WebFind: Look and Learn, Treasure illustrations galore from Holloway Fine Art

By John Freeman on December 30, 2018

“Brother and Sister” – watercolour art by Jesus Blasco

Quite by chance, I came across the eBay page Holloway Fine Art, which is offering hundreds of artworks from classic annuals, books magazines such as Look and Learn and Treasure, including 1980s Famous Five illustrations by Leslie Branton.

1980s Famous Five illustration by Leslie Branton

Also on offer is art by Lewis Baumer, Luis Bermejo, Jesus Blasco, Brian Cosgrove, Reginald B. Davies, Gerry Embleton, Mike Hubbard, Angus McBride, Justin Michman, Clive Uptton, Doris White, Gerry Wood and many more.

“Noah’s Ark” illustration from the 1960s, artist unattributed

Kangaroo Illustration – Look and Learn (1970s)

Castle siege art for a 1980s edition of Look and Learn, artist unknown

World War Two illustration attributed to Mike Hubbard

Illustration attributed to Mike Hubbard

There are some wonderful illustrations, some dating back to the 1920s, on offer too, and the seller has gone to a lot of effort to try to identify artists, although many pieces are uncredited.

New Testament illustration by Clive Uptton

Many of the current items on offer are by Clive Uptton (12 March 1911 – 11 February 2006), a widely regarded British illustrator and painter of landscapes and portraits, who worked for Swain’s, the engravers, as a touch-up artist and later for the Daily Mail. Born Clive Upton, when he noticed another artist named Upton was working for the Evening Standard, he added a second “t” to his surname so that their work was not confused. In addition to his work for Treasure, he contributed to titles such as Strand Magazine, Tit-Bits and Good Housekeeping.

Between 1940 and 1942, he was the political cartoonist of the Daily Sketch and Sunday Graphic; during the war he also worked for the Ministry of Information, producing cartoons and posters.

• Holloway Fine Art is on eBay here

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.