/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/merlijnemarell.nl

Monday 22 December 2014

Tracy Walker

        Fig 1 (above): Tracy Walker 2011 'In Pursuit of Red Riding Hood'

Tracy Walker‘s “In Pursuit of Little Red Riding Hood” 2011 is a hand-cut paper piece that was selected as one of 30 winners in Print Magazine’s Hand Drawn Competition for 2012.
This piece was created as one of a series of fairy tales, cut into paper, and bound into salvaged books.

References:

Fig 1 Tracy Walker 2011 'In Pursuit of Red Riding Hood' http://tracywalkerart.com/

http://tracywalkerart.com/
http://www.printmag.com/

Sunday 21 December 2014

Junaida

   Fig 1 (above): Junaida 2007 Red Riding Hood 

Sunday seems to be the day that I have gangs or flocks of Red Riding Hood's on this blog. So today I am featuring a watercolour piece by Japanese illustrator Junaida, who has portrayed a flock of Red Riding Hoods like whirling dervishes with a protective 'pet' wolf.

References

Fig 1: Junaida 2007 Red Riding Hood http://www.junaida.com/blog/

http://www.junaida.com/
http://www.junaida.com/blog/

Saturday 20 December 2014

Louise Rowe



     Fig 1,2,3 (above) Louise Rowe, Little Red Riding Hood (details from book)

I am just two pages away from finishing my 'What has made the wolf's tummy so BIG' book and I thought this morning I would investigate other 'pop up' interpretations of this tale.
Louise Rowe has published this 'wolf friendly' version of 'Little Red Riding Hood' in 2009 as part of a series of fairy tale pop ups including 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Hansel and Gretel'. It uses very clever paper engineering and lovely integration of surface pattern, for example the leaf skeletons from the forest floor have become the pattern of the floorboards in grandmothers house.

References

Fig 1,2,3 http://louiserowe.co.uk/redridinghood.html#

Rowe, L Little Red Riding Hood, Tango Books, London, 2009
http://louiserowe.co.uk/

Friday 19 December 2014

Ana Botezatu I

      Fig 1,2,3 Pop Up, Red Riding Hood by Ana Botezatu 

Ana Botezatu's pop up book of Little Red Riding Hood in the wolf's tummy made with fine liner and precision cutting. Ana is a Romanian illustrator who works in many different media including collage and embroidery.

Refenceres 

Fig 1,2,3 http://www.anabotezatu.com/work/pop-up-books/

http://www.anabotezatu.com/
http://www.anabotezatu.com/blog/

Thursday 18 December 2014

Telling stories to the Grimm's: Dorothea Viehmann

   Fig 1 (above) Portrait of Dorothea Viehmann 1819 by Ludwig Emil Grimm

Born Katharina Dorothea Pierson (1755- 1815), Dorothea Viehmann, was the daughter of Johann Friedrich Isaac Pierson a tavern owner and as she grew up she was exposed to and learned lots of stories, folk tales, legends and myths from her fathers guests. But she had also probably gleaned lots of stories at home from her extended family who had had to migrate from France to Holland and then eventually to Germany due to religious persecution, as her fathers ancestors were Huguenots (French protestants).

Dorothea married the tailor Nikolaus Viehmann in 1777, when she was twenty two and had at least seven children before he died in 1787. She was then left to provide for her 5 surviving children, which she did by selling produce from her garden at the market. But for over two years after 1812 she also supplemented her income by sharing her storytelling with the Grimm brothers, whilst they transcribed them for their collection of fairy tales. (note:1)
The Grimm brothers were said to have been amazed not only by the number of stories in Dorothea ("fairy woman Zwehrn's") repertoire, but also the way she was able to faultlessly retell them over and over again.
"One of those good chance it that we have a farmer's wife met from the nearby near Kassel village Niederzwehren ... The woman Viehmännin was still vigorous and not much more than 50 years old ... She kept the old legends firmly in mind ... "  (note 2)  Wilhelm Grimm

   Fig 2 (above)The Grimm brothers at the house of Dorothea Viehmännin 1892 by Louis Katzenstein 

Jacob and Wilhelm did not discover Dorothea until after their first edition was published and she did not keep the best of health, so they only knew her for her last two or three years of life. However Jacob and Wilhelm sourced over forty tales from this talented storyteller.


Note 1:
I was taken by the struggle of this woman and the harsh realities of her life. The death of her husband was documented on many websites. However the birth dates of her children contradict this information as does her husband Nicholas Schneider Viehmann's (1724-1825) dates which reveal that he actually outlives Dorothea by ten years. So the storytelling Dorothea Viehmann has become the stuff of myths and stories herself. Though another website did suggest that they were separated due to his drinking habits and therefore Dorothea had soul responsibility for raising there children.
 
