"Rumania, Painted Churches of Moldavia" (published by The New York Graphic Society by arrangement with Unesco, Paris 1962), Part2

Since I got my new scanner I was able to take some closer details of these icons just to show how rich and complex they are both in their patterns and subject matter.

"The Races Of Mankind, Vol.3" by Robert Brown, M.A. (published by Cassell Petter & Galpin, London, late 1800s)

This book and the other two volumes are a real treasure. With more than one hundred illustrations each (plus some 7-8 colour ones at the beginning of each volume) they give a pretty authentic picture of what people around the world must have looked like some 130 years ago. There are extensive detailed accounts on the various tribes and cultures, how their societies were structured, customs, religion etc. What amazed me when I first picked up these books twenty years ago were the elaborate portraits in them (even though all the pictures are of a great standard). Typically, no mention anywhere of the artists that did all this fascinating work without which these books wouldn't have been half as interesting! I'll be posting more portraits from the other volumes in the next week or so.

"Kia-Ora" soft drink ad (1948), illustrated by Gerald Hoffnung

A charming illustration from a 1940s magazine advertising an "exotic" drink - not a chance for us to try any of it now I don't think, but the picture is great! The artist was Gerard Hoffnung (1925-1959) a British illustrator with a sizable output of work (considering he died relatively young). There are many examples of his humorous illustrations (many from his long term contribution to "Lilliput", a monthly magazine on Arts and Literature) on Chris Mullen's excellent website www.fulltable.com/VTS/aoi/h/hoffnung/h.htm and a summary of his life on Wikipedia.

"Rumania, Painted Churches of Moldavia" (published by The New York Graphic Society by arrangement with Unesco, Paris 1962)

Now I'm not religious in any way but I have a weakness for religious imagery from all over the world, Byzantine being the top of my list. So when I came across this book and another identical one on Yugoslavian Church paintings some twenty years ago I was really chuffed! Cheap too! They are huge in size (34x48cm) which helps to appreciate the beautiful work and the details of these icons. Shame about the flash on my camera (yes, still no scanner) but it was the best I could do on a gloomy day - can't remember when we last had a sunny day...I will scan a few more from this book when I get a chance and I'll post some of the Yugoslavian ones which are quite different.

More Clifford Harper (illustrations from the Guardian Saturday Review)

Got my brand new computer last week with a brand new operating system (Windows7). My old scanner doesn't work on it though because new drivers are needed for it to work with this new system and because when I did eventually manage to download them they didn't install properly - in other words I can't scan anything for the time being! Slightly annoyed with that (all in the name of progress) but at least I've got these to show. Excellent work by Harper that I've been collecting - and scanning - for years.

"The Buddha And The Terrorist", Satish Kumar, illustrations by Clifford Harper (publ. by Green Books 2004) Part 2

The last few illustrations from this book by Clifford Harper. I love the serenity he achieves in the faces that is only found in religious icons. There is so much work and thought on all the details and the arrangement of the shapes and patterns.

Sixties LP sleeves

Just two playful sleeve designs from 1963 and 64 I picked up the other day. No idea who the designer was.