Robert Flavell Micklewright (1923–2013) was a British artist, illustrator and designer. He worked as a

freelancer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

and designed

dust jacket The dust jacket (sometimes book jacket, dust wrapper or dust cover) of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book ...

s for books by

C. P. Snow Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow (15 October 1905 – 1 July 1980) was an English novelist and physical chemist who also served in several important positions in the British Civil Service and briefly in the UK government.''The Columbia Encyclop ...

and V. S. Naipaul, and posters for London Transport. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', his work was "always of a high standard". Micklewright was born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

, Staffordshire, the son of an illustrator, G. P. Micklewright, and Olive, née Flavell. He trained at the

Croydon School of Art Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in Croydon, within the London Borough of Croydon. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechni ...

in the late 1930s. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

, seeing action in North Africa, Italy, and Greece. His company commander was the glass engraver

Laurence Whistler Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler (21 January 1912 – 19 December 2000) was a British glass engraver and poet. He was both the first President of the British Guild of Glass Engravers and the first recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Poe ...

. After the war, Micklewright trained at

Wimbledon School of Art Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college specialises in theatre, screen and performance arts and design ...

from 1947 to 1949 and the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

from 1949 to 1952. The Slade's focus was on

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

and, according to Micklewright, "wasn't a lot of use to ordinary mortals like myself". Micklewright worked freelance and designed dust jackets for book publishers,

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

stamp books, illustrations for the ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'', posters for London Transport, and paintings for companies including

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

and

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...

. He created at least four posters for London Transport from 1968 to 1977, including ''Epping Forest'' in 1968, ''Kenwood House'' in 1975, and ''Marble Hill House