18. September 1777 Anna Margaretha VIEHMANN ♀
17. November 1778 Anna Catharina VIEHMANN ♀
27. September 1787 Martha Elisabeth VIEHMANN ♀
6. December 1790 Marie Christine VIEHMANN ♀
30. May 1795 Johann Christoph VIEHMANN ♂
24. April 1797 Anna Katharina VIEHMANN ♀
14. November 1798 Anna Sabine VIEHMANN ♀

Note 2:
The other contradiction of Dorothea Viehmann's biography is that her husbands trade was a tailor but the Grimm's describe him as a farmer, in fact as times were hard probably both enterprises were taken to make ends meet.

References

Fig 1 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Die_Maerchenfrau.jpg
Fig 2 http://publicdomainreview.org/2012/12/20/the-forgotten-tales-of-the-brothers-grimm/

1.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Viehmann
2.  http://www.grimms.de/br%C3%BCder_grimm/die_m%C3%A4rchenfrau_dorothea_viehmann?lang=de
3.  https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0TwJBAAAQBAJ&pg=PR22&lpg=PR22&dq=the+storyteller+of+kassel+who+told+grimms&source=bl&ots=J4DDBN-Mbo&sig=6G4sRoEKH2mXZpu24wxy8S49iiA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RoCOVKK_FYvfareygcgD&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=the%20storyteller%20of%20kassel%20who%20told%20grimms&f=false
4.  http://www.dorothea-viehmann-schule.de/das-sind-wir-1/dorothea-viehmann/
5.  http://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1126000469
6.  http://www.frau-und-philatelie.de/biografien-frauen-auf-briefmarken/155-dorothea-viehmann-biografie

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Hazel Terry, 'What has made Mr Wolf's Tummy So Big?' I


                                         Fig 1 (above): Cover 'What has made Mr Wolf's Tummy So Big?' by Hazel Terry
                                Fig 2 (above): In the tummy of 'What has made Mr Wolf's Tummy So Big?' by Hazel Terry
   Fig 3: (above): Two pages of  'What has made Mr Wolf's Tummy So Big?' by Hazel Terry

I have been playing with a pop up book, 'What has made Mr Wolf's Tummy So Big?'. I wasn't sure how I would engineer it, but in the end I made a pull up concertina of wolf gut with Grandma and Little Red mixed in with a few jam tarts.
I like the wolf to have jam tarts to keep with the red theme and also because that is what I think a little girl would take to an ill grandmother, as well as them already being a humorous food stuff due to the Knave of Hearts stealing them.
I may yet make a few more pages but I will not have the usual gruesome ending . . .

References:

Fig 1,2,3   'What has made Mr Wolf's Tummy So Big?' by Hazel Terry

Tuesday 16 December 2014

Ludwig Emil Grimm

    Fig 1 (above) Little Red Riding Hood  by Ludwig Wilhelm Grimm 1825 
I was fascinated to discover that Ludwig Wilhelm Grimm (1790-1863) was the illustrator of his older brothers fairytales. At their request he created various illustrations for the editions subsequent to the first unillustrated edition of 1812.

Ludwig was inspired by nature, he trained under the tutorage of Philip Otto Runge at Kassel.

    Fig 2 (above) 1806-08 pen and ink drawing.

He went on to study at Munich Academy of Arts from 1809-1817, where he studied engraving under Carl Ernst Hess and painting under Andreas Seidl.

   Fig 3 (above) Portrait of Carl Ernst Christoph Hess (1755 - 1828), Ludwig Emil Grimm's Engraving Instructor at the Munich Academy.

Ludwig had to part from his studies briefly in 1814 where he was an officer in the war against Napoleon. He married Marie Böttner in 1832 the year he also became a professor at the Kassel Academy.

References 

Fig 1: http://www.secretchina.com/news/12/12/23/479627.html?%E6%A0%BC%E6%9E%97%E7%AB%A5%E8%AF%9D%E2%80%94%E2%80%94%E6%8F%92%E5%9B%BE%E7%9A%84%E5%8E%86%E5%8F%B2
Fig 2: http://www.invaluable.co.uk/auction-lot/ludwig-emil-grimm-hanau-1790-1863-kassel-160-c-p5yna82psx
Fig 3: http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/12424.html?mulR=2094293184|64

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Emil_Grimm
http://www.teeuwisse.de/catalogues/selected-works-xiii/lotte-hassenpflugs-four-children-and-ideke-ludwig-emil-grimms-daughter.html

Monday 15 December 2014

Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

Fig 1 (Above): Wilhelm Grimm(left) and Jacob Grimm (right) 1855 painting by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann.

Fig 2 (above) Frontispiece and decorative title page of an 1819 edition of the Brothers Grimm's 'Kinder-und Hausmarchen', illustrated by Ludwig Emil Grimm with engravings by L. Haas. 

Jacob Grimm was born in 1785 and his brother Wilhelm in 1786, The brothers were extremely close and both brothers studied law at the University of Marburg. However they were most inspired by Professor Friedrich Carl von Savigny who introduced them to Romantic literature and they joined "Heidelberger Kreis" a group of German Folk Poets.

Their father Philip, a lawyer, had died in 1796 when Jacob was just 11. When their mother Dorothea in died in 1808 Jacob , the oldest of the nine children (eight brothers and one sister) supported the family by working as a librarian (1808-1813) for Jérôme Bonaparte, King of Westphalia.

The brothers devoted themselves at this time to collecting folk tales and legends and in 1812 they published their compilation 'Kinder und Hausmarchen' which comprised of 86 gathered oral folk tales. This collection swelled to 209 stories in its 7th and final edition of 1857.

Fig 3 (above) Second edition of Grimms' Fairytales – two volumes (1819) in Kassel which had 156 stories 780 more than the original.

Wilhelm worked as the secretary in Kassel Library from 1814-1829 and Jacob as the Librarian 1816-1829.
                              Fig 4 (above) Dorothea (Dortchen) Wild pencil portrait by Ludwig Emil Grimm 1815

Wilhelm married Dortchen Wild in 1825 and they had four children, during this time the brothers remained in the same household and they published in two volumes of German Legends. In 1819 Jacob published "Deutsche Grammatik", the first book of its kind exploring not only German grammar but also the relationships between languages.

             Fig 5 (Above): 1843 Pencil drawing of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm by Ludwig Emil Grimm

In 1829 both brothers were appointed as professors at the University of Göttingen.
The brothers were politically active seeking a formulation of fundamental rights and a union of German states. Unfortunately they both lost their professorships and were deported in 1835, when they and five of their colleagues opposed the abolition of the Hanover Constitution by the King of Hanover.
The brothers returned to Kassel and then in 1840 obtained professorships in Berlin where they developed "Deutsches Wörterbuch" a complete German dictionary tracing the origin of every word. Jacob and Wilhelm were to live in Berlin for approximately twenty years working on historical and political publications. Wilhelm Grimm died age 73 in 1859 and his brother Jacob followed four years later aged 81 in 1863.

References

Fig 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Jerichau-Baumann
Fig 2: http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/publication-grimm%E2%80%99s-fairy-tales
Fig 3: http://www.germany.travel/se/press-internationell/pr-teman/press-kit-broederna-grimm.html
Fig 4: http://enargea.org/tales/Grimm/dieGebrueder.html
Fig 5: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacob_und_Wilhelm_Grimm.png

http://www.germanpulse.com/2012/04/10/the-history-of-the-brothers-grimm/
http://www.biography.com/people/wilhelm-grimm-21085173#grimms-fairy-tales
http://www.germany.travel/se/press-internationell/pr-teman/press-kit-broederna-grimm.html
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/publication-grimm%E2%80%99s-fairy-tales

Sunday 14 December 2014

Mina Braun II


   Fig 1 (above): Mina Braun, Sleep Tight 2. Fig 2 (below): Mina Braun, Sleep Tight 1
               
Sunday seems to be the day that I am publishing gangs of Little Red riding Hoods and this post is the second to feature German illustrator Mina Braun, now based in Scotland. These two screen prints were created for the Magic Exhibition at Solihull Arts Complex, Mina chose to base her submissions on Little Red Riding Hood.

References

Fig 1: Mina Braun, Sleep Tight. 
         https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mina-braun/523367204346683?fref=ts
Fig 2: Mina Braun, Sleep Tight 1 http://www.minabraun.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/sleep-tight.html

http://www.minabraun.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.minabraun.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mina-braun/
http://www.solihullartscomplex.co.uk/

Saturday 13 December 2014

Urban Cake Lady II


                 Fig 1 (above), Fig 2 (below) Urban Cake Lady, Melbourne 
                                   Fig 3 (below) Urban Cake Lady
Urban Cake Lady's work if not featuring wolves features other wild and endangered animals. My interpretation of the conflict of human and wild animal in Red Riding Hood is now a metaphor for lost and endangered wilderness and the loss of our own links to wild and natural places. Urban Cake Lady explains her use of animals as:
"I've always loved natural, flowing, whimsical kind of things, so I guess it’s a real part of who I am. To me, they evoke feelings of calmness, and a bit of nostalgia … and I  like to think that I can stick up a quiet little moment,  that'll maybe make someone zone out from whatever might be going on around them." Urban Cake Lady
References

Fig 1: http://www.wallpapersonweb.com/image-137265.html
Fig 2: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgootshinz/5935252912/
Fig 3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrianakis/5190992434/

http://www.invurt.com/2010/11/26/interview-urban-cake-lady/