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Inspiration from Artists Featuring Bonus Artist : Molly Brett

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Welcome to this weekends Bonus artist thread , my choice of artist this week is very different from those who we have featured recently, a little bit of light hearted escapism into the past . Molly Brett 1902 - 1990 was an English illustrator and writer of children’s literature, best know for her anthropomorphic artwork . Molly grew up in Surrey surrounded by animals and nature, her mother Gould Brett was a respected animal painter and encouraged her daughter to paint from life. Molly began her art training with a correspondence course in illustration followed by formal training at Press School of Art then the Guildford Art School. She starts her career by illustrating weekly papers for children , one of her first commissions was to illustrate storey for Enid Blyton. Inspired by this she went on to illustrate 21 books of her own for the Medici Society of London . Medici have published over 500 of her paintings gs as postcards, greeting cards and prints . I hope you enjoy the artwork and do remember it’s from a bygone age when things were much more innocent and children had very different tastes to those of today.

Sylvia Evans

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Just lovely, I remember a lot of them from my childhood.  Her observations  are great.l especially like the Wren and the Field mouse with th blackberries and toadstool.

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by Sylvia Evans

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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I knew that some of us would remember books like this , Sylvia we have the same taste the wren one is definitely my favourite. I would bet that Robert will talk about having books like this  I know he has said before how much he likes the illustrations in them . 

Tessa Gwynne

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They are a lovely reminder of the innocence of childhood that hopefully most of us of a certain age, remember. Also there is so much to look at in her illustrations, the little details and stories in them. I took a quick look yesterday, and a more detailed one this morning, and keep discovering more delights! Incidentally we were discussing during the week, Rishi Sunaks comment that he went without Sky Tv as a child, and it reminded me that I grew up without any tv until I think I was about 13 because my dad wouldn’t have it in the house! So what did we do, well we played outside a lot, and I drew constantly, and books (many with illustrations like the above) were a constant companion and delight. What a different world!
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Yes, many pictures here that I remember - I seemed to have quite a few books in my childhood that came from a generation or two earlier - pre-historic, then....  Oh Nutatall, by Eve St Leger, with wonderful illustrations, the Grandpa books - Grandpa was an elderly chimpanzee, of a rich red variety, beautifully painted, the Rupert Bear annuals - the illustrations inside nothing special, but the frontispieces were something to behold - but no Arthur Rackham - I didn't become acquainted with him, or Winnie the Pooh, until much later.   No Beatrix Potter, either.  Those sorts of books tended to be for more middle-class children - Toad of Toad Hall, though! Classics Illustrated, Adventure/Crime Picture Library (or something), Hergé's Adventures of TinTin, the Ladybird books ...... 'ee, it teks yer back: I say, it teks yer back.....

Jenny Harris

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Love her work, brings back happy childhood memories of when life was so much more simple, and when as children we had the freedom to safely roam the woods and fields all day. Tessa’s right, it was a very different world then, and in many ways a far better one.  I’ve chosen a few of my favourites.

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by Jenny Harris

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Andrew Roles

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I take it these are watercolour, in which case I stand in awe and amazement at the technical skill involved here. The subject matter is indeed evocative of a simpler age, but still lovely to look at. Fabulous choice. 
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Watercolour and gouache, I expect; and painted with real paint and brushes, not computer software - nothing wrong with the latter, necessarily, but the charm of the former always gives it an edge.  
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Lewis Cooper

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It's always of interest to see such work.  Utterly charming for its intended audience.  Beatrix Potter published her last book in 1930, and, of course, her books are still in print.  Molly would have been familiar with her work, and that has surely influenced her work.  Nothing wrong with that, of course.  Most artists are influenced by other artists in some way. Superb skills.  But no wow factor for me...and why should there be, it's not aimed at old curmudgeon's like me. For me, Arthur Rackham's work, whether aimed at children or adults, does ring the bell...he too was around in Molly's earlier years.

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by Lewis Cooper

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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Lew she was very familiar with Beatrix Potter as she did some of the artwork for her books . It does a seem old fashioned and out of date these days but it’s what there was at the time , like all,of you who look at the quality of the paintings and the skilled drawing that form them I cannot help but admire the skill involved. As often happens these day books are computer generated and artwork is done digitally also increasingly it’s AI generate , the sad thing is that book illustration is not seen as proper art and has actually in the past been seen as second rate art . Similarly poster art has been seen as poor quality, we will be having a week of posters art in the coming months .

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by Paul (Dixie) Dean

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Lewis Cooper

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You are right Dixie, although I'm not sure who makes these decisions...the money men I suppose.   They mean nothing to me.  There are some utterly brilliant book and poster artists. Interesting that Molly did artwork for some of Beatrix Potters books, I'm not surprised.  I agree that she's a skilled artist.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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When you look at her artwork and take away the the animals she does produce some excellent landscape work and the details in the trees etc is really good, a lady the obviously knew and understood the countryside. A close look at the animals she draws and paints again show her understanding of them , I think to be able to take an animal and give it a human look in its stance but retaining the animal is you have to be very skilled.
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