Frank Bellamy and Fortunino Matania

I received a lovely Christmas present (you know who you are!) - well, two actually! Now I need to say, this is my blog and I always thought I'd stick to the precept it was about Bellamy and his work. Today none appears here...but bear with me.....

Dez Skinn/ Dave Gibbons asked Bellamy:
Did you find they influenced you at all? Did you copy any of the illustrations? 
FB: No. I never used to do any copying. But this is a tough one. I’ve often been asked if people have influenced me. I find it difficult to sort out the difference between people who influence me or impress me with their work. One person who did impress me was Fortunino Matania, an artist who specialised in highly detailed work on Greece, Ancient Egypt and World War One. I have great admiration for him.(Taken from Fantasy Advertiser vol. 3:50 November 1973)

Drawing from history - The forgotten art of Fortunino Matania

I don't think I've sat down and read in one sitting an art book this size for a long time! I made sure the sunlight was streaming through the window -art books are so much better in sunlight, I feel - and made a cup of coffee (for me and my patient wife!) and took the plunge. Before we go any further, don't take my word for it, have a long extended peek thanks to the publisher.

Three editions of materials were released shortly before Christmas and I love what Geoff West and team have done here. Previous limited hardbacks and slipcases (Heros the Spartan for example) have been criticised for being expensive. They certainly are not as cheap as some of the books produced by American publishers but they have a much bigger target audience than BookPalace, who produce some very specialist limited run books. It's obviously done for the love of well-produced books.

But this time you can own the quality in paperback form - except cunningly the paperback "The Art of Fortunino Matania: catalogue of original art and prints" has over 250 images (including some 125 illustrations not featured in our art book Drawing from History: The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania)". It's not a paperback copy of the 'art book' above - just to be clear! But the price makes it a lot more accessible to a lot more people

The Art of Fortunino Matania: catalogue of original art and prints

I knew who Matania was due to one Mr. Frank Bellamy and his correspondence with the artist when Matania was based in NW6.

23rd October 1959.

104 Priory Road, London NW6

Dear Mr Bellamy,

Many thanks for your letter of the 19th and your kind appreciation of my work.
When similar letters are coming from these young artists determined to follow this terribly exacting profession called illustration, I feel greatly compensated by the hope of having been indirectly of some help to them.
Since the very beginning of my long career, my highest ambition has been to produce work, possibly educational, both for its artistic merit and accuracy of detail.
It is quite true that I have taken any amount of trouble and worked hard but it is also true that the spontaneous expression of the public has [incessantly?] rewarded me more than I deserve.
If you would like to visit my studio at the above address, ring me up, I should be very pleased to make your personal acquaintance.

Sincerely yours,

F Matania.

Bellamy also received one of the famous Matania Christmas cards - see the books mentioned here for more details. The journey from Morden, South London to West Hampstead would only be 45 minutes by Underground Tube and we know they did actually meet because in a speech Bellamy gave to the Kettering District Art Society, when opening the 15 October 1960 exhibition, he stated:

"I once talked to Fortunino Matania in his studio and this question of detail came up and he said as far as he was concerned, out of every million readers who saw your work, probably one person happened to notice that it was correct so for the sake of that one reader it was worthwhile."

Drawing from History: The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania (Slipcased Edition, signed)
SOLD OUT

Further information on Matania on the Internet:

You can see the British Pathé film of Matania in his studio and Ball State University have scanned the classsic Matania poster, "Good-bye old man", which according to Gosling sold was still being offered as a print for sale well into the 1930s. There's a zoomable version of "Saving Amiens" in the Trove collections - click on the link that says "Zoomable". Rather a dubious honour but a certain Mr. Hitler owned some Matania art apparantly

In looking around the Internet for Matania related stuff, I tripped over the fact he'd illustrated a series written by H. V. Morton called "Women of the Bible" -thanks to Australia's brilliant Trove. What was even more interesting, as I do not think the original book was illustrated, is that in the online newspaper series, Morton has 'conversations' with Matania - here's the one from Eve:

Artists have been more generous to Eve than writers. They have always interpreted her in the terms of their most attractive models.
Nothing, I feel sure, would convince Mr. Matania that Eve was short, fat, or myopic, that she was covered with hair, or was bowlegged.
Our conception of Eve is therefore woman idealised; and in this tribute the artists of the world have atoned for all the bitter things which the writers of the world have said about the first woman.

And a second one (#12: The Witch of Endor):

When my telephone bell rang the other day Mr.Matania's voice asked:
"What is your idea of the Witch of Endor ?"
"Have you ever been to a spiritualist seance?" I asked.
"Yes."
"And what did the medium look like?"
"She was a very ordinary woman."
"That is my idea of the Witch of Endor."
"I agree with you," he replied.
"You know, of course, that every artist who has ever drawn the Witch of Endor has pictured her like one of Macbeth's witches: an old, smoke-dried hag, toothless and with white hair, crouching over a fire while spirits hover in the air and bats fly round about. That is the conventional picture."

"I know it is. But I would like to see a Witch of Endor who might have had a 'familiar spirit' in South Norwood."

Obituary from Times 11 Feb 1963 p14

 
Oh, and if you still haven't got copies of King Arthur, Robin Hood and "The story of World War One" head over to Book Palace for their special offer - there, that's Bellamy related!


BOOK DETAILS
Title: Drawing from History: The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania
Author: Lucinda Gosling; foreword by James Gurney
Artist: Fortunino Matania
Publisher: Book Palace Books, October 2016 First Edition
Number of pages: 340
Format: Hard Cover; Part Colour illustrations
Size: 10" x 13" (250mm x 330mm)
ISBN: 9781907081309
Price: £60.00
Notes: Limited print run of 1,000 with 250 illustrations
======
Title: The Art of Fortunino Matania: catalogue of original art and prints
Authors:Various
Artist: Fortunino Matania
Publisher: Book Palace Books, October 2016 First Edition
Number of pages: 96
Format: Soft Cover; Part Colour illustrations
Size: 9" x 11" (216mm x 280mm)
ISBN: 9781907081323
Price: £20.00
Notes: Features over 250 illustrations of original art and prints, all available for sale from illustrationartgallery.com. Some 125 of the illustrations herein were omitted from the art book (above)
=====
SOLD OUT (December 2016)
Title:  Drawing from History: The Forgotten Art of Fortunino Matania (Ultra Slipcased Edition) (Signed)
Author: Lucinda Gosling; foreword by James Gurney
Artist: Fortunino Matania
Publisher: Book Palace Books, October 2016 First Edition
Number of pages: 342
Format: Hard Cover; Part Colour illustrations
Size: 10" x 13" (250mm x 330mm)
ISBN: 9781907081385
Price: £175.00
Notes: This slipcased edition is limited to 100 copies of which only 60 copies are for sale to the public. Signed by the author, Lucinda Gosling; slipcased with gold blocked pages, an additional tipped-in Plate and 2 Matania prints not available elsewhere. - see copies of them here

Frank Bellamy and Man about Town

I recently read the excellent book produced by a fellow blogger, A history of British magazine design by Anthony Quinn, otherwise known as the more-friendly Tony, on his blog, MagForum As a result I wrote to him about one entry (there are two mentions!) of Frank Bellamy. Instead of just replying he blogged it and has given me permission to reproduce it below. Thanks Tony!

Reproduced with permission from MagForum:

Man about town #1

When it comes to legendary illustrators, the names don’t come much bigger than Frank Bellamy. He’s associated in people’s minds with Dan Dare and The Eagle, but produced so many other strips, such as ‘Thunderbirds’ in TV 21 and ‘Garth’ in the Daily Mirror. His dramatic style also attracted cover commissions from the likes of the Radio Times and the Sunday Times Magazine. These are being brilliantly documented by Frankbellamy.co.uk and Frankbellamy.com.

The Frank Bellamy profile from the 1953 first issue of Man About Town

Another publication that Bellamy worked on is Man About Town, described in my book, British Magazine Design. Bellamy did the first issue cover in 1953 with its dapper chap stickman. He has a profile on p171 of the magazine on its contributors’ page. The Cutter & Tailor blog has scanned all Man About Town‘s first issue pages and put them online.

==============================

Tony also mentioned that the 'stick man' Bellamy drew was reprinted in Man About Town 1955 (Spring and Autumn) editions.

The interesting thing is that I have seen this cutting before (not the cover) when Nancy kindly loaned some letters, correspondence and cuttings to me. The reverse didn't give me a lot of clues except it was an advert for some clothing retailer in Gerrards Cross. The internal date confirms that David Bellamy, the Bellamy's only child (and no, not the naturalist!) was 8 at the time and therefore I knew it was cutting from 1953 and didn't hold a lot of hope of ever finding the original. But here we are in 2017 and it's turned up!

Where was Bellamy in 1953? He'd been with Norfolk Studios and working on advertising and also the well-known Commando Gibbs (toothpaste) adverts. He began as a freelancer with International Artists representing him in August 1953 and I'm sure his regular work -just started - on Mickey Mouse Weekly and having Man about town accept his work in their Spring 1953 first issue, must have bolstered his confidence.

The Cutter and Tailor forum (mentioned in Tony's article appears to have been created by 'Sator' of Sydney, Australia whom I'd love to thank for scanning so many pages from the first issue. For completeness sake I have added the whole page of profiles and contents page below

Man about town #1 p.39

Man about Town #1 p.171

So that was a nice start to 2017!

Now let's talk about Tony's brilliant book A history of British magazine design. He told me "The book was 7 years in the making" and I fear headlines on the day I publish a biography of Bellamy ("40 years in the making due to laziness!"), but fully understand, how long individual pages from magazines would take to find. His choices of what to show us are really interesting and give a great flavour of what magazines are all about. I have stored the information on the "Bellamy magazines" like Lilliput, Home Notes etc. and loved reading tit-bits (no pun intended) about these magazines. The book was designed by Joe Ewart who is a former Art Editor of NME

Take a look at 31 pages of the book here: Issuu
i-D did a nice feature on the launch here
The V&A, who published the book, interviewed Tony here
magCulture's overview here
and finally....
The Creative Review reviewed the book and gave Tony the chance to respond. Whose side do I come down on? Well, Tony's, of course! Seriously, to do any survey this large of magazines in the UK will fall down by everyone's criteria. However, I am so pleased to see such breadth represented as one gets a real sense of the creativity in the industry from the start and the exposure to multiple titles and styles just enhances this.

