Mary Tourtel
Encyclopedia
Mary Tourtel was an English
artist
and creator of Rupert Bear
.
Tourtel was born as Mary Caldwell and raised in an artistic family, daughter of a stained glass artist and stonemason. She studied art under Thomas Sidney Cooper
at the Sidney Cooper School of Art
in Canterbury, and became a children's book illustrator. She eventually married an editor of The Daily Express newspaper, Herbert Tourtel.
Rupert Bear was created in the 1920s as the Express was in competition with The Daily Mail and its comic strip Teddy Tail, and Pip, Squeak and Wilfred
in The Daily Mirror
. Rupert Bear was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled Little Lost Bear on 8 November 1920. Published as two cartoons a day and a short story underneath, the strip featured a brown bear until the Express cut inking expenses and made Rupert's colour white.
Tourtel retired in 1935 after her eyesight deteriorated, and the strip was continued by a Punch
illustrator, Alfred Bestall
. Tourtel died in 1948.
Footnotes
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and creator of Rupert Bear
Rupert Bear
Rupert Bear is a children's comic strip character, who features in a series of books based around his adventures. The character was created by the English artist Mary Tourtel and first appeared in the Daily Express on 8 November 1920. Rupert's initial purpose was to win sales from the rival...
.
Biography
Thomas Sidney Cooper
Thomas Sidney Cooper was an English landscape painter noted for his images of cattle and farm animals.Cooper was born at Canterbury, Kent, and as a small child he began to show strong artistic inclinations, but the circumstances of his family did not allow him to received any systematic training...
at the Sidney Cooper School of Art
Kent Institute of Art & Design
The Kent Institute of Art & Design was an art school based across three campuses in the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the amalgamation of three independent colleges: Canterbury College of Art, Maidstone College of Art and Rochester College of Art...
in Canterbury, and became a children's book illustrator. She eventually married an editor of The Daily Express newspaper, Herbert Tourtel.
Rupert Bear was created in the 1920s as the Express was in competition with The Daily Mail and its comic strip Teddy Tail, and Pip, Squeak and Wilfred
Pip, Squeak and Wilfred
Pip, Squeak and Wilfred was a long-running British newspaper strip cartoon published in the Daily Mirror from 1919 to 1956, as well as the Sunday Pictorial in the early years. It was conceived by Bertram Lamb, who took the role of Uncle Dick, signing himself in an early book, and was drawn until...
in The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror
The Daily Mirror is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903. Twice in its history, from 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was changed to read simply The Mirror, which is how the paper is often referred to in popular parlance. It had an...
. Rupert Bear was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled Little Lost Bear on 8 November 1920. Published as two cartoons a day and a short story underneath, the strip featured a brown bear until the Express cut inking expenses and made Rupert's colour white.
Tourtel retired in 1935 after her eyesight deteriorated, and the strip was continued by a Punch
Punch (magazine)
Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
illustrator, Alfred Bestall
Alfred Bestall
Alfred Edmeades "Fred" Bestall, MBE , was the author and illustrator of Rupert Bear for the London Daily Express, from 1935 to 1965.-Early life:...
. Tourtel died in 1948.
Sources
Footnotes
External links
- Mary Tourtel biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia
- Mary Tourtel at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...