Afraid Gallery

Man standing over cowering woman, 1952. Creator: Shirley Markham

Man standing over cowering woman, 1952. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. The writer, artist, poet, and illustrator Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was one of her tutors, and her style of drawing was also influenced by other British illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Edward Bawden. Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration. Her portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time.

© Shirley Markham Collection / Heritage-Images

Woman being frightened by a mouse, c1950. Creator: Shirley Markham

Woman being frightened by a mouse, c1950. Birthday card design. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. The writer, artist, poet, and illustrator Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was one of her tutors, and her style of drawing was also influenced by other British illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Edward Bawden. Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration. Her portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time.

© Shirley Markham Collection / Heritage-Images

'Sir Walter Raleigh's Pipe Put Out', c1884. Artist: Thomas Strong Seccombe

'Sir Walter Raleigh's Pipe Put Out', c1884. Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) was an English adventurer, explorer and writer, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, who knighted him in 1585. In 1584-1589 he was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony in North America, but did introduce tobacco and the potato to Britain from the New World. Accused of treason by Elizabeth's successor, James I, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and eventually put to death in 1618. From Comic Sketches from English History for Children of Various Ages with Descriptive Rhymes by Lieut.-Colonel T. S. Secombe. [W. H. Allen & Co., London, c1884]

© The Print Collector