Once again, many thanks go to Tony for bringing one more Bellamy artwork to light

Original Art for sale - Brett Million and the Ghost World

Boy's World 11 January 1964
[Brett Million and ] The Ghost World

Richard Farrell (who compiles the fun fanzine Andersonic on all things Gerry (and Sylvia) Anderson) alerted me to the fact Illustration Art Gallery have an original Bellamy for sale. It's episode 6 of the story on the back cover of Boy's World: "Brett Million and The Ghost Planet"

Boy's World was a relatively short-lived comic which ran from 26 January 1963 to 3 October 1964 (89 issues) before amalgamating into the more famous Eagle comic.  To read all about the comic's history buy the book by the excellent Steve Holland. I've written something about Bellamy's work on "Ghost World" so have a look here.

Boy's World

IAG's description:

Artist: Frank Bellamy
Medium: Pen & Ink Wash on Board
Size: 12" x 16" (300mm x 400mm)
Date: 1964
Signature: Signed by Artist left panel

This is the Signed original Pen & Ink Wash by Frank Bellamy.

A rare opportunity to own a Bellamy Ghost World original page of art.

The blues and reds on this page have faded as is the case with many of these pages. This is due to the type of ink Bellamy used. However the superb pen and ink work on this piece shines through.
 Price:  £3,950.00

I agree about the fading but Bellamy's technique shines through this piece. If you're looking at Illustration Art Gallery, they have 4 other Bellamy originals which I've covered before

UPDATE: 15/05/017
Paul Cooke‏ (@paulpcooke) mentioned to me via Twitter that this piece was on eBay. Being forgetful, I thought I'd covered this above! So here are the eBay details for completeness!

SUMMARY 

WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: whiteboxcollectables
STARTING BID: £2,249.99 RELISTED: £2,249.99 BUY IT NOW
ENDING PRICE: 

END DATE: 14 May, 2017 RELISTED: BUY IT NOW
No of bids:Buy it now
No of bidders: Buy it now

Frank Bellamy and a T-Shirt Rocket Design (Part2)

MF2 USA T-shirt  design

Well! What a few weeks I've had! I've been dealing with family matters but Bill Storie certainly cheered me up by pointing me to this. Unbelievably we have another unseen Frank Bellamy original artwork, but thankfully we know something about this one!

Back in January 2015, I wrote about Bellamy having done some rocket t-shirt designs. The latest, and unseen by me, is labelled: Frank Bellamy Space Rocket T Shirt Design Original Art NASA THUNDERBIRDS, the seller cleverly including some good keywords!

Their description is minimal:
Original Art Work by Frank Bellamy.
MF 2 Rocket
Date: Unknown
Condition: The Illustration is lovely, some damage and stains to board.
Size of board - 54 x 62 cm Size of Artwork - 41 x 23 cm

The previous one found was listed as "The size of the frame is 314 mm by 416 mm", so my guess is that this current one is the larger of the three he drew (yes three! - read on!)

T-Shirt outline provided on the board

I'm curious why the artist's details appeared on the front of the board, which I think was unusual for Bellamy.

Anyway to repeat the information here which I wrote in January 2015:

Equity Designers and Equity Printers Limited of 15-21 Ganton Street London W1 appears to have been run by D.K.Humby (Managing Director) and J. B. Blight (Company Secretary). Their publicity stated they were "Graphic designers, Lithographic and silkscreen printers". They asked Bellamy to produce three designs:

1. Small rocket motif £15

1. Large rocket motif £25

1. Take-off rocket motif £25

I'll leave you to decide which you think is which and whether we will ever see the third!! And what's with the MF2 and SP50 (2) markings? Any guesses? S=Small; M=Medium? Or as I said last time perhaps the SP(2)50 was Daimler signifier SP250, but then what's the MF2?

Frank Bellamy T-shirt design SP250

Oh and it was nice to discover the seller's kind words about my blog on the old eBay listing for the first t-shirt design!

SUMMARY

• WHERE?: eBay
• SELLER:  VintageMagazineCompany
• BUY IT NOW: £500.00 (or make an offer)
• END DATE: 17 December 2016

Fine Art vs COMIC ART

GUEST POST from my good friend David Jackson

"Tiger face" by Frank Bellamy

A previous post, "Frank Bellamy at Kettering Exhibition ended", includes a photograph of a word-balloon wall plaque inscribed 'Fine Art vs COMIC Art' and Norman's comment: "I enjoyed seeing the placement of oil paintings from the Alfred East collection alongside some comic covers, raising the perennial question of what is 'fine art'."

'Fine Art vs Comic Art'.  Result: it's a draw..!

Comics might have had the last laugh, in some cases all the way to the bank, or to a respectable art gallery, which can hold an exhibition of comics art without it being thought funny. But, within living memory, looking back over the not that distant past a very different picture emerges. At one time, Roy Lichtenstein notwithstanding [See David Barsalou's excellent site - Norman], it would be the exception for an art critic to express any appreciation for comics or illustration. It wasn't until I became aware of comics fandom that I even knew I wasn't in a minority of one.

Home Notes (27th July 1951)
"Impatient heart" by Judith Blaney - illustrated by FB

An arts programme piqued my interest a few years ago when commercial art of all types, even the printed versions, was finally, officially, brought in from the cold, as it were, and taken note of as a substantial sub-category of Art: 'Ephemera' - work which by definition is produced with no intention of being kept for posterity. Ephemera would also include highly regarded works from another age such as the Japanese woodblock prints of Hokusai and other masters which were originally sold as transient decorative pieces subject to fashion.

