Douglas Rupert Relf (November 1907 - April 1970) was a British artist who became well known for his work for the British Railways Western Region, and for his illustrations and dust jackets for many children's books from multiple publishers in the 1950s and 1960s. Relf was born at

Prittlewell Prittlewell is an inner city area and former civil parish in Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' of Prittlewell. The vil ...

, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, the son of a civil servant. He began his artistic career as a painter of landscapes, still life and portraits, working mostly in oils. He exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

14 times between 1935 and 1950. His work was also shown at the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

and the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

. He was a member of the

Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of al ...

from 1946. Relf was living in south-east London in the 1930s, and married his wife Eironwy in Lewisham in 1935, exhibiting a small portrait of her at the Royal Academy exhibition. The couple then moved to Mill House,

Hatfield Peverel Hatfield Peverel is a village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Chelmsford, the nearest large city, to which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets ...

, near Braintree in Essex, where he began painting local scenes and local people. He served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

during the war. At this period his work was regularly featured in the annual Royal Academy exhibitions in London,''Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905-1970'' (1973) and in 1949 fourteen of his paintings were exhibited at J H Clarke & Co in Chelmsford, including several Essex scenes, still life compositions and two studies of his small son David. From the late 1940s, Relf forged a new career as a commercial artist, starting with railway posters. Examples include posters illustrating

Cheltenham Spa Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

and

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority, borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the Engli ...

.''Paignton, Glorious South Devon''
(1947), Science Museum They are included in the collections of the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

in York and the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...

in London.'Douglas Relf', Biography at ArtUK.org
/ref> In the early 1950s Relf moved to

Great Chart Great Chart is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great Chart with Singleton, in the Ashford borough of Kent, England. The parish is split between the ancient village of Great Chart and the modern Singleton neighbourhood on ...

, near Ashford in Kent, where he mainly produced illustrations for children's adventure stories, a mix of paintings in oil for the dust jackets and black and white line drawings for the inside. He died in April 1970, aged 62.

Selected book cover illustrations

* Marion Campbell: ''The Squire of Val'', J M Dent (1964) * Douglas Castle: ''The Brotherhood of the Tortoise'', Blackie & Son (1952) *

Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatre director, theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Ro ...

: ''The Life and Legends of Saint Nicolas'', Duckworth (1949) * Douglas Duff: ''Port of Missing Ships'', Thomas Nelson (1959) * Gladys May Durant: ''Fires of Revolt'' (1957) * Michael Elder: ''The Affair at Invergarroch'', Adam and Charles Black (1950) * George E Evans: ''The Fitton Four Poster'', Blackie & Son (1950) * David Gammon: ''Pacific Plunder'', Thomas Nelson (1959) * Capt. W E Johns: ''Adventure Unlimited'', Thomas Nelson (1957) * Elisabeth Kyle: ''Girl with a Lantern'', Evans Brothers (1961) * Jane Lane: ''The March of the Prince'', Evans Brothers (1965) * John Marsh: ''The Young Winston Churchill'', Evans Brothers (1955) * Eric Leyland: ''Indian Range'', Brockhampton Press (1953) *

Angus MacVicar Angus MacVicar (28 October 1908, Argyll – 31 October 2001, Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute) was a Scottish author with a wide-ranging output. His greatest successes came in three separate genres: crime thrillers, juvenile science fiction, and a ...

: ''The Kersivay Kraken'', Harrap (1966) * Stephen Mogridge: ''Merlin's House'', Thomas Nelson (1963) *

John Pudney John Sleigh Pudney (19 January 1909 – 10 November 1977) was a British poet, journalist and author. He was known especially for his popular poetry written during the Second World War, but he also wrote novels, short stories and children's fict ...

: ''Adventure'' series (1950s and 1960s) * George L Procter: ''Greenland Adventure'', Harrap (1950) * Martha Robinson: ''The Vet's Nieces'', Harrap (1967) *

Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878)''The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers'' by Joanne Shattock. p. 385, Oxford University Press. (1993) was an English novelist who wrote the 1877 novel '' Black Beauty'', her only published work ...

: ''Black Beauty'', Nelson Classics (1949) * R. C. Sherriff: ''King John's Treasure'', Macmillan (1954) *

Rosemary Sutcliff Rosemary Sutcliff (14 December 1920 – 23 July 1992) was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novel ...

: ''Bridge Builders'', Blackwell (1960) * John Sweet: ''The Secret of Rumbling Churn'' (1950) * Peter Wickloe: ''With the Knights of Malta'', Blackie & Son (1952)

References

External links

''Cheltenham from the South, with Nottingham Hill in the Background''
(British Railways poster artwork)
''Alderman Major Leslie Chalk (1892–1965), Mayor of Tenterden''
Tenterton Town Hall
''Irish Scene, Mountain with Lake and House''

Douglas Duff: ''Port of Missing Ships''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Relf, Douglas 1907 births 1970 deaths 20th-century English painters Royal Academy English children's book illustrators