Despair 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

A Rakes Progress - 8: The Mad House, 1733. Artist: William Hogarth

A Rake's Progress - 8: The Mad House, 1733. True to his nature Tom Rakewell has run through a vast fortune through indulgence in all the luxuries of modern living. He has lived riotously, both gambling and whoring. He has married a rich old widow and been ruined a second time. Now the rake is raving mad and shackled for his own safety in Bedlam, the London lunatic asylum. He is comforted by Sarah Young, the poor girl that he had seduced with a false promise of marriage while he was a student at Oxford. Behind, two fashionable women have come to view the hospital's inmates. From William Hogarth, by Austin Dobson. [Hachette Et Cie, Paris, 1904]

© The Print Collector

The Scream, 1893. Artist: Edvard Munch

The Scream, 1893. The Scream is one of four versions painted by Edward Munch in 1893. The ghostly, agonised figure against the background of a red sunset is one of the most well known images in the world of art - a symbol of despair and alienation. From the Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo

© Art Media / Heritage-Images

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