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An '''illustration''' is a [[visualization]] such as a [[drawing]], [[painting]], [[photograph]] or other work of [[art]] that stresses subject more than form. The aim of an illustration is often to elucidate or decorate [[textual]] [[information]] (such as a [[Narrative|story]], poem or newspaper article) by providing a visual representation.

An '''illustration''' is a [[visualization]] such as a [[drawing]], [[painting]], [[photograph]] or other work of [[art]] that stresses subject more than form. The aim of an illustration is often to elucidate or decorate [[textual]] [[information]] (such as a [[Narrative|story]], poem or newspaper article) by providing a visual representation.

==Early history==

==Early history==

The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_paintings cave paintings]. Before the invention of the [[printing press]], [[books]] were hand-illustrated. Illustration has been used in China and Japan since the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Century 8th century], [[tradition]]ally by creating woodcuts to accompany [[writing]].

The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_paintings cave paintings]. Before the invention of the [[printing press]], [[books]] were hand-illustrated. Illustration has been used in China and Japan since the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Century 8th century], [[tradition]]ally by creating woodcuts to accompany [[writing]].

==15th century through 18th century==

==15th century through 18th century==

During the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Century 15th century], books illustrated with woodcut illustrations became available. The main [[processes]] used for reproduction of illustrations during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Century 16th] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Century 17th] centuries were engraving and etching. At the end of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 18th century], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography lithography] allowed even better illustrations to be reproduced. The most notable illustrator of this epoch was [[William Blake]] who rendered his illustrations in the medium of relief etching.

During the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Century 15th century], books illustrated with woodcut illustrations became available. The main [[processes]] used for reproduction of illustrations during the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Century 16th] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_Century 17th] centuries were engraving and etching. At the end of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 18th century], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography lithography] allowed even better illustrations to be reproduced. The most notable illustrator of this epoch was [[William Blake]] who rendered his illustrations in the medium of relief etching.

==Early to mid 19th century==

==Early to mid 19th century==

Notable figures of the early century were [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Leech John Leech], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cruikshank George Cruikshank], Dickens' illustrator [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hablot_Knight_Browne Hablot Knight Browne] and, in France, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_Daumier Honoré Daumier]. The same illustrators would contribute to satirical and straight-[[fiction]] magazines, but in both cases the demand was for character-drawing which encapsulated or caricatured social [[types]] and classes.

Notable figures of the early century were [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Leech John Leech], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cruikshank George Cruikshank], Dickens' illustrator [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hablot_Knight_Browne Hablot Knight Browne] and, in France, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_Daumier Honoré Daumier]. The same illustrators would contribute to satirical and straight-[[fiction]] magazines, but in both cases the demand was for character-drawing which encapsulated or caricatured social [[types]] and classes.

The British humorous magazine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(magazine) Punch], which was founded in 1841 riding on the earlier success of Cruikshank's Comic Almanac (1827-1840), employed an uninterrupted run of high-[[quality]] comic illustrators, including Sir John Tenniel, the Dalziel Brothers and Georges du Maurier, into the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century 20th century]. It chronicles the [[gradual]] shift in popular illustration from reliance on caricature to sophisticated topical [[observations]]. These artists all trained as conventional [[Fine Art|fine-artists]], but [[achieved]] their reputations primarily as illustrators. Punch and similar magazines such as the Parisian Le Voleur realised that good illustrations sold as many copies as written content.

The British humorous magazine [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_(magazine) Punch], which was founded in 1841 riding on the earlier success of Cruikshank's Comic Almanac (1827-1840), employed an uninterrupted run of high-[[quality]] comic illustrators, including Sir John Tenniel, the Dalziel Brothers and Georges du Maurier, into the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century 20th century]. It chronicles the [[gradual]] shift in popular illustration from reliance on caricature to sophisticated topical [[observations]]. These artists all trained as conventional [[Fine Art|fine-artists]], but [[achieved]] their reputations primarily as illustrators. Punch and similar magazines such as the Parisian Le Voleur realised that good illustrations sold as many copies as written content.

==Golden age of illustration==

==Golden age of illustration==

The American "golden age of illustration" lasted from the 1880s until shortly after [[World War I]] (although the active career of several later "golden age" illustrators went on for another few decades). As in Europe a few decades earlier, newspapers, mass market magazines, and illustrated books had become the dominant [[media]] of [[public]] consumption. Improvements in [[printing]] [[technology]] freed illustrators to [[experiment]] with [[color]] and new rendering [[techniques]]. A small group of illustrators in this time became rich and famous. The imagery they created was a portrait of American [[aspirations]] of the time.

