Violence 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

'Richard III. and the Earl of Richmond at the Battle of Bosworth', 1485, (mid 19th century)

'Richard III. and the Earl of Richmond at the Battle of Bosworth', 1485, (mid 19th century). The Battle of Bosworth Field, fought on 22 August 1485, was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Richard III (1452-1485), the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle, making the victor Henry Tudor (1457-1509), Earl of Richmond, the first English monarch (King Henry VII), of the Tudor dynasty. [John Tallis & Company, London & New York]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'A Man stabbing a Boy', mid 18th century, (1928). Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

'A Man stabbing a Boy', mid 18th century, (1928). Pen with wash on white paper. At one time known to have been in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Italian Venetian painter and printmaker Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), worked not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Spain. He was commissioned to carry out frescoes in churches and palaces, and was elected President of the Academy of Padua. As well as his large-scale majestic works, he also produced etchings and oil paintings, and is widely regarded as one of the most important artists of the period. Illustration from The Drawings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Volume I, by Detlev Baron Von Hadeln. [The Pegasus Press, Paris, 1928]

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images