René Bull was an illustrator. Born in Dublin, Bull embarked on an artistic career after meeting the French satirist and political cartoonist Caran d'Ache

Caran d'Ache

Caran d'Ache was the pseudonym of the 19th century French satirist and political cartoonist Emmanuel Poiré. "Caran d'Ache" comes from the Russian word karandash , meaning pencil...

 (Emmanuel Poiré). Bull contributed sketches and political cartoons to various publications, and worked for Black and White illustrated newspaper as a special artist and photographer. He covered the 1898 campaign in Sudan and the Battle of Omdurman

Battle of Omdurman

At the Battle of Omdurman , an army commanded by the British Gen. Sir Herbert Kitchener defeated the army of Abdullah al-Taashi, the successor to the self-proclaimed Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad...

; he went to South Africa to record the Boer War

Boer War

The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....

. He served in the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Titles he illustrated include The Arabian Nights (1912), Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (1913), The Russian Ballet (1913), Carmen (1915), Andersen's Fairy Tales, Gulliver's Travels, A Garland of Roses (1928), and The Arabian Nights (1930).