Thursday, April 05, 2007
Illustration: Lawson Wood- The Monkey Painter
This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for more jaw dropping images from classic illustrated books and magazines.


Wood was born in London in 1878 to a family already well outfitted with artists. He developed his skills swiftly, and by age 18 he was a published illustrator. By the early years of the 20th century, he was established as an artist adept at both "straight" subjects and humorous fantasy. His images of cave men and dinosaurs were particularly popular in England, but the paintings that brought him fame in America were his monkeys...

This album was brought to us to digitize by archive supporter, Mike Fontanelli, and it gives you a good idea of how much Wood got out of his silly subject matter. Wood's Gran'pop Monkey and friends graced the cover of many issues of Colliers, and there was even talk of adapting the characters to star in a series of animated cartoons. Ub Iwerks was slated to produce the series, but the outbreak of war and the closing of Iwerks' studio nipped the idea in the bud. However, Wood understood the value of merchandising early on; he even headed up his own toy manufacturing firm, and he died a very wealthy man in 1957.
Some people can't get past the "kitsch factor" of Wood's illustrations. But even those who hate his work have to grudgingly admit that he had wonderful painting technique. Love him or hate him, here is Lawson Wood...











Mike Fontanelli recently brought by a big stack of vintage Colliers magazines with Wood covers for us to scan as well. Check these babies out!







The other day, I was surfing blogs and I came across a post that popped my eyes on Will Finn's blog, Small Room. It featured scans of a fabulous Wartime era calendar by Wood from Will's collection. I dropped him a note and he generously brought it by for us to scan for the Archive. Here are a few samples...





There are more images from this great calendar in Will's article on Lawson Wood. If you haven't bookmarked Will's page yet, you should. Where else are you going to find inspiration and insight like the stuff on Will Finn's Small Room?
For more info, see Bud Plant's terrific Lawson Wood Bio. Many thanks to Will Finn and Mike Fontanelli for their generous support of the Archive project.
If you found this post useful, see our posts on... 1940s Colliers Illustration and Colliers From The 30s.
Also see... The Genius Of Miguel Covarrubias, Wartime Propaganda Posters Part One and Part Two, Will Finn's Letter From Ward Kimball, John Bauer's Bland Tomtar Och Troll / Frank Reynolds Paints Pickwick / Arthur Szyk's The New Order / Artzybasheff's Neurotica, Machinalia and Diablerie
Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
3.3.09
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Labels: anthropomorphism, colliers, illustration, lawson wood





























6 Comments:
why would anybody HATE this guy!? jealousy..?? this stuff is amazing
If you like the work of Lawson Wood you should look up two other
British illustrators, Harry Rountree and J.A.Shepherd not to be confused with E.H. Shephard(Winnie the Pooh)equally amazing
artists and caricaturists of animals.
Chuck G
I have a thing for old illustration depicting animals carrying on with human activities. Maybe it's because I read so many children's books when I was a kid. There were a lot of Wind In The Willows type, 'realistic animals doing people things' in those.
So I'm enjoying these.
Perhaps the subject matter is a little uninspired on some - but I dig 'em just the same.
Gran'pop rises to make a speech and "Hi!" cried Gran'pop may be my favorites from this batch.
- Corbett
I'm 60 now but remember these as a kid in gas stations and the like. I just bought a old calandar top with a 20X24 print, frameing it today for the grandkids area, family tradition I guess. Lee
I'm 60 now and remember "Lawson Wood's Merry Monkeys" a sort of annual that belonged to my sister. Incredible humour in the pictures, he was a master of expressions.
The "Full Speed Ahead" print has been passed down a few generations in our family. As a child, I would gaze at it as I laid in bed for naps and when sick.
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