Annie Fish (27 March 1890 – 10 October 1964) was a British cartoonist and illustrator. Her illustration of "Eve" in ''

The Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' spawned films, theatre and books.

Life

Fish was born in

Horfield Horfield is a suburb of the city of Bristol, in southwest England. It lies on Bristol's northern edge, its border with Filton marking part of the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Bishopston lies directly to the south. Monk ...

in Bristol in 1890 before her family moved to London. She became a cartoonist and illustrator after studying with C. M. Q. Orchardson,

George Belcher George Frederick Arthur Belcher (19 September 1875 – 3 October 1947) was an English cartoonist, etcher and painter of genre, sporting subjects and still life. He was born in London on 19 September 1875 and studied at Bideford Art School and t ...

and John Hassall. She went to work for the publisher John Lane. Her debut work was creating cartoons for

Stephen Leacock Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humorist in the world. He is known ...

's humorous book ''Behind the Beyond''. In total, Fish contributed to American ''Vanity Fair'', ''Vogue'', ''

The Sketch ''The Sketch'' was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on roy ...

'', ''Eve'', ''Punch'', and ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

''. Her work was compared to

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He ...

although Fish noted that she did not see his work until after the comparison had been made.Mark Bryant, ‘Fish, (Harriet) Annie (1890–1964)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 7 April 2017
/ref> Her illustrations for the "Letters of Eve" in ''

'' spawned films, theatre and three books. The costumes imagined for Phyllis Dare when she played Eve at the Adelphi Theatre were said to have influenced ladies fashions. Gladys Emma Peto created drawings for "The letters of Phrynette" in ''

''. This was so similar to "Letters of Eve" that there was a court case.

Eileen Molyneux Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists *Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer * Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer *Eileen ...

appeared in a series of twelve short silent two reel films as "Eve" for Gaumont in 1918. Fish was the illustrator of "Eve" until 1920 and after that the character continued to appear in Pan magazine illustrated by Jo White and later Dolly Tree. In 1922 she illustrated a luxury edition of Edward Fitzgerald's ''

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia". Altho ...

''. Fish retired to St Ives in the 1940s. Her husband, Walter William Sefton, died in 1952. She died in

Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...

in Cornwall in 1964 after falling in the bath. File:Phyllis_Dare_as_Annie_Fishs_Eve_in_Nina_in_1915.png, Phyllis Dare as Annie Fish's "Eve" in 1915 file:Annie Fish illustration 1922.png, An illustration from ''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Annie 1890 births 1964 deaths 20th-century English women artists Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in England Artists from Bristol English cartoonists English illustrators British women cartoonists British women illustrators