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Aesop's Animals In The News

May 16 2007

Five wonderful linocut prints showing scenes from Aesop's Fables have been bought by a gallery in Saffron Walden in Essex.

The Fry Gallery had help from The Art Fund to buy the prints, which are by an artist called Edward Bawden.

Colourful print of the face of an unhappy lion with a gnat on its nose, next to a spider's web with a spider and a dead gnat on it.

The prints, made in 1970, tell the stories of some of the animals in Aesop's Fables.

Here's the unlucky lion who is stung on the nostrils by a gnat...

...and here's the overconfident hare getting beaten to the finish line by a slow but determined tortoise.

Colourful print of the a tortoise and a hare racing.

Colourful print of the face of a large frog stood on a lily pad addressing an audience of frogs, watched by an ox.

As well as the stories of the Hare and the Tortoise and the Gnat and the Lion; there are prints of the Frog and the Ox; the Frog, Mouse and Kite; and the Peacock and the Magpie.

Linocutting is a way of printing by carving shapes out of a sheet of linoleum - a bit like when you make a potato print.

Linocuts hadn't been popular for a long time, but Bawden's work got people interested in them again.

Linoprint of a bird of prey diving towards a field with mice and frogs in it.

Colourful print of a peacock standing on a crown facing a group of birds including heron, flamingos and a magpie.

Edward Bawden did artwork for all sorts of things.

His work included book illustrations and cover designs, posters and advertisements, murals (wall paintings), wallpaper designs, leaflets, catalogues and calendars.

Here's one of his wallpaper designs, created back in 1927.

It's called 'Church and Dove & Wood Pigeon' and this piece is in the collection of the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.

Textile design - leafy background with circular gaps for images of church towers and pigeons.


You can see one of Bawden's book illustrations for 'The Chronicles of King Arthur' on the V&A Museum's website.


There are lots of Bawden's advertising posters on the 20th Century London website.

He was also a talented painter, and you can look at some of his paintings on the Tate website.

Many of these were painted during World War II when Edward Bawden served as an Official War Artist in the British Army, travelling to Belgium, France and the Middle East.


Bawden even designed a special tapestry for the Cecil Higgins Gallery in Bedford. It was called 'Bunyan's Dream' and was based on a 17th century book called 'Pilgrim's Progress'. You can see his designs and the completed tapestry on the Gallery's website.

Do you have a favourite artist or designer - maybe someone who has made illustrations for books? Get in touch - we'd love to hear about them.

And if you're feeling inspired to get on with some artwork yourself, check out Show Me's Art and Design page - and don't forget to let us see the finished masterpiece!

Kristen Bailey


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