Unsung Heroes of Illustration

September 5, 2023 7:13 AM

Pete Beard is a British historian of illustration and illustrators. In an age of clipart and ML-generated content, it is worthwhile to look back and celebrate the forgotten artists of the past. Pete Beard has just published his 100th episode of 'Unsung Heroes of Illustration', a series which covers illustrators born between 1850 and 1910. CW: Whilst all the illustrations are skilfully rendered, there might be the odd one that does not conform to modern sensibilities.
posted by bouvin (9 comments total)

Thank you so much for posting this. I love classic illustrators from that period and this is a wonderful resource.
posted by star gentle uterus at 7:37 AM on September 5

Oh my goodness. This looks amazing.

I will never have time to watch them all, but I'm looking forward to sampling whatever I can find time for.

Thank you so much for posting this, bouvin - it looks splendid!
posted by kristi at 7:39 AM on September 5 [1 favorite]

This excellent and informative stuff. Watched one and immediately subscribed...
posted by jim in austin at 8:55 AM on September 5

I look forward to dipping into this, but shame that it’s video. There won’t be any JPGs to right-click-save-as, as with Today’s Inspiration or Lines and Colors.*

* The https url for Lines and Colors was throwing up security warnings for me, FWIW
posted by TangoCharlie at 9:06 AM on September 5 [1 favorite]

Oh, these are brilliant. Thank you!
posted by the sobsister at 1:12 PM on September 5

thanks for sharing this! I just watched the one about Nicklaus Stoecklin-what a super genius
posted by tarantula at 3:36 PM on September 5

Thanks for posting this. I'm always looking for a good repository of videos to watch when YouTube's suggestions are being useless, which is more frequently than not. Now I have a list of things to work through, and it's going to be really great!
posted by hippybear at 6:31 PM on September 5 [1 favorite]

My god, there are *so* many of them! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And wow, just watched the Arthur Szyk video; I've loved his style for years but had no idea about his anti-Nazi caricatures and paintings starting in the 1920s, or his version of FDR's "Four Freedoms" seen around 7:36 (better known from Norman Rockwell's take), or his anti-racism work, or his public criticism of McCarthy.

The video was so well-made, with excellent narration, editing and sound. Can't wait to see some others. What a wonderful find; thanks, bouvin.
posted by mediareport at 7:03 PM on September 5

This post has been added to the Sidebar and the Best Of MetaFilter blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:52 AM on September 8 [3 favorites]