George Henry Evison (25 November 1871 – 1928)[2] was a Lancastrian artist and book illustrator who illustrated many cheaper books with his strong line drawings. He illustrated magazines with both line drawings and colour wash drawings.
Early life
Evison was born on 25 November 1871 in Bootle, Lancashire. He was the second child of William Flinn Evison (baptised 24 May 1831 – October 1872),[3][note 1] a clerk for the Liverpool and America shipping trade, and Sarah Ellen Emson (born third quarter 1845),[6] the daughter of a publican. His parents married on 28 May 1867 at St Simon's Parish in Liverpool.[7][8] Evison's elder sister Lillie (c. 1870 – 25 December 1871)[note 2] died shortly after he was born. Evison's father died the following year, before Evison's first birthday.
Training
Evison began his career with a five-year apprenticeship to a lithographic artist in Liverpool, while attending evening classes at the Liverpool School of Art.[11] Typically, apprenticeships began at 14 or 15, and Evison would have been fourteen in November 1885. He attended the Liverpool School of Art[note 3] He was attending the school in September 1888 when he was awarded a small class prize (7s. 6d.) for attendance and success in exams.[13]
However, at the end of his apprenticeship (c. 1890), he was not satisfied with lithography, and gave it up in favour of pen and ink. He studied pen and ink drawing full-time under John Finnie[note 4] at the Liverpool School of Art, where he won a scholarship worth £60.[11]
He had already begun to have some drawings accepted by Magazines like Pick-me-up or Judy and this success led to him coming to London and joining the Slade School where he worked for 12 months. His April 1900 profile in The Poster and his cover illustration for that month indicate that he had found acceptance in London.[11]
Exhibiting
Evison exhibited seven times at the Walker Gallery in Liverpool and four times at the Royal Academy.[14]: 169 His pieces at the Royal Academy were story illustrations in at least two cases.[15] At least one of his works shown at the Walker Gallery resulted in a sale, Tea-Time sold for £10 in 1894.[16]
Magazine illustration
Initially Evison appears to have concentrated on magazine illustration. He contributed illustrations to a wide range of magazines including:
To-day, where he had already illustrated two serials for Barry Pain by 1900.[11][note 6]
The Poster reported that by 1900 Evison had already worked for four of the Newnes publications[note 7] and four of Pearson's publications [note 8] as well as other magazines.[11]
Example of pen and ink magazine illustration
Evison was a regular illustrator for George Newnes' Wide World Magazine. He did approximately two dozen illustrations for From Job to Job Around the World by Alfred C. B. Fletcher in Wide World Magazine Volume 37, May–October 1916. The serial story covers the adventures of two young Americans who set out from San Francisco to travel around the world with only $10 between them.[20]
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Book illustration
Evison seems to have made a slow start at book illustration. It was only at the end of the first decade of the 20th century that he began to illustrate any significant number of books, and this grew to a flood with his illustrations of the Daily Mail'sixpenny novels.
The following list of books illustrated by Evison is far from complete. The principle sources are searches of the Jisc catalogue,[23][24][note 9] Additional libraries are being added all the time, and the catalogue collates national, university, and research libraries.[25][26] and the page about Evison[2] on the Charles Pearce Project.[note 10]
Partial list of books illustrated by Evison
No
Author
Year
Title
Publisher
Pages
Notes
1
George MacDonald
1893
A dish of orts: chiefly papers on the imagination, and on Shakspere [sic], Enlarged Edition
The following illustrations are not from the cheap editions which featured Evison's strong pen and ink drawings, but from a full-priced Christmas book. The book was Under Honour's Flag {Frederick Warne & Co., London, (1907) by Rev. Eric Lisle.[note 33] Evison provide eight illustrations for the book, painted rather than in the pen and ink which he used for cheaper editions.
