Edward Frank Gillett (23 July 1874 – 1 May 1927), often credited as Frank Gillett, was a British artist and illustrator. He worked in pen and ink, pastel, watercolour, and oil. Though he died in 1927, two of his works were in the art competition in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Early life

Gillett was born in

Worlingham Worlingham is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is about east of Beccles, with the two places effectively joined to form one urban area. At the 2011 census it had a population of 3, ...

, Suffolk, and educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Holt, Norfolk, Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Bac ...

, Norfolk.

Career

Having found a career as a clerk in 1891, Gillett lived in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, London. He decided to focus on his art from 1896. Gillett submitted cartoons to the periodical ''

Fun Fun is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment". Etymology and usage The word ''fun'' is associated with sports, entertaining medi ...

'' before starting work full time as an illustrator at ''

The Daily Graphic ''The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper'' was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was founded in New York City in 1873 by Canadian engravers George-Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo, and began publication ...

'' from 1898. He worked there until 1908, transferring to ''

Black and White Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

'' and then to ''

Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News The ''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' was a British weekly magazine founded in 1874 and published in London. In 1945 it changed its name to the ''Sport and Country'', and in 1957 to the ''Farm and Country'', before closing in 1970. Hi ...

'', contributing to them between 1910 and 1923. Gillett was a member of London's Langham Sketch Club and in 1909 became an elected 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 ...

. He left London in 1916, moving to the Mickelburgh family farm in

Aldeby Aldeby is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is bounded to the south by the River Waveney, on the other side of which is Suffolk. The village is about five miles (8 km) by road from Beccles. History The name Alde ...

, Norfolk and later to

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fli ...

. Gillett worked in pen and ink, pastel, watercolour, and oil and was noted as a skillful caricaturist. He was inspired by Norfolk's rural life and his work often involved sport, particularly

fox-hunting Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...

and

hare-coursing Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight, not by scent. In some countries, it is a legal, competitive activity in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and tu ...

. His work has been exhibited by the

Royal Academy of Arts 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 purpo ...

and the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

and is held by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. Gillett also illustrated 25 reissues of works by

G. A. Henty George Alfred Henty (8 December 1832 – 16 November 1902) was an English novelist and war correspondent. He is most well-known for his works of adventure fiction and historical fiction, including ''The Dragon & The Raven'' (1886), ''For The ...

as well as several books by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

and Percy F. Westerman. Two of Gillett's works, ''La Finale'' and ''Contre l'horizon'', were submitted into the Mixed Painting, Drawings And Water Colours category at the

. He did not win a medal but his entry makes him one of only a small number of posthumous Olympians and the only one to represent Great Britain.

Personal life

Gillett married Elsie Joanne Bastard in 1903 but was widowed in 1912. He remarried in

two years later to Margaret Mickelburgh.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillett, Edward Frank 1874 births 1927 deaths British painters People educated at Gresham's School People from Worlington, Suffolk Olympic competitors in art competitions British children's book illustrators