David Wilson (4 July 1872 – 2 January 1935) was an Irish illustrator and painter.

Life and family

David Ernest Wilson was born on 4 July 1872 at Minterburn Manse,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

. His father was Reverend A.J. Wilson, and he had at least two older brothers. In 1883, the family moved to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

when his father moved to take up ministry of the Malone Presbyterian Church. Wilson attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and later took drawing classes in the evening at the Government School of Design while he worked at the Northern Bank. He was a member of the Belfast Art Society. He married Edith Mary Mageean in 1899, and the couple moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where Wilson enrolled at the Sphinx Studio. They had two children, a son James born in 1900, and a daughter, Edith born in 1908. His wife suffered from alcoholism, and died in 1913. Wilson remarried in 1915, to Frances Winifred James.

Career

He met Alfred Stewart Moore, and he began contributing his cartoons to magazines including Moore's ''Nomad's Weekly''. He submitted his first cartoon to the '' Daily Chronicle'' in 1895 and went on to become their cartoonist. In 1899 he started to contribute to the Belfast weekly publication, ''The Magpie''. Between 1900 and 1933, Wilson contributed 55 cartoons to ''Punch''. He was the chief cartoonist for ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

'' from 1910 to 1916. He was also published in the '' London Opinion'', ''

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 ...

'', ''The Star'', ''Temple Magazine'', ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', '' Tatler'', ''

The Passing Show ''The Passing Show'' was a musical revue in three acts, billed as a "topical extravaganza", with a book and lyrics by Sydney Rosenfeld and music by Ludwig Engländer and various other composers. It featured spoofs of theatrical productions of t ...

'', ''The World'' and '' Pan''. He illustrated the cover of the first issue of ''Votes for Women'' in October 1907, a publication of the

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...

. Wilson was also a landscape and flower painter, and from 1920 his reputation for painting developed. In 1921, the Burlington Gallery, London exhibited his caricatures. He was a member of the

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831 the so ...

from 1931, and the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

being elected a full member in 1926. He also exhibited with the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1932. He was a member of the Savage Club and the Newspaper Press Fund. Wilson also taught at

St John's Wood School of Art The St John's Wood Art School ( The Wood or Calderon's Art School) was an art school in St John's Wood, north London, England. The Art School was established in 1878 and was located on Elm Tree Road. It was founded by two art teachers, Elíseo Ab ...

. Among the books he illustrated are ''Through a Peer Glass: Winnie's Adventures in Wastemonster'' (1908) by Arthur Waghorne, ''A Song of the Open Road and other verses'' (1916) by Louis J. McQuilland, and ''Wilhelm the Ruthless'' (1917) by A. A. Braun. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he illustrated propaganda posters for the British government. Wilson died on 2 January 1935 at his home, 22 Downton Avenue, Streatham Hill,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. Examples of his work are held in the V&A and the

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasure ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, David 1872 births 1935 deaths Irish illustrators 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters