Barbosa, Arthur | |
---|---|
Born | Artur Ernesto Teixeira de Vasconcelos Barbosa 6 March 1908 Liverpool, United Kingdom |
Died | 5 October 1995 87) | (aged
Nationality | British |
Education | Liverpool School of Art Heatherley School of Fine Art Central School of Art |
Known for | Illustration |
Artur Ernesto Teixeira de Vasconcelos Barbosa (6 March 1908 – 5 October 1995 [1] ) was an artist best known for his distinctive cover illustrations for Georgette Heyer and George MacDonald Fraser's The Flashman Papers novels, which he produced for 17 and 25 years respectively. [1] Although always anglicising his first name, he disliked modern familiarity and preferred being known as Barbosa. [1]
He was born in Liverpool, his father was a Portuguese vice-consul, and his mother half-French. [1] He attended St Edward's School, Oxford and later studied at Liverpool School of Art, Heatherley School of Fine Art and the Central School of Art. [1] His first successful exhibitions were in London where he was a founder member of the Pandemonium Group alongside Nicolas Bentley, Eliot Hodgkin and Victor Reinganum. [1] He illustrated for Everybody's Weekly and the Radio Times and produced his first book covers for London publishers. [1]
In 1928 he worked on the interior of St Andrew's Church, West Kirby, designing the organ case, pew fronts and six-foot candlesticks.
From 1930 he began working as a designer for theatre, working with André Charlot, Kenneth Duffield and Cecil Landauin. [1] At this time he also illustrated for Vogue , Harper's Bazaar , The Sketch , The Bystander , Night and Day and the Queen . [1]
Barbosa spent the Second World War in the Portuguese section of the Ministry of Information then returning to illustrating he worked for Moss Bros.
During the 1950s he worked almost exclusively for American publishers and began his association with Georgette Heyer. [1] His dust jacket designs for her post-war books and for those of George MacDonald Fraser were especially notable, though he also illustrated for other writers; Dorothy Dunnett, Doris Leslie, Maria Fagyas, Rona Randall, Dennis Wheatley and Hilary Ford to name but a few.
In the 1966, his friendship with Rex Harrison led him back to interior design, for the actor's house in Portofino, Italy. And later he undertook the refurbishment of the interior of Elizabeth Taylor's yacht Kalizma. [1] He also counted Cecil Beaton and Laurence Olivier amongst his friends. [2]
He continued working until a few months before his death and won a Golden Clio award for British sherry label designs featuring portraits of the Duke of Wellington and Edward Elgar [1]
He was obsessed with Royalty and amassed the finest collection of original photographs of members of European and Russian royal families from 1850 to 1914. [1]
He was married three times but had no children, his last marriage to Isobel lasted 34 years until his death in 1995, aged 89 despite his long-held belief that the ideal marriage was a contract for nine years. [3]
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow and died in London. He is among the most important figures of Modern Style.
Sir Harry Paget Flashman is a fictional character created by Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) in the semi-autobiographical Tom Brown's School Days (1857) and later developed by George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008). Harry Flashman appears in a series of 12 of Fraser's books, collectively known as The Flashman Papers, with covers illustrated by Arthur Barbosa and Gino D’Achille. Flashman was played by Malcolm McDowell in the Richard Lester 1975 film Royal Flash.
Georgette Heyer was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth. In 1925 Heyer married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. The couple spent several years living in Tanganyika Territory and Macedonia before returning to England in 1929. After her novel These Old Shades became popular despite its release during the General Strike, Heyer determined that publicity was not necessary for good sales. For the rest of her life she refused to grant interviews, telling a friend: "My private life concerns no one but myself and my family."
George MacDonald Fraser was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman.
Regency romances are a subgenre of romance novels set during the period of the British Regency (1811–1820) or early 19th century. Rather than simply being versions of contemporary romance stories transported to a historical setting, Regency romances are a distinct genre with their own plot and stylistic conventions. These derive not so much from the 19th-century contemporary works of Jane Austen, but rather from Georgette Heyer, who wrote over two dozen novels set in the Regency starting in 1935 until her death in 1974, and from the fiction genre known as the novel of manners. In particular, the more traditional Regencies feature a great deal of intelligent, fast-paced dialogue between the protagonists and very little explicit sex or discussion of sex.
Royal Flash is a 1975 British adventure film based on the second Flashman novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It stars Malcolm McDowell as Flashman. Additionally, Oliver Reed appeared in the role of Otto von Bismarck, Alan Bates as Rudi von Sternberg, and Florinda Bolkan played Lola Montez. Fraser wrote the screenplay and the film was directed by Richard Lester.
Arabella is a Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer. It records the plight of a relatively poor girl from the English gentry who captures the attention of a very wealthy man by claiming to be an heiress; although he disbelieves her, he is amused by her presumption and character. The story is set in the spring of 1817.
Frances Macdonald MacNair was a Scottish artist whose design work was a prominent feature of the Modern Style during the 1890s.
Flashman is a 1969 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the first of the Flashman novels.
Royal Flash is a 1970 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the second of the Flashman novels. It was made into the film Royal Flash in 1975 and remains the only Flashman novel to be filmed.
Flash for Freedom! is a 1971 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the third of the Flashman novels.
Flashman on the March is a 2005 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the twelfth and last Flashman novel.
The Unknown Ajax is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer, set in 1817.
Black Sheep is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer which was first published in 1966. The story is set in 1816/1817.
Lady of Quality is the last Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer. It was first published in 1972 and was the last of her novels to be published during her lifetime.
A Civil Contract is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer, first published in 1961. Set in 1814–1815, it is also a historical novel and follows the general pattern of storytelling of Heyer's other novels. The romantic plot centers on a viscount who reluctantly enters a marriage of convenience with a wealthy merchant's daughter.
Charity Girl is a Regency romance novel by Georgette Heyer, first published in 1970.
The Flashman Papers is a series of novels and shorter stories written by George MacDonald Fraser, the first of which was published in 1969. The books centre on the exploits of the fictional protagonist Harry Flashman. He is a cowardly British soldier, rake and cad who is placed in a series of real historical incidents between 1839 and 1894. While the incidents and much of the detail in the novels have a factual background, Flashman's actions in the stories are either fictional, or Fraser uses the actions of unidentified individuals and assigns them to Flashman. Flashman is a character in the 1857 novel by Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days; Hughes' version of the character is a bully at Rugby School who is expelled for drunkenness. The character was then developed by Fraser, and appeared in the 1969 novel Flashman. Fraser went on to write a total of eleven novels and one collection of short stories featuring the character.
Captain in Calico is a 2015 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It was published seven years after his death in 2008 and is about the pirate Jack Rackham. Mary Read and Anne Bonny also appear as characters in this novel.
Rufus Segar was a British anarchist, illustrator, and graphic designer best known for his designs of Anarchy magazine throughout the 1960s.