The Society of Strip Illustration was founded with the improvement of the standing of the profession as one of its objectives.The SSI Newsletter of May 1985 includes a quote sent in by me of Milton Schulman, then drama critic of The Standard, in conversation on Radio 4's 'Stop the Week':

"You've got an elitist approach to the art form.  You are basically saying there are certain things like the printed page which give people a more emotional and cultural thrill and impact than other things.  You start off with books and go to poetry, then you go to painting, then you go to opera and to ballet - descending, I'm saying - theatre ... telly ... comic strips". 

Just so we know where we stand...

Neal Adams himself has related how, when he was trying to break into the business, the comic book company men tried to 'save' him by not giving him a job - they wanted him not to waste his talent and to go into something more respectable..!

A young Barry Smith in turn found himself on the receiving end of unappreciative art advice - which he related in an interview but quoted here from memory - a life drawing class tutor noticed that Smith had added a helmet and spear, or suchlike, from his own imagination, and declared that it wasn't drawing, 'it's make-believe!'

Frank Bellamy's figure studies drawn from life models naturally seem, by definition, to belong in the category of fine art.

"Life Study" by Frank Bellamy

The 'set-up' scene, from imagination, reference or arranged props and models, particularly for decorative purposes, however, seems to be made into a contentious issue by not being a record of real life experience as it occurs, viewed directly and rendered on the spot.

In marked contrast, the depiction of imagined scenes never detracted from art establishment approval of favoured historical works of fine art.  There is a similar contradiction in the fine art establishment criticism which makes itself evident in dismissing the work of artists which is viewed as populist. David Shepherd, whose 'Wise Old Elephant' was an unexpected best-selling print on sale in Boots the Chemist, has had to contend with this. Jack Vettriano likewise and more so.  He was even criticised for the fact that his figures for 'The Singing Butler' were derived from the 'Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual'.  A volume also on other bookshelves (mine included) all this entire time without it ever occurring to anyone else to paint 'The Singing Butler' from it - had not Vettriano done so. Critics seem to have taken issue with his stylistic associations with early 20th century film noir posters and pulp covers.  Criticism seems to be that Vettriano's art 'is not contemporary art'.  How could it not be 'contemporary'?  He is painting it now!

Frank Bellamy would no doubt have seen the wry irony of Vettriano's great success and fortune, given Frank's stated lack of sympathy for this type of subject.

Fantasy Advertiser Vol.3 No.50 says:

FB:  I had a commission to do two love story illustrations for Home Notes, a women's magazine.  [...]  I was never cut out to do love strips for the IPC girls' paper.  I'd have a go, but I prefer something with a bit of meat and guts."

In Speakeasy #100 Nancy Bellamy said the same:

"When he first decided to go freelance after we moved down to London in 1949, or even before, he used to draw for Home Notes, and he hated those sort of girlie illustrations, static things which he hated drawing.  It wasn't his cup of tea at all, but he did them for the money.  He wanted to draw something with a bit of guts to it."

Frank Bellamy expressed a personal appreciation for the illustrator Norman Rockwell, and it is easy to see why. In contrast to the left-handed compliment by some fine art aficionado in response to viewing a Rockwell enthusiast's collection: "He sure is a hard worker."

FB collector Bob Monkhouse once gave a talk to a comic convention (engagingly as his real self rather than in his self-acknowledged 'TV persona') and described the reception of comic art by the UK general public as "Pearls before swine!"

This was the era in which Frank Bellamy worked.

But it was changing, even then, and Frank himself was at the forefront in changing it.

Sunday Times Magazine 5 October 1969
Artist posed by David Bellamy

To quote Frank Bellamy in Fantasy Advertiser (FA)   [compiled in this post from various sections of the interview]:

FB: This kind of work has been under-rated for many years.  Throwaway artwork to be looked at and immediately discarded.  This is a viewpoint I strongly disagree with.

FB:  I've always had a great regard for professionalism.  One of the best things that was ever said to me was when I was called a "professional's professional".  And this just underlines what I mean.  I'm a great believer in doing a professional job.

FA:  Surely, people are beginning to see that comic strips can do more than amuse, as can be seen from any of your strips in the Sunday Times Magazine...

FB:  Well, there were no adverse reactions to them ... no-one was turning round and saying, "Good God, what's this...comics strips in the Sunday Times Magazine?"

FB:  I've always liked using the the graphic approach instead of the ordinary comic strip way.  Almost a sort of pictorial journalism.  My work for the Sunday Times Magazine in particular was pictorial journalism.  I used this graphic technique for the juvenile market - though many of Eagle's readers were adults - because I've never believed in drawing down to the reader.  If I was drawing for a seven year old, I'd still be as conscious of what I was doing as if it was a cover for the Radio Times.

Radio Times 29 May 1971

In his BBC 'Edition' interview 30th November 1973 FB says:

"I wanted to bring out the page as a complete page, a spread as a complete spread, to make it a unit in its own right."

A discrete coherent original work of art.

The comic art form has always had more serious appreciation in France where it is acknowledged as "the ninth art". The graphic novel format in Japan found a wide general readership.

The experience of Frank's contemporary, Don Lawrence, contrasted working relatively unappreciated for comparatively unrewarding one-off final payments in this country, as compared with the creative rights, collected volumes of his work, an appreciative audience abroad, and the 2003 award of the Netherlands Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Possibly the indifference experienced here in Britain was related to the focus on primarily literary English, as opposed to the visual arts heritage; Shakespeare particularly.  Which is a bit of an oddity in itself, given that comic art - the graphic novel - is more of a 'theatrical play' on a page than a novel in type, as such, is.

'But is it art?'

