To celebrate the recent arrival of Harold Jones's original illustrations for the classic volume of nursery rhymes, Lavender's Blue (1954), here is a special blog post all about the life and work of Harold Jones.
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| A chest painted by Harold Jones in his South London home |
Harold Jones
Harold Jones (1904-1992) was a painter, wood engraver and
printmaker, widely known as one of the twentieth century’s most significant and
original illustrators of books for children. He began his career in the 1930s
as a freelance illustrator and cover illustrator adding his distinctive style
to many children’s books, including M. E. Atkinson’s Lockett series. Jones’s first picture book was a collaboration with
the renowned children’s poet, Walter de la Mare which resulted in This Year, Next Year (1937). From then,
until his death, Jones’s output was prolific and his idiosyncratic style remains
instantly recognisable. His most notable and critically acclaimed work was, and
remains, Lavender’s Blue (1954).
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| Artwork for This Year Next Year (1937), illustrated by Harold Jones, written by Walter De La Mare (Seven Stories Collection) |
Ever since his early career Jones has won acclaim for his
unique, seemingly simplistic, though haunting illustrations. His lithographs
for This Year, Next Year marked him
out as a fresh talent; the book itself received wide critical acclaim and was
included in the First Editions Club’s annual exhibition of “the fifty books of
the year”. Children’s book critic for The
Times, Brian Alderson describes Jones as “the most original illustrator of
the period” adding of Jones’s style:
‘On the surface… there seems to be only a rather stylised, rather
wooden, rather traditional pictorialism. But within the hatched, pastel-shaded
frames of his pictures there lurks a silent, eerie world – glimpsed or hinted
at under the dark arches of the Serpentine bridge, in the eyes of a pensive
dog, or behind a half opened door.’ (1)
Harold Jones had a
broad range of artistic training before embarking on a career as an illustrator.
He began with evening classes at Goldsmith’s College before moving on to
Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied under Albert Rutherston.
He later studied at Royal College under Rutherston’s brother, William
Rothenstein, and Arthur Rackham’s teacher, Edward Sullivan. Following his
training Jones went on to teach. In 1930 he took a job as an art master at Bermondsey
Central School for Boys. However, he quit the job in 1934 as it provided little
outlet for his creativity. After leaving Bermondsey, Jones pursued work as a
freelance illustrator whilst continuing to work as an art teacher. Between 1937
and 1940 he worked as a visiting lecturer at both the Ruskin School of Drawing
in Oxford and the Chelsea School of Art. He also enjoyed a steady income from
his work as a freelance illustrator; among other commissions, he illustrated
the last three books written by H. G. Wells.
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| Some of the books illustrated by Harold Jones |
During the Second
World War, Jones worked for the Royal Engineers as a lithographic draughtsman. He
‘spent his days in a disused Pimlico garage drawing maps for the Supreme
headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force. He used to recall how he had
“the great fortune to draw the D-Day maps. We knew about everything months
before the generals.”’ (2)
In 1945 Jones resumed
teaching, taking up a post at Sunningdale School of Ballet, and continued to
take commissions as an illustrator. The publication of Lavender’s Blue in 1954, and its wide and substantial critical
acclaim, cemented his place as one of the foremost illustrators in Britain. In
the proceeding decades he illustrated numerous picture books by various authors
– generally favouring traditional, biblical and folkloric tales over more
modern stories. In 1961 Jones gained further recognition when he was hired to
illustrate the first children’s book published by the major British publishing
house, Gollanzc: a new edition of Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies. Throughout his career he also wrote and
illustrated a number of his own stories including The Visit to the Farm (1939) and Enchanted Night (1947).
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| Harold Jones's studio at his South London home |
Though foremost an
illustrator, throughout his life Jones also continued to pursue an interest in fine
art, producing a number of paintings. Both his art and his illustration have
had significant appeal far beyond the world of children’s books, and the
decorative and artistic merits of Jones’s work have been widely acclaimed:
‘His drawings function at a high level both spatially and decoratively,
and at their best possess a quality of stillness and timelessness reminiscent
of Italian quattrocento painting.’ (3)
While still a student, he sold his first picture in a Royal College
of Art student exhibition to the influential art patron, Lady Ottoline Morrell.
His work has been exhibited at venues including the Tate Gallery and the Royal
Academy. Tate owns Jones’s early work ‘The black door’ which it purchased in
1940 and work by Jones featured in The
Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture (Chamot, Farr and Butlin,
1964).