The American "golden age of illustration" lasted from the 1880s until shortly after [[World War I]] (although the active career of several later "golden age" illustrators went on for another few decades). As in Europe a few decades earlier, newspapers, mass market magazines, and illustrated books had become the dominant [[media]] of [[public]] consumption. Improvements in [[printing]] [[technology]] freed illustrators to [[experiment]] with [[color]] and new rendering [[techniques]]. A small group of illustrators in this time became rich and famous. The imagery they created was a portrait of American [[aspirations]] of the time.

A prolific artist who linked the earlier and later 19th century in Europe was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9 Gustave Doré]. His sombre illustrations of London poverty in the 1860s were influential examples of social commentary in art. Edmund Dulac, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rackham Arthur Rackham], Walter Crane and Kay Nielsen were notable representatives of this style, which often carried an [[Milieu|ethos]] of neo-mediævalism and took [[mythological]] and fairy-tale subjects. By contrast the [[English]] illustrator [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter Beatrix Potter] based her colored [[children]]'s illustrations on accurate naturalistic observation of [[animal]]-life.

A prolific artist who linked the earlier and later 19th century in Europe was [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9 Gustave Doré]. His sombre illustrations of London poverty in the 1860s were influential examples of social commentary in art. Edmund Dulac, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rackham Arthur Rackham], Walter Crane and Kay Nielsen were notable representatives of this style, which often carried an [[Milieu|ethos]] of neo-mediævalism and took [[mythological]] and fairy-tale subjects. By contrast the [[English]] illustrator [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter Beatrix Potter] based her colored [[children]]'s illustrations on accurate naturalistic observation of [[animal]]-life.

The opulence and [[harmony]] of the work of the "golden age" illustrators was counterpointed in the 1890s by artists like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_Beardsley Aubrey Beardsley] who reverted to a sparser black-and-white style influenced by woodcut and silhouette, anticipating [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau Art Nouveau], and Les Nabis. American illustration of this period was anchored by the Brandywine Valley [[tradition]], begun by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Pyle Howard Pyle] and carried on by his students, who included [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.C._Wyeth N.C. Wyeth], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxfield_Parrish Maxfield Parrish], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Willcox_Smith Jesse Willcox Smith] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Schoonover Frank Schoonover].

The opulence and [[harmony]] of the work of the "golden age" illustrators was counterpointed in the 1890s by artists like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_Beardsley Aubrey Beardsley] who reverted to a sparser black-and-white style influenced by woodcut and silhouette, anticipating [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Nouveau Art Nouveau], and Les Nabis. American illustration of this period was anchored by the Brandywine Valley [[tradition]], begun by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Pyle Howard Pyle] and carried on by his students, who included [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.C._Wyeth N.C. Wyeth], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxfield_Parrish Maxfield Parrish], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Willcox_Smith Jesse Willcox Smith] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Schoonover Frank Schoonover].

A [[movement]] was started in Latin America by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Martinez_Delgado Santiago Martinez Delgado] who worked in the 1930s for Esquire Magazine while an art student in Chicago, and later in his native Colombia with the Vida Magazine, Martinez a disciple of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright Frank Lloyd Wright] worked in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco Art Deco] style. Also in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930's 1930s] the [[influence]] of propaganda art and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism expressionism] was felt in the work of the British freelance illustrator Arthur Wragg. His stylised monotone shapes suggested the block-printing [[techniques]] used for [[political]] posters, but by this time the [[technology]] of transferring artwork to printing plates by photographic means had advanced to the extent that Wragg could produce all his work in pen and ink.

A [[movement]] was started in Latin America by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santiago_Martinez_Delgado Santiago Martinez Delgado] who worked in the 1930s for Esquire Magazine while an art student in Chicago, and later in his native Colombia with the Vida Magazine, Martinez a disciple of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lloyd_Wright Frank Lloyd Wright] worked in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco Art Deco] style. Also in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930's 1930s] the [[influence]] of propaganda art and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expressionism expressionism] was felt in the work of the British freelance illustrator Arthur Wragg. His stylised monotone shapes suggested the block-printing [[techniques]] used for [[political]] posters, but by this time the [[technology]] of transferring artwork to printing plates by photographic means had advanced to the extent that Wragg could produce all his work in pen and ink.

==Illustration art==

==Illustration art==

Today, there is a growing interest in collecting and admiring original artwork that was used as illustrations in [[books]], magazines, posters, etc. Various museum exhibitions, magazines and art galleries have devoted [[space]] to the illustrators of the past.

Today, there is a growing interest in collecting and admiring original artwork that was used as illustrations in [[books]], magazines, posters, etc. Various museum exhibitions, magazines and art galleries have devoted [[space]] to the illustrators of the past.