"What is 'fine art'?" was the question, and it has a straightforward answer, which is: "'art for art's sake' rather than for commercial or functional use".  Self-expression.

Which would exclude Michelangelo to name but one.  The Sistine Chapel ceiling can be categorised as commercial illustration, albeit on a grand scale.  As someone once observed, the old masters and their vast commercially orientated studios would have all laughed themselves sick at the very idea of 'art for art's sake'.  As someone else [that's 10cc David - Norman] has put it: "Art for art's sake, money for God's sake."

It's arguable that it isn't a question of what art 'is'.

It's more a question of: 'do I want to look at it?'

The issue of what actually 'is' art was once illustrated by the following comparison.  A pile of bricks in a gallery is art and a pile of bricks in the gutter is just a pile of bricks but a Rembrandt which is lying in the gutter is still a work of art.

Oddly enough, and it is odd, the art world, claims its raison d'etre is being able to 'see past' the pile of bricks - or found objects, abstract colour, dribbles of paint, or whatever (or the material of which any work might be composed) - to perceive the genius of and in art itself.

And yet...

The fine art world for so long remained essentially unable to see past the fact of an original piece of comic art being commercially produced for a mass market juvenile readership.

It is a question of being able to see something which, literally uniquely, only one individual, was not only capable of producing, but it is something which we might have assumed to be beyond anything which any human being was capable of producing.

If the development over time of the unique Frank Bellamy 'look' came as a revelation to his fans it can only be imagined how much more so it came to Frank Bellamy.  His self-appointed task and motivation might well be imagined as answering the question: 'just how good can this be?'

It is self-expression at the service of professional purposes.

In the postscript to 'One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji', Hokusai writes:

"From the age of six, I had a passion for copying the form of things and since the age of fifty I have published many drawings, yet of all I drew by my seventieth year there is nothing worth taking in to account. At seventy-three years I partly understood the structure of animals, birds, insects and fishes, and the life of grasses and plants. And so, at eighty-six I shall progress further; at ninety I shall even further penetrate their secret meaning, and by one hundred I shall perhaps truly have reached the level of the marvellous and divine. When I am one hundred and ten, each dot, each line will possess a life of its own."  - "Gakyō Rōjin Manji" (The Old Man Mad About Art).

To borrow another unrelated quote from the web:

"There are two kinds of geniuses: the ‘ordinary’ and the ‘magicians’. An ordinary genius is a fellow whom you and I would be just as good as, if we were only many times better. There is no mystery as to how his mind works. Once we understand what they’ve done, we feel certain that we, too, could have done it.  It is different with the magicians..."

The 1989 Speakeasy #104 Frank Humphris interview by Alan Woolcombe asked what he thought of the other Eagle artists' work, and he said of Frank Bellamy:

"His draughtsmanship was absolutely fantastic, far beyond the usual standard for cartoons and comics - in fact the word comic doesn't really apply."  

Eagle 13 Aug 1960 Vol.11:33 p.12

=====
The above "Fraser of Africa" strip was reproduced in black & white in the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers Designers in Britain No.6. Many thanks David for such a much better expressed article than I could have done!  David suggested some illustrations to accompany the article. I've added one or two he may not have seen before as a thank you and also I thought I'd add to the debate by showing you the following.

Matador

Tim Barnes sent me this a long time ago. Now why is this fine art and the following an illustration to a story?

"A question of honour" by Henry Casson
from Boy'sWorld Annual 1965 pp116-117

Original Art: on eBay - Garth 'proofs' and Maasai warrior with earring

Maasai with earring by Frank Bellamy

Thanks to Bill Storie for the alert. I STILL don't understand how my many Bellamy alerts don't pick some things up and I'd consider myself quite a search expert!

Two very interesting pieces are available on eBay right now

The first is the one above, which I have seen before and described on the Frank Bellamy Checklist website as "Masai warrior #3 Portrait with spear - warrior has large circular earring. Painting in monochrome on 'parchment'"

The seller describes it thus:

Frank Bellamy Painting. If you know of Frank Bellamy, you don't need me to explain his influence or contribution to Comic art illustration, this piece I believe is one of only 2. The other I believe was part of Bob Monkhouse's collection. Known as Maasai Warrior or African Warrior. Produced during a trip to Africa. The photos seriously do not do it justice. The black background just doesn't work in photos. The colours are stunning, typical of Bellamy. Purchased as you can see, many years ago, it just stopped me in my tracks and still does. Full provenance including original sale receipt and valuation from 1996.(£2500.00). Serious collectors only please who appreciate this guy's work . Framed size (w)570mm x (h)675mm.

Maasai with earring by Frank Bellamy

I've seen some others done by Frank that Nancy, Frank's widow, kept in her house until her death. They actually look to be done on calfskin vellum in my opinion, although I must say that I haven't touched the actual art. The seller is absolutely right about the photos not doing this justice as Paul Holder has photographed so many pieces that are similar and had real problems representing them in photo form.

Regarding the seller's comment about "produced during a trip" I don't believe that Bellamy did any drawing during his only short trip to Morocco. He famously never made a trip to Kenya (nor Tanzania) where the Maasai come from. So actually photo-reference and imagination produced this, in my opinion.

Is it worth £3000? I'll leave that to those who can afford this unique offering. It's great that we have the provenance coming from F. L. Dinsdale Limited, which according to a cursory glance at Google was established in 1926 and is still restoring art from a private address in the town. They used to have a shop in HorseMarket - I'm looking to Tony Smith, a local Bellamy fan, to correct me!