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Page-257
Page-287
Death
Evison died in the second quarter of 1928,[43] probably in early June. He was buried on 5 June 1928 at All Saints Cemetery in Harrow.[44] At the time of his death, he was still living at his cousin's house at Fulwood, Royston Park, Pinner, where he had lived since at least 1905.[45] He appears not to have left a will.
Assessment
Houfe states that Evison was a particularly good figure artist and that he used pen and ink with heavy body colour.[1]: 297 . Thorpe noted that his half-tone drawings in the English Illustrated Magazine were promising.[17]: 144 A profound challenge for greater recognition of Evison is that a good deal of book illustration, at least, was for ephemeral editions such as the Daily Mail sixpenny editions. Such cheap editions uses cheap paper and only the boldest of pen and ink art reproduced well. Evison's bold pen and ink drawings were well suited to this constraint. His magazine illustrations covered a much broader range, and were not just restricted to pen and ink work.
Notes
^Evison's father was buried on 16 October 1872.[4] His death was registered in the fourth quarter of 1872,[5] suggesting that he died in October
^While Lillie's birth was only registered in the first quarter of 1870,[9] there are several hints that she was born in the last quarter of 1869, including her age at death.[10]
^This was the first purpose built art school outside of London, having opened in 1883. After serving under various names as a school of art until 2008, it was purchased by the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts to expand their teaching space in 2012.[12]
^The Poster spells his name Finne rather than Finnie. He was the headmaster of the Liverpool School of Art until his retirement in 1896.[14]: 176
^This was an illustrated weekly comic and social magazine the cost two pence. It had a circulation of 40,000[18]: 321 and ran from 1867 to 1907.[19]: 102
^This version of To-day was a weekly magazine that ran from 11 November 1893 to 19 July 1905, and was then incorporated with London Opinion.[19]: 155 It cost 2d. and had a circulation of 40,000.[18]: 342
^C. Arthur Pearson had a range of publications,[18]: 606 the most popular of which was Pearson's Magazine a monthly with a circulation of over 200,000[18]: 384 , but the circulation of publications such as Home Notes could be nearly as high.
^The Jisc Library Hub Discover brings together the catalogues of 165 Major UK and Irish libraries.
^Available online at Project Gutenberg.[37][38]: 734
^ The catalogue entry describes the author as Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Andersonian University Glasgow[24]
^The Auckland Star commented that Evison's illustrations, though helping the story, would be more effective if they depicted more of what is characteristic in New Zealand scenery.[39][2]
^The book centres on a boy from a difficult background whose heroic rescues from fire and water help to establish him in Public School. Kirkpatrick describes the book, as a throwback to the nineteenth century didactic school story, where the saving of a life is placed strongly in a religious and moral context.[42]
^Liverpool Record Office (2 July 1905). "Reference Number: 283-PET-2-18: Baptisms solenmized in the Parish Church of St. Peter, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-one". Liverpool, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1919. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. p. 135.
^Liverpool Record Office (6 July 1905). "Reference: 352 CEM 6/2/1: Date of Interrment: 16 October 1872". Liverpool Cemetery Registers. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com.
^Liverpool Record Office (3 July 1905). "Reference Number: 283-SIM/3/3: 1867 Marriages solenmized at The Church in the Parish Church of St. Simon, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster". Liverpool, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. p. 52.
^Liverpool Record Office (6 July 1905). "Reference: 352 CEM 2/2/4: Date of Interrment: 29 December 1871". Liverpool Cemetery Registers. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com.
^ abJohnson, J.; Greutzner, A. (8 June 1905). The Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club.
^Graves, Algernon (19 March 1905). "Evison, G Henry. Illustrator". The Royal Academy of Arts: A completed Dictionary of Contributors and their work from its foundation in 1769 to 1904. Vol. VI: Edie to Harraden. London: George Bell and Sons. p. 73.
^London Metropolitan Archives (2 July 1905). "Reference: dro/108/020: Birials in the Parish of All Saints, Harrow Weald, in the county of Middlesex in the year 1928: No. 386: George Henry Evison". London, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-2003. Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com. p. 49.