Brian Coppola :: Late 19th/Early-to-Mid 20th C cartoonists & illustrators

“The Foolish Flamingo” (St. Nicholas, vol 14, p 434, April 1887) by Reginald Bathurst Birch

Artist: Reginald Birch (All)

905 Views - 3 Comments - 1 Like

“The Foolish Flamingo” (St. Nicholas, vol 14, p 434, April 1887) by Reginald Bathurst Birch Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	“The Foolish Flamingo” (St. Nicholas, vol 14, p 434, April 1887) by Reginald Bathurst Birch
Artist:	Reginald Birch (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	905
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	3
Added to Site:	7/14/2019
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“The Foolish Flamingo” (St. Nicholas, vol 14, p 434, April 1887)
by Reginald Bathurst Birch (1856-1943)
17 x 12 in., ink on board

Reginald Bathurst Birch was an English-American artist and illustrator.

From 1873 to 1881, Birch studied and worked in Europe, attending the Royal Academy in Munich and illustrating various publications in Vienna, Paris, and Rome. On his return to the United States he took up residence in New York City, where he became a magazine illustrator. His work appeared in "St. Nicholas," "The Century," "Harper’s," "Life," and "The Youth’s Companion," among other publications. He also became a founding member of the Society of Illustrators in New York.

His first great success was his illustration of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s children’s book ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’ (1886), whose young protagonist’s long, curly hair and velvet and lace suit were widely imitated by mothers as a pattern of dress for their little boys. Birch’s name was indelibly associated with Burnett’s protagonist forever after, rather to the illustrator’s irritation. During the period of his initial popularity he illustrated over forty books, many of which, along with his drawings, had initially seen publication in serial form. He also provided illustrations for books by Dickens.

He produced a series of illustrated nursery rhymes for "St. Nicholas" magazine in the 1880s, including this one, featuring “The Foolish Flamingo,” a popular but anonymous tale of prideful behavior, right about the time that his landmark work on Fauntleroy was published.

Demand for Birch’s work faded after 1914, and by the 1930s he was living in poverty. His career was revived in 1933 by his illustrations for Louis Untermeyer’s "The Last Pirate," and he went on to illustrate about twenty additional books before retiring due to failing eyesight, about 1941.

As can be seen in the published version of this piece, the artwork was edited considerably to fit into the available space. The editorial pencil marks for the cropping appear on the original art.

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	Brian Coppola Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2009
Last Login:	January 2026
Country:	UNITED STATES
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Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy
Member Since 2005

Posted on 7/14/2019

Great art and a very cool backstory.....

Brian Coppola
Member Since 2009

Posted on 7/14/2019

Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy wrote:

Great art and a very cool backstory.....

Thanks. I have been looking forward to posting this one for a while. I got really lucky in identifying it. The Wiki-Commons entry for Birch has a bunch of examples, I think because of a book that collected his early illustrations, and there were a handful of nursey rhymes in the same style as this one publsihed in "St Nicholas." The back of this piece had the indication "14 p 343" written on it, so I went zooming over to vol 14 of the "St Nicholas" archives and there it was. And look at the dimensional effect of the linework on the lettering of the title - it is terrifically done (and no damned prefab typeface). It's a shame they hacked up the original composition for publication, but now it is here to enjoy.

frank x townsondecker
Member Since 2006

Posted on 7/15/2019

Nice!

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