Henry Mayo Bateman (15 February 1887 – 11 February 1970, Mgarr,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

) was a British humorous artist and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. H. M. Bateman was noted for his "The Man Who..." series of cartoons, featuring comically exaggerated reactions to minor and usually

upper-class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status, usually are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is gen ...

social gaffes, such as "The Man Who Lit His Cigar Before the Royal Toast", "The Man Who Threw a Snowball at St. Moritz" and "The Boy Who Breathed on the Glass at 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 ...

." which appeared in the satirical magazine ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

''.

Early life

Winston Churchill by Henry Mayo Bateman ca

Henry Bateman was born in the small village of

Sutton Forest Sutton Forest is a small village in the Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Australia in Wingecarribee Shire. It is located 5 km southwest of Moss Vale on the Illawarra Highway. Sutton Forest was originally granted, then owned by Navy Ch ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. His parents were Henry Charles Bateman and Rose Mayo. His father had left

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for Australia in 1878, at the age of 21, to seek his fortune, then returned to England briefly in 1885 before going back with an English wife. Soon after Henry was born, his strong-willed mother insisted that they return 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 ...

'and civilisation'. He had one sister, Phyllis, three years younger. Bateman was always drawing from an early age, consistently producing funny drawings that told stories. He was inspired by comics, had a keen critical eye, and was enthusiastically drawing at every available moment. At the age of 14, he had already decided that he would draw for publication. In 1901, the cartoonist Phil May, in response to a letter from Rose, showed interest in his drawings, and that year he was inspired by an exhibition of black-and-white art at 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 ...

. His father had initially decided that his son should follow him into business, but eventually, after many arguments between him and Rose, his father financed his study at the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman described ...

which he commenced at the age of 16. He did well but was bored by the lifeless "life" classes and after qualifying at Westminster transferred his study to the

New Cross Art School Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

. He also did some practical work at the studio of Charles van Havenmaet.

Career

Bateman's first solo exhibition in 1901 was at the Brook Street Gallery,

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, in central London. His first contract was in 1904, for ten drawings and two illustrations in a fourpenny monthly magazine called ''The Royal''. At the age of 17, his style was already that of a mature artist. He then progressed to a contract with ''

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 ...

'' and many other magazines besides, including the ''

Illustrated Sporting News and Dramatic News An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

'', ''

Pearson's Weekly ''Pearson's Weekly'' was a British weekly periodical founded in London in 1890 by Arthur Pearson, who had previously worked on ''Tit-Bits'' for George Newnes. The first issue was well advertised and sold a quarter of a million copies. The paper's ...

'' and ''

''. Bateman greatly influenced the style of American cartoonist

Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...

. Bateman was selected by Percy Bradshaw for inclusion in his 1918 '' The Art of the Illustrator'' which presented a portfolio for each of twenty illustrators. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at 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 ...

Personal life

Bateman married Brenda Collison Wier and they had two children, Diana and Monica, both of whom became artists. They lived at

Curridge Curridge is a village in the civil parish of Chieveley in the English county of Berkshire. Geography Curridge is located in the south-east of the parish, adjoining Hermitage. The chief population areas are Curridge village, Longlane and Denis ...

, just north of

Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in the county of Berkshire, England, and is home to the administrative headquarters of West Berkshire Council. The town centre around its large market square retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall, an adjoining half timbere ...

. In later life, Bateman carried on an increasingly acrimonious battle with the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation ta ...

. His final years were spent on the island of

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

.''The Best of H. M. Bateman'' (Bodley Head, 1987) A centenary celebration of his work was exhibited at the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

on London's

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in 1987. An

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

, unveiled in 1997, commemorates Bateman at 40 Nightingale Lane in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

south London.

Publications

* Bateman, H. M., intr. A. E. Johnson. ''Burlesques''. London:

Duckworth Duckworth may refer to: * Duckworth (surname), people with the surname ''Duckworth'' * Duckworth (''DuckTales''), fictional butler from the television series ''DuckTales'' * Duckworth Books, a British publishing house * , a frigate * Duckworth, W ...

, 1916. * Bateman, H. M. ''A Book of Drawings''. London: Methuen, 1921. * Bateman, H. M. ''Colonels''. London: Methuen, 1925.

Notes

References

External links

H. M. Bateman: the website
* *
Bateman's Punch Illustrations
in HeidICON
Searchabe Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, H. M. 1887 births 1970 deaths People from Chieveley People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London British cartoonists Punch (magazine) cartoonists Olympic competitors in art competitions