Arthur Wragg
Encyclopedia
Arthur Wragg was a British illustrator.
His stark poster-like artwork often dealt with themes of social alienation and spiritual emptiness. All his work was done for publication, rather than in 'fine art' media such as paintings or series of prints. As a result, he has been neglected in comparison with contemporaries such as Graham Sutherland
and John Piper
, but Wragg's choice of medium was an ideological one. As a socialist and pacifist, Wragg wanted his art to speak directly to common people rather than to art-lovers. His vivid, polemical style had considerable influence on other popular forms in the 1940s and 1950s, such as government information posters and advertising.
He grew up in Eccles, Lancashire
and Harrogate
, Yorkshire
, the child of a travelling salesman and a telegraphist, and trained at Sheffield School of Art before settling in London as a freelance commercial artist, in which capacity he was in continuous demand for the rest of his life. In the 1920s he contributed mostly to various women's illustrated magazines, but later branched out into book-jackets and work for left-wing newspapers such as The Tribune
and Peace News
(including cartoons) and illustrations for books and pamphlets about Christian socialism
, pacifism and social justice.
Out of this more committed range of work, and out of the social issues raised by the Great Depression
of the 1930s, came several books in which Wragg illustrated biblical texts in a politicised way, notably The Psalms for Modern Life (Selwyn & Blount 1933) which went through several reprints. The simplified block-style and dramatic chiaroscuro effects of these illustrations make them resemble woodcuts rather than pen and ink drawings (misleading some collectors into thinking the books are just reissues of hand-printed original editions) and there are many affinities with the visual-symbolic language of propaganda
art, although Wragg's agenda is more generalised. Social realities and symbols are blended to convey deprivation, justice, conscience, and the persistence of spiritual values in the alienated urban-industrial environment.
A friend and follower of the popular pacifist preacher, Canon Dick Sheppard
, Wragg became a Sponsor of the Peace Pledge Union
and was a conscientious objector
during World War II. After imprisonment, he became an art-teacher in schools, returning to freelance work after the war. His personal style became more airy and more fantastical, and sometimes surreal.
From 1953 until his death he produced illustrations for record covers for the Argo record companyhttp://folkcatalogue.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/arthur-wraggs-argo-album-covers/.
As yet there is no catalogue of his work but there is a book about the artist: Arthur Wragg: Twentieth-century Prophet and Jester (Sansom 2001) by Judith Brook.
His stark poster-like artwork often dealt with themes of social alienation and spiritual emptiness. All his work was done for publication, rather than in 'fine art' media such as paintings or series of prints. As a result, he has been neglected in comparison with contemporaries such as Graham Sutherland
Graham Sutherland
Graham Vivien Sutherland OM was an English artist.-Early life:He was born in Streatham, attending Homefield Preparatory School, Sutton. He was then educated at Epsom College, Surrey before going up to Goldsmiths, University of London...
and John Piper
John Piper (artist)
John Egerton Christmas Piper, CH was a 20th-century English painter and printmaker. For much of his life he lived at Fawley Bottom in Buckinghamshire, near Henley-on-Thames.-Life:...
, but Wragg's choice of medium was an ideological one. As a socialist and pacifist, Wragg wanted his art to speak directly to common people rather than to art-lovers. His vivid, polemical style had considerable influence on other popular forms in the 1940s and 1950s, such as government information posters and advertising.
He grew up in Eccles, Lancashire
Eccles, Greater Manchester
Eccles is a town in the City of Salford, a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, west of Salford and west of Manchester city centre...
and Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, the child of a travelling salesman and a telegraphist, and trained at Sheffield School of Art before settling in London as a freelance commercial artist, in which capacity he was in continuous demand for the rest of his life. In the 1920s he contributed mostly to various women's illustrated magazines, but later branched out into book-jackets and work for left-wing newspapers such as The Tribune
The Tribune
The Tribune is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jalandhar, Dehradun and Bathinda. It was founded on 2 February 1881, in Lahore , by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as...
and Peace News
Peace News
Peace News is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union , and from 1990 to 2004 was co-published with War Resisters' International.-History:Peace News was...
(including cartoons) and illustrations for books and pamphlets about Christian socialism
Christian socialism
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include Liberation theology and the doctrine of the social gospel...
, pacifism and social justice.
Out of this more committed range of work, and out of the social issues raised by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of the 1930s, came several books in which Wragg illustrated biblical texts in a politicised way, notably The Psalms for Modern Life (Selwyn & Blount 1933) which went through several reprints. The simplified block-style and dramatic chiaroscuro effects of these illustrations make them resemble woodcuts rather than pen and ink drawings (misleading some collectors into thinking the books are just reissues of hand-printed original editions) and there are many affinities with the visual-symbolic language of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
art, although Wragg's agenda is more generalised. Social realities and symbols are blended to convey deprivation, justice, conscience, and the persistence of spiritual values in the alienated urban-industrial environment.
A friend and follower of the popular pacifist preacher, Canon Dick Sheppard
Hugh Richard Lawrie Sheppard
Hugh Richard Lawrie "Dick" Sheppard was an English Anglican priest, Dean of Canterbury and pacifist....
, Wragg became a Sponsor of the Peace Pledge Union
Peace Pledge Union
The Peace Pledge Union is a British pacifist non-governmental organization. It is open to everyone who can sign the PPU pledge: "I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war...
and was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
during World War II. After imprisonment, he became an art-teacher in schools, returning to freelance work after the war. His personal style became more airy and more fantastical, and sometimes surreal.
From 1953 until his death he produced illustrations for record covers for the Argo record companyhttp://folkcatalogue.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/arthur-wraggs-argo-album-covers/.
As yet there is no catalogue of his work but there is a book about the artist: Arthur Wragg: Twentieth-century Prophet and Jester (Sansom 2001) by Judith Brook.
Some books illustrated by Arthur Wragg
- The Psalms for Modern Life (Selwyn & Blount 1933)
- Jesus Wept (Selwyn & Blount 1935)
- Holt - When I was a Prisoner (Miles 1935)
- Szekely - Cosmos, Man and Society (Daniel 1936)
- Thy Kingdom Come (Selwyn & Blount 1939)
- Seven Words (Heinemann 1939)
- The Lord's Prayer in Black and White (Cape 1946)
- Wilde - The Battle of Reading Gaol (Castle Press 1948)
- Purcell - These thy Gods (Longman 1949)
- The Song of Songs (Selwyn & Blount 1952)
- Willis - Whatever Happened to Tom Mix (Cassell 1970)