The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh

James Campbell

• Publisher: Harper
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780062795564
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Cultura popular en el arte

Foreword by Minette Shepard
The enchanting story of some of the most beloved characters in English children's literature—Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Christopher Robin, and more—and the remarkable partnership between a writer and an illustrator that brought them to life, told for the first time in this beautiful volume illustrated with more than 125 full-color images from the Pooh series, never-before-seen sketches, artwork, family photographs, and memorabilia.

Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends have enthralled generations of children and have become some of the world's most beloved characters.

But before their adventures were captured in many millions of books published in nearly fifty languages, they started life in the 1920s as the product of a unique collaboration between author A. A. Milne and illustrator E. H. Shepard. They wove images and text together in a way that was utterly original for the time. It was a process that Shepard relished; he continued to create artwork for new editions until his death in 1976 at the age of ninety-six.

This lovingly designed, full-color volume, which includes a foreword from Shepard's granddaughter, tells the story behind this remarkable partnership, and traces the evolution of Shepard's work, from his first tentative sketches to the illustrations we know and love, including the characters' later incarnations by the artists at Walt Disney Studios.

A stunning and rare collection, filled with some never-before-published sketches and the first illustration of Pooh, The Art of Winnie-the-Pooh is a treasure trove of early art and an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at the creation of Pooh bear and Hundred Acre Wood—direct from the artist's estate—that is sure to become a cherished keepsake for devoted fans and readers who grew up with these timeless characters.

Chapter 1

Shepard and Milne: The Early Years

© The Shepard Trust

Ernest Howard Shepard was born on December 10, 1879, in London, the third and youngest child of Henry Shepard, an architect, and his wife, Jessie Lee. When Shepard was born the family was living in Springfield Road, St. John’s Wood, but shortly afterwards moved to Kent Terrace, near Regent’s Park. It was a comfortable, middle-class environment, with both parents coming from professional backgrounds with artistic and literary connections.

Shepard’s childhood sketch of Hussars relaxing while on exercise near Aldershot.

Provided by The Shepard Trust and first published by Methuen & Co. Ltd.

Henry Shepard’s family was well-to-do, his father being a successful property developer and builder, who had built the substantial corner house in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, in which he lived with his large family, including Henry’s unmarried sisters. After the death of their parents, four of his sisters continued to live in comfort in Gordon Square, and regularly invited the Shepard children to join them on their summer holidays, when they would take a house in the “country.” At first, as the aunts were anxious about the safety of trains (a new innovation of the time), the “country” was often only as far as Wimbledon or Highgate, effectively suburbs of London; but as their anxiety over trains diminished, they became bolder and the children were able to have happy holidays in rented houses in the home counties and even as far afield as Hampshire. Shepard was fascinated from a young age by army and military matters, and on one occasion followed a group of Hussars on an exercise from Aldershot, capturing them relaxing by the roadside in an early sketch.

Shepard’s childhood was in many ways an idyllic one—he probably saw more of his parents, and certainly of his mother, than most of his contemporaries; he seems to have got on well with his siblings, Ethel and Cyril; and he even formed affectionate relationships with the domestic staff “below stairs.” He was encouraged to draw from an early age, and some of his earliest surviving drawings date from the mid-1880s onwards, when he documented some of the key events of the era, including Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the spectacle of the great fire at Whiteleys department store in Bayswater, and the royal wedding of Prince George to Princess May of Teck (later King George V and Queen Mary). This charming drawing in pen and ink gives a wonderful impression of the prancing escort of mounted horses, with the royal carriage center stage and crowds cheering in the streets and from buildings overlooking the route—remarkable work for a thirteen-year-old. Shepard’s own memoir, Drawn from Memory (published in 1957), gives a wonderful evocation of this happy time.

Shepard, at the age of thirteen, sketched the marriage procession of Prince George, Duke of York, and Princess May of Teck, London, 1893.

