Edmund Dulac | |
|---|---|
 Edmund Dulac, 1914 | |
| Born | Edmond Dulac 22 October 1882 Toulouse, France |
| Died | 25 May 1953 (aged 70) London, England |
| Education | Ecole des Beaux Arts;Académie Julian |
| Known for | Painter, illustrator |
| Movement | Orientalist |
Edmund Dulac (bornEdmond Dulac; 22 October 1882 – 25 May 1953) was aFrench-British naturalised magazine illustrator, book illustrator and stamp designer. Born inToulouse, he studied law but later turned to the study of art at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts. He moved to London early in the 20th century and in 1905 received his first commission to illustrate the novels of theBrontë Sisters. During World War I, Dulac produced relief books. After the war, the deluxe children's book market shrank, and he then turned to magazine illustrations among other ventures. He designedbanknotes during World War II and postage stamps, most notably those that heralded the beginning ofQueen Elizabeth II's reign.
Born inToulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at theUniversity of Toulouse. He also studied art, switching to it full-time after he became bored with law, and having won prizes at theEcole des Beaux Arts. He spent a very brief period at theAcadémie Julian in Paris in 1904 before moving to London.[1]
Settling in London'sHolland Park, the 22-year-old Frenchman was commissioned by the publisherJ. M. Dent to illustrateJane Eyre.[1] and nine other volumes of works by the Brontë sisters. He then became a regular contributor toThe Pall Mall Magazine, and joined theLondon Sketch Club, which introduced him to the foremost book and magazine illustrators of the day. Through these he began an association with theLeicester Galleries andHodder & Stoughton; the gallery commissioned illustrations from Dulac which they sold in an annual exhibition, while publishing rights to the paintings were taken up by Hodder & Stoughton for reproduction in illustrated gift books, publishing one book a year. Books produced under this arrangement by Dulac includeStories fromThe Arabian Nights (1907) with 50 colour images; an edition ofWilliam Shakespeare'sThe Tempest (1908) with 40 colour illustrations;TheRubaiyat ofOmar Khayyam (1909) with 20 colour images;TheSleeping Beauty and OtherFairy Tales (1910);Stories fromHans Christian Andersen (1911);The Bells and Other Poems byEdgar Allan Poe (1912) with 28 colour images and many monotone illustrations; andPrincess Badoura (1913).
Dulac became a naturalised British citizen on 17 February 1912.[2]
During World War I he contributed to relief books, includingKing Albert's Book (1914),Princess Mary's Gift Book, and, unusually, his ownEdmund Dulac's Picture-Book for theFrench Red Cross (1915) including 20 colour images. Hodder and Stoughton also publishedThe Dreamer of Dreams (1915) including 6 colour images – a work composed by the thenQueen of Romania.
Dulac was married twice: Alice May de Marini, American (m. 1903; div.1904). Elsa Arnalice Bignardi (m.1911; sep. or div. 1924).[3][4][5]
After Dulac separated from his wife in 1924, he lived with British writerHelen Beauclerk until his death in 1953. Dulac frequently used her as a model for his illustrations, and illustrated her two novels,The Green Lacquer Pavilion (1926) andThe Love of the Foolish Angel (1929).[3][4][6]
After the war, the deluxe edition illustrated book became a rarity and Dulac's career in this field was over. His last such books wereEdmund Dulac's Fairy Book (1916), theTanglewood Tales (1918) (including 14 colour images) andThe Kingdom of the Pearl (1920). His career continued in other areas however, including newspaper caricatures (especially atThe Outlook), portraiture, theatre costume and set design, bookplates, chocolate boxes, medals, and various graphics (especially for TheMercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate).
He also produced illustrations forThe American Weekly, a Sunday supplement belonging to theHearst newspaper chain in America and Britain'sCountry Life. Country Life Limited (London) publishedGods and Mortals in Love (1935) (including 9 colour images) based on a number of the contributions made by Dulac toCountry Life previously.The Daughter of the Stars (1939) was a further publication to benefit from Dulac's artwork - due to constraints related to the outbreak of World War II, that title included just 2 colour images. He continued to produce books for the rest of his life, more so than any of his contemporaries, although these were less frequent and less lavish than during the Golden Age.
Halfway through his final book commission (Milton'sComus), Dulac died of a heart attack on 25 May 1953 in London.
He designedpostage stamps for the United Kingdom,[7] including the postage stamp issued to commemorate the Coronation ofKing George VI that was issued on 13 May 1937. The head of the King used on all the stamps of that reign was his design and he also designed the 2s 6d and 5s values for the 'arms series' high valuedefinitives and contributed designs for the sets of stamps issued to commemorate the1948 Summer Olympics and theFestival of Britain.[8]
Dulac was one of the designers of theWilding series stamps, which were the first definitive stamps of the reign ofQueen Elizabeth II. He was responsible for the frame around the image of the Queen on the 1s, 1s 3d and 1s 6d values although his image of the Queen was rejected in favour of a photographic portrait byDorothy Wilding to which he carried out some modifications by hand.[9] He also designed the 1s 3d value stamp of the set issued to commemorate theCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II[10] but he died just before it was issued.
Dulac designed stamps (Marianne de Londres series) andbanknotes forFree France during World War II. In the early 1940s Edmund Dulac also prepared a project for a Polish 20-zlotych note for theBank of Poland. This banknote (printed in England in 1942 but dated 1939) was ordered by the Polish Government in Exile and was never issued.
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