About Lavender's Blue
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| Copy of Lavender's Blue (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1954) compiled by Kathleen Lines and illustrated by Harold Jones |
Upon its release, Lavender’s
Blue won substantial critical acclaim and its publication can be seen as something of a landmark in the history of children’s
illustration. It received an honourable mention by the Hans Christian Andersen
Award (this award remains the highest international recognition given to an
author or illustrator of children’s books) and Jones was given a ‘special
commendation’ by the British Library Association at the awarding of that year’s
prestigious Carnegie Award. Though members of the Carnegie selection committee
had for some time planned to introduce a separate illustration award, at this
time there was still no major award honouring illustrators. However, it was
decided that, due to the quality and originality of Jones’s illustrations, Lavender’s Blue deserved a high
commendation and it is generally regarded that, had events ‘moved more quickly,
[Jones] would have been the first recipient of the Kate Greenaway Medal’ – the
illustration companion to the Carnegie award, introduced in 1956 (4). Since its
establishment, the Kate Greenaway Medal (the first winner of which was Edward
Ardizzone in 1956) has remained by far the most coveted award for illustration
in Britain. On its release in the United States Lavender’s Blue was also met with strong critical praise. It received
the American Library Association Award, and was included on the list of winners
of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (5).
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| Artwork by Harold Jones for Lavender's Blue (1954) |
First published by Oxford University Press in 1954, Lavender’s Blue is by far the most noted
and celebrated of Harold Jones works. The book’s illustrations epitomise the
seemingly bright and innocent, though slightly eerie style that sets Jones work
apart. Each picture offers a world to explore full of rich depth and detail. As
The Times Literary Supplement said of
Jones at the time:
‘Among artists who specialise in books for children, Harold Jones is
pre-eminent. Since Jean de Brunhoff’s incomparable Babar series, no artist has understood more
successfully than he that a picture has little meaning for a child if he cannot
step inside it.’ (6)
Lavender’s Blue
was compiled by the noted librarian, critic and editor, Kathleen Lines who
brought to the project her considerable knowledge and expertise on children’s
literature. Lines had previously won acclaim for her critical survey of
children's books, Four to Fifteen
(1950) (also illustrated by Jones). Through her series of Fairytale Picture Books produced throughout the 1960s and 1970s,
Lines would later go on to work with some of the leading children’s
illustrators including Edward Ardizzone. The
Times Literary Supplement noted of Kathleen Lines’s compilation of Lavender’s Blue that: ‘…as could be
expected of someone so knowledgeable in the field of children’s books,
[Kathleen Lines] has done her part with great thoroughness. No traditional
favourite seems to be missing and sticklers can be sure, too, of finding the
traditional verses.’ (7)
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| The Kathleen Lines book collection here at Seven Stories includes many of the books Lines used to research rhymes for Lavender's Blue |
Throughout its 60 years, Lavender’s
Blue has remained with Oxford University Press and enjoys the distinction of never once having been out of print. Rather uniquely, although
the printing quality has varied, Jones’s original design of the book has never
been substantially altered. In 2004, a special 50th anniversary
edition was published which saw the book and its illustrations restored to
their original quality.
Lavender’s Blue is
still regarded as a classic by many children’s authors and illustrators working
today. Former Children’s Laureate and author, Jacqueline Wilson, lists the book
in her top ten all time children’s books. Of the illustrations, she has said: “[Harold
Jones] uses a wonderful delicate colour palette of blue, sage green, lilac and
apricot to create his own quirkily detailed dream-like world. You could pore
over the pages every day for a year and still find fresh delights.” (8) The well
renowned illustrator and author, Ian Beck, regularly cites Harold Jones as one
of his foremost influences. He describes Jones illustrations as: “…never fail[ing]
to delight. Even when tackling a simple line drawing of a water pump something
delectable emerges. He would be my choice of desert island illustrator, even
above Ardizzone.” (9)
The fantastic collection of artwork for Lavender's Blue came to Seven Stories in August to join our already significant collection of Jones's original illustrations. The purchase was made possible thanks to grants from ArtFund (http://www.artfund.org/) and the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund (www.vam.ac.uk/purchasegrantfund).
Harold Jones's Lavender's Blue illustrations will soon be available to view by appointment at the Seven Stories Collections Department. The work will also be featuring in future exhibitions at the Seven Stories Visitor Centre. If you'd like to know more about the Harold Jones Archive or work by other illustrators in the Seven Stories Collection then contact us.
Notes and references from the text:
1) Alderson, B., ‘Some notes on children’s book illustration 1915-1985’, in Horne, A. (ed), The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators (Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1994)
2) Harold Jones’s obituary, The Daily Telegraph (London, England), 13th June 1992
3) Peppin, B. (ed) and Micklethwaite, L. (ed), Dictionary of British Book Illustrators: twentieth century, (London: John Murray Publishers, Ltd., 1984)
4) Barker, Keith, In the Realms of Gold: the story of the Carnegie Medal, (London: Julia MacRae Books, 1986)
5) The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1958-1979) was an annual American literary award granted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education to books deemed to "belong on the same shelf" as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
6) Serraillier, Ian, ‘Pen, Brush and Pencil’, Times Literary Supplement, (London, England), 19th November, 1954
7) Dowding, K. M., ‘Rhymes and jingles’, Times Literary Supplement, (London, England), 19th November, 1954
8) Wilson, Jacqueline, ‘The great books giveaway’, The Guardian, (London: England), 4th March, 2011
9) ‘Harold Jones’ on Ian Beck’s blog – http://ianbeckblog.wordpress.com/2011/03/27/harold-jones-2/ (accessed 4th June 2014)
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