© The E. H. Shepard Archive, University of Surrey

Sadly, however, his mother, Jessie, had become an invalid and died when Shepard was just ten years old, and in many ways this marked the end of his blissful and uncomplicated childhood. Henry Shepard clearly took his wife’s death very hard—they seem to have been a devoted couple—and to some extent he appears to have been unable to cope. Ethel, Cyril, and Ernest were sent, initially only temporarily, to live with their aunts in Gordon Square, but they ended up staying for nearly a year, and would never return to the house at Kent Terrace. At about this time, and possibly as a result of his wife’s death, Henry Shepard’s life took a gradual financial downturn, and the family suffered accordingly, with several moves to cheaper accommodation in London. Fortunately, Henry’s brother was a teacher at St. Paul’s School in west London and was able to arrange advantageous terms for the school fees, allowing the boys to attend as day pupils. It was at St. Paul’s that Ernest’s exceptional artistic talents were recognized. The headmaster arranged for him to be in a special drawing class and he was sent to Heatherley’s art school on Saturdays for life classes, all with the intention of preparing him for the scholarship examinations to the Royal Academy (RA) Schools—at that time one of the most prestigious art schools in London.

Page from a school sketchbook showing Shepard’s early gift for figures.

© The Shepard Trust

Page from a school sketchbook showing Shepard’s early gift for figures.

© The Shepard Trust

Shepard was successful, winning a scholarship to the RA Schools, and during his time there received further prizes and awards, which gave him some much-needed financial independence and security, as by this time his father’s health and finances were sliding further downhill. The family moved to Blackheath, for its clearer air and cheaper accommodation, and Shepard gave up the studio in Chelsea that he had been sharing with a friend in order to join his siblings in caring for their father. Henry died in 1902 at the age of just fifty-six. Ethel never married but became a Church of England missionary and spent considerable time in India, while Cyril took a job as an underwriter in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. Shepard left the RA Schools as a star pupil, having exhibited regularly and with the honor of having a portrait in oils selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, which was hung “on the line” (meaning that it was hung at eye level, a mark of prestige) and sold at a good price, considering he was an unknown artist.

Pencil sketch of Graham Howard Shepard, about age four.

© The Shepard Trust

At about this time, Shepard met and fell in love with another student, Florence Chaplin, who was known to family and close friends as Pie. She was four years older than Shepard and came from a very similar background. Sure that she would not be attracted to him, Shepard was nervous about approaching her, but in due course he plucked up the courage to tell her how he really felt, and was amazed when she returned his affections. They decided to get married, although neither had any money, and were certain that Pie’s widowed mother would oppose the match on these grounds. Pragmatically, however, she simply asked that Shepard insure his life, and on this basis gave her consent. They were married in 1904 and set up home in a modest cottage in Shamley Green, just south of Guildford in Surrey. They both painted and drew to raise an income, and, at first, Pie was the more successful. Their son, Graham, was born in 1907, and their daughter, Mary, on Christmas Day in 1909, completing the family. This simple pencil sketch (above), marked “G.H.S.” (Graham Howard Shepard), was one of many drawn by Shepard of his son during these years.

This period with his young family was possibly the happiest of Shepard’s life. He had a wife he adored and two children on whom he doted, inventing pet names and secret games for them, playing dress-up and creating a fantasy world where the children’s toys and animals were brought to life in wonderful stories. This time, when the children were young and life was carefree and innocent, was very important when Shepard later came to draw Winnie-the-Pooh and the characters conjured up by A. A. Milne. He was able to think back and visualize the games of make-believe played with Graham’s teddy bear, Growler, and the children’s other toys, and which the whole family had so much enjoyed.

Mary and Graham Shepard, plus Growler, c. 1912.

© The Shepard Trust

Early draft for a book dust jacket, likely from 1900–1910.

© The Shepard Trust

His career as a freelance artist and illustrator progressed during the first decade of the century, but only slowly at first, and the Shepards lived very much hand-to-mouth, as money was tight and there was no other source of family money to fall back on. Shepard regularly sent cartoons, drawings, and illustrations speculatively to a variety of publications, including Punch magazine, and received frequent rejections. But gradually he built up a practice from a portfolio of publishers, principally for periodicals but also for book illustrations. The pencil drawing above of a woodland scene with a crouched figure and blank panels for the publisher’s information (book title, author name, and so on) would have been typical of the drafts he would submit to publishers, from which he would work up more detailed drawings later on. He worked at home in a small studio in the garden at Shamley Green, and would use a Triumph motorbike to get to Guildford station and commute into London whenever necessary.

Shepard’s studio at Shamley Green, Surrey.

© Bridget Eacott

By the outbreak of war in 1914, Shepard had established a solid reputation as an artist and illustrator, managed to bring in a regular (if not large) income, and the family had been able to move to a larger cottage in the village. Always keen on military matters, he chafed at not being allowed to volunteer to fight (as he wa...