"1950's Clothes Catalogue" - Artist Unknown (part 2)

"1950's Clothes Catalogue" - Artist Unknown

These striking illustrations come from a 1950's fashion catalogue my dad always had in his songwriting workshop. It's dusty, torn, pages wrinkly, cover and many pages missing but it's still quite a thick catalogue with hundreds of pages filled with these brilliant illustrations! The printing quality is also superb which enables you to study in detail each line and drawing mark. I love the economy of the lines and how the artist can convey the type of the materials, the styling, the flow, colours and patterns of the dresses without over-crowding the artwork. The perfection on the faces of the beautiful models made a huge impression on me as a teenager! Some are obviously based on young Audrey Hepburn - or would it be the other way round? Shame we'll never know the name of the artist.

"The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra" By Gerard Hoffnung (Published by Dobson Books Ltd, London 1955) Part 4

Classic 1950's humorous caricatures by Gerard Hoffnung (born in Berlin 1925 - London 1959). Hoffnung was one of many artists and intellectuals whose families fled Nazi Germany in the 1930's to settle in Britain. Here's his biography from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Hoffnung  I was really lucky to find two of his books dating from 1957 and 1959 in a fairly good condition earlier this year. I'll be featuring the other book - called "Acoustics" - in this blog sometime next year.

"The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra" By Gerard Hoffnung (Published by Dobson Books Ltd, London 1955) Part 3

"The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra" By Gerard Hoffnung (Published by Dobson Books Ltd, London 1955) Part 2

"The Hoffnung Symphony Orchestra" By Gerard Hoffnung (Published by Dobson Books Ltd, London 1955) Part 1

"Pugwash And The Mutiny" and "Pugwash And The Fancy-Dress Party" By John Ryan (Penguin Books Ltd, London 1985 - originally published by The Bodley Head Ltd, 1982) - Part 4

The lovable pirate, Captain Horatio Pugwash - the creation of British illustrator and author John Ryan (1921-2009). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ryan_(cartoonist) Pugwash, always being pursued by his sworn enemy, Cut-Throat Jake and his pirates with their ship "The Flying Dustman". Always saved in the end of course by his clever and resourceful cabin boy called Tom. This is by far my most favourite Pugwash book mainly because of its beautiful and delicate black and white illustrations. The design and layout of the pages are also very interesting, and the stories are hilarious for children and adults alike.