The second item(s) are "syndication sheets" of Garth strips. These are, I believe, the sheets sent to overseas papers to use for reprinting strips. The seller thinks they are proofs sent to Bellamy for approval, but I doubt this. Bellamy was fortunate to receive an additional income every time Garth was syndicated around the world. (If you browse the International reprints page of the website, you'll see it was quite extensively reprinted!).

I have seen some of these that someone else owns and their clarity is beautiful. If we ever see a full archival black and white Garth, these are where I would go first.

Garth G289-G294: The Wreckers

Garth G301-G306: The Wreckers

Garth H16-H21: The Wreckers

Garth H22-H27: The Wreckers

The seller's description states:

Frank Bellamy, Garth, PRINTERS PROOF. I have several original printers proofs of the 6 days that the illustrations would have appeared in the Daily Mirror. these were sent to Frank for his approval, before publication. [See my comments above - Norman] Printed on an "astralux" paper, they have a glossy surface. Also because of their age some have yellowed slightly. I have been a fan of Bellamy since childhood and these are part of my collection of his work. These are absolutely "one off". NOT copies, absolutely original. Note they are not the illustrations, but the very first print of how they would appear in the "Mirror". Each sheet is A3 and the 6 episodes are the same size as they would have been in the newspaper. Selecting a particular "sheet" or "week" , I agree could prove difficult, but if you have a particular "week" or "weeks", Please contact me and I will try to match up with your request. If you wanted to buy a multiple I will negotiate a final value. They are unframed and unmounted. Price is for 1 (one) original A3 print of 6 episodes..

So don't think you get all 4 sheets (one image on the seller's page is duplicated) you are buying one for £50 plus postage. Somebody was confused and asked the question on eBay and the seller kindly shared his answer:

Q: Sorry, I don't understand what you're selling here. Are you selling one of the pages with six episodes on ? Or just one of those episodes? Which one? If you need to select, how? And what size? A3 ? If I am missing something obvious, apologies. Thanks, 09-Nov-16

A: Hi, Thanks for your query, Each page is A3, with 6 episodes or strips, from what would have been the Monday to Saturday editions of the Daily Mirror. The strips are the same size as they would have appeared in the paper, for Bellamy's approval before publication. [Again, see my comments above - Norman] I would never cut them up that would be criminal !! I agree that selecting a particular "week" might be difficult, but if you have a particular favourite or favourites, let me know and I will endeavour to find. If you wanted to buy a few, I would do a deal on total cost. These are absolutely unique, the FIRST PRINT of his Garth work, not a copy, but the actual print. I have owned them for many years.

I've written to the seller for more information, if any is available and will update this if any is forthcoming.

SUMMARY 

WHAT?: Maasai with earring
WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: wexysench
BUY IT NOW: £3000.00 £2,000 or Make an Offer
ENDING PRICE: 

END DATE: 28 November 2016 28 December 2016
No of bids:
No of bidders:

SUMMARY 

WHAT?: Garth 'proof sheets
WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: wexysench
BUY IT NOW: £50.00 - choose one of 4 offered
ENDING PRICE: 

END DATE: 28 November 2016
No of bids:
No of bidders:

Original Art: Garth on eBay - 'The Angels of Hell's Gap' (J61) 1975

Bill Storie let me know that an original Garth strip drawn by Frank Bellamy is on eBay.

The seller describes it like this:

This is a genuine artwork panel, drawn by the legendary British artust, Frank Bellamy. It is dated 1975 and is drawn on artboard. I purchased it a few years ago and had it professionally framed immediately. It is a pen-and-ink piece and it attracted me as it has all Bellamy's most famous flourishes in one: the cross-hatching, lightning flashes, etc, familiar from his Doctor Who and Thunderbirds work. I will not remove the piece from it's frame as I do not wish to risk damage..

"The Angels of Hell's Gap" story ran originally in the Daily Mirror from 15 January 1975 - 2 May 1975 #(J12-J101) and was reprinted by, the sadly defunct, "All Devon Comic Collectors Club" in their Daily Strips: Collectors Club Editions No.13 [No date]  and also recoloured in the  Daily Mirror from Monday 21 February 2011 to Tuesday 12 April 2011 by Martin Baines

Here are the other pictures the seller uploaded:

And just for your enjoyment...

The opening strip from the story "Angels of Hell's Gap"

SUMMARY 

WHERE?: eBay
SELLER: magister67
STARTING BID: £250.00
ENDING PRICE: £280.00

END DATE: 15 November 2016
No of bids: 3
No of bidders: 2

Frank Bellamy and Dan Dare - Trip to Trouble!

Eagle 28 Nov 1959 Vol 10 No 41
NOTE: Difference in artwork styles by Frank Bellamy, Don Harley,
Gerald Palmer and Keith Watson

GUEST POST from David Jackson
Frank Bellamy and Dan Dare - Trip to Trouble!

In "Al Williamson and Frank Bellamy recycled" - posted here 8th September 2016 - Norman writes:

"Frank Hampson (Don Harley, Gerald Palmer, Keith Watson inter alia) created "Dan Dare" over a 10 year period before Bellamy, Harley and others took over. Bellamy, unfairly I think, gets a lot of criticism by those who were reading "Dan Dare" at that time because he was asked to upgrade things. Fortunately he agreed from the start to do it for one year and that's what his contract stated."

It seems appropriate to unpack the above quote as a follow-up to my previous posting "Frank Bellamy - Sight Unseen"

The situation described came about when Dan Dare's creator Frank Hampson relinquished hands-on involvement with the strip - having originally signed away his copyright of his creation to the publisher, no doubt under the impression that 'that was the way things were': it was sign on the dotted line or no publication.  (For a flat fee or weekly wage). Interestingly, that's not the case in book publishing - fortunately for its authors - but it was what was done in periodical publishing.

The 1985 book 'The Man Who Drew Tomorrow' by Alastair Crompton, with additional material by Alan Vince, states (p134):

"Frank [Hampson] says today that his understanding with Odhams was that he should hand over his Dan Dare strip to Frank Bellamy for as long as it took to finish "The Road of Courage" and then take the space-adventure back again."

"Frank Bellamy - Sight Unseen" previously described the ill-fated first FB rendered "Dan Dare" frame (Eagle 29 August 1959 Vol.10 No.28) whose face - only - was subsequently reworked by Don Harley on editorial edict; the original artwork being thereafter lost to posterity and never seen again (hence its inclusion under the title of that post) - unless anyone out there knows any different...
So the (I have also argued, in print, unjustified - see article below) criticism of the Frank Bellamy "Dan Dare" was there at the outset and from the top. Understandably, the fact that this occurred could of itself account for FB's subsequent feelings towards the feature.
At that point Frank Bellamy might well have wished he had never agreed to take on "Dan Dare" - even for only a year. Creativity is not just a learned competence plus time spent, it is the product of mental states facilitated by circumstances congenial to the right frame of mind. Alastair Crompton referred to FB's first "Dan Dare" page (quoted from, in part previously in the "Sight Unseen" post and this, further, here):

"So the artwork which Bellamy had spent painful hours producing to the brief he thought he had been given was altered back to something approaching Hampson's style; when Bellamy saw the changes he was devastated."

Speakeasy #109 has a three page feature "Dan Dare - Pilot of the Past" by Alan Woolcombe with Don Harley and Keith Watson which includes the following:

"For several years, Hampson ran his studio like a tight ship, working all hours, sometimes to the point of overwork and consequent ill health.  In 1959, however, a series of publishing takeovers brought in a new, economy-minded management who couldn't see the point of such a complicated set-up.  Hampson found it increasingly difficult to maintain overall control over Dan Dare, and his estrangement became complete when he discovered that they were planning to make a film of his creation without paying him a penny.  He resigned, vowing to have nothing more to do with the strip.  The new owners lost no time in disbanding the Dan Dare team. [...] It was not a happy time.  Frank Bellamy, brought in on the recommendation of Frank Hampson as his successor, had been told by Marcus Morris and Clifford Makins (assistant to Morris) "We don't want any more of these cardboard characters, we want you to give Dan Dare another dimension."  Inspired by this brief, he produced his first page, only to see Morris and Makins have Don Harley alter it because it didn't look like Dan Dare!  Nonetheless, despite being deeply hurt by this mistreatment, Bellamy did produce a very different, modern-looking Dan Dare."

The Fantasy Advertiser Vol.3 No.50 interview (hereafter FA) says (here only in part, in selected extracts compiled together):

FA: " ...You went on to "Marco Polo", but only a few months later, you switched strips again to "Dan Dare", why was this?

FB:  Well, I think Frank Hampson was getting a bit tired of "Dan Dare" by this time.  So Marcus Morris, editor of EAGLE at that time, asked me if I'd like to take over.  I had a chat with Frank Hampson, who also wanted me to take over, and under the agreement that it would be for one year only, I started drawing "Dan Dare".

FA:  But didn't you have to refer back to the Hampson version quite a bit?

FB:  Oh, yes.  But drawing is like handwriting.  It belongs to an individual so another person's is bound to be different.  You can see a vast difference between Frank Hampson, Don Harley and Keith Watson's version of "Dan Dare".  To me the difference stands out like a sore thumb, even though the uniforms are the same. ...

[There was a later editorial edict to update the whole look]:

FB:  "They asked me to redesign "Dan Dare".  The uniforms, space fleet, everything. ...

FA:  Did you have any qualms about revamping Frank Hampson's personal creation?

FB:  Oh, yes.  I didn't like doing that.  But it was a directive from upstairs - that's what they wanted, and you can only give the client what he wants, so that was it.

FA:  You drew "Dan Dare" for exactly a year.  Why did you stop?

FB:  I'd only wanted to draw it for a year.

FA:  Have there been any sets you particularly disliked drawing?

FB:  Well, once again, "Dan Dare", because I felt cramped on it, as I've said."

The business side - editorial decisions and takeovers, printing strikes and the resultant consequences - impacted badly on Frank Hampson, the "Dan Dare" 'team' and Frank Bellamy in the fallout. And some of the most devoted readers were not happy either.  It all showed the publisher also lacked insight into the minds of readers.  Arbitrary stylistic changes - not internal to the narrative - of themselves go against the willing suspension of disbelief.  In some cases the contemporary reactions of young readers and fans brought up on the Hampson "Dare" have themselves been argued out in print retrospectively; such as those published in Terry Doyle's series for Eagle Times, scanned extracts from which provide additional supporting text, and the re-borrowed title, for this post. 

Opinion by David Jackson (& Terry Doyle)
Eagle Times Vol 8: 1 Spring 1995

Opinion by David Jackson (& Terry Doyle)
Eagle Times Vol 8: 1 Spring 1995

All that said, we do have the FB "Dan Dare" to appreciate on its own terms, and as can be judged from the many examples which have appeared previously on this blog, the Frank Bellamy "Dan Dare" pages speak for themselves as stand alone works of art in their own right.

Eagle 6 Feb 1960 Vol 11 No 6

========
Thanks for all this David. It ties together a lot of thoughts on Frank Bellamy's run on "Dan Dare", surely one of the strangest productions in British comics at that time!

Frank Bellamy, inflation and crocodiles

During an email exchange with David Jackson last year, we were writing about Bellamy's other work in the Daily Mirror, illustrations for articles, and David said:

Your mention of the "inflation" crocodile rang some faint bell and I had to go and check... And having looked at both the Speakeasy and the Daily Mirror I can confirm that the printed Mirror version I have, isn't reprinted in Speakeasy - which is in fact a completely different drawing of the "inflation crocodile. Speakeasy's is, as you say, facing to the left, but isn't a 'flipped' 'mirror' (heh) 'reversal' of the Daily Mirror image - both versions are signed Frank Bellamy, and 'signwritten' "INFLATION" along each reptile's flank.

And here to prove what David has quite rightly pointed out are both images

The Daily Mirror (15 June 1972) picture accompanies an article called "What is the cause?…The Mirror verdict" by Robert Head appearing on pp.16-17

Daily Mirror 15 June 1972, pp16-17 © mirrorpix

According to his obituary (February 19 2009 in the Times), Robert Head was "the youngest City editor on a national newspaper when he was appointed in his early thirties by the Daily Mirror’s bulky, hard-drinking but shrewd and authoritative Editor Lee Howard as the first in that post on a tabloid paper. Thirty years on he was the longest serving when he finally retired from the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, both of which he had served for seven days a week."

 The second picture David and I were talking about appeared in the "Unseen Frank Bellamy" exhibition to which I have dedicated a page on the Checklist website. The catalogue was published to coincide with the exhibition, in Acme Press' Speakeasy magazine #100 (July 1989). The long-running (10 years or so) comics fanzine-turned-professional publication folded in the early 90s. Speakeasy was founded by Richard Ashford, whom Alan Davis (the comic book artist) took to visit Frank Bellamy's widow, Nancy Bellamy. The meeting set in motion the events that resulted in the Acme Press/Speakeasy art show The event itself took place at The Basement Gallery 391 Coldharbour Lane Brixton, London SW9 8LQ between the 15th of July and 3rd of September 1989.

The Unseen Frank Bellamy catalogue

 So there you go. Never having actually compared the two I had always assumed they were the same!!! The Archivist of the Year award goes to David Jackson!

Frank Bellamy and Star Trek

Thank you Gene Roddenberry!

As it's the 50th anniversary I thought it was time we celebrated Star Trek. I remember the day I found out it was due to be broadcast in the UK. I was laying some newspaper on the table where I sat, in school, with three others in anticipation of doing some painting. No idea what we were painting, but a photo (in black and white of course - no colour then-  stopped me in my tracks. What day was this auspicious day? Monday 2 June 1969. And the paper? The Daily Mirror (yes, the very same one that would be publishing the Bellamy-drawn "Garth" strip). How am I so certain of this? Well God bless the "Space Doubt" blog run by one Sham Mountebank, which I suspect is not her/his real name!

Radio Times 27 June 1970, p.49
My very own cut out copy (GULP!)

It s often reported that Frank Bellamy drew a comic strip of Star Trek in the UK. Well if you were trying to win on a TV quiz show the answer is .....no he didn't! The above is the nearest we get to one and it was a single colour page in the bestselling TV (BBC only) listings magazine, Radio Times. Was that all the Star Trek he did? No! But people often get confused as there was a Star Trek comic strip in the comic Joe 90, as is reported better than I could do, here on Lew Stringer's brilliant blog. When I saw that newspaper piece I was interested to see the emphasis on Mr. Spock as we all had been reading Joe 90 since January 1969 when it was launched with Captain Kurt at the helm. Go visit Lew for an explanation! And Bellamy's piece shows someone somewhere wanted to emphasise Spock's looks.

I must thank the excellent Star Trek Comics Checklist site (nice name!) as I realised I don't actually have a copy of the picture below of Kirk and Spock, and thus stole this from them. Bellamy was paid £12 for this drawing and £10 for the last one on this page (on 19 October 1971)

Radio Times 3 October 1970 - 9 October 1970, p.35

The third and last illustration that Bellamy did, was the brilliant shot of Spock and the Enterprise

Radio Times 11 Sept 1971-17 September 1971, p34

I understand that the single colour page above was part of the reason Frank Bellamy got the "Foreign Comics Award" from the Academy of Comic Book Arts in 1972 - for work published in 1971 he was awarded "Best Foreign Artist Frank Bellamy (Star Trek)". I'm sure Barry Windsor-Smith had a hand in recommending him for this and I know Archie Goodwin was in contact with him. Bellamy told Goodwin that Chris Lowder had informed him the Academy had seen a sample of his "Heros the Spartan" work and judged him more than worthy of the award. therefore his actual comic work for 1971 was concocted for the purposes of giving him the award. There were communications with Marv Wolfman regarding FB doing some work for the Marvel black and white horror comics line, but this never happened as Bellamy had his daily comic strip, "Garth", to do as well as many other assignments! Imagine, what if...!


Incidentally if you are interested in the UK Star Trek strips they were recently reprinted and included Mike Noble's gorgeous work. Volume 1 and soon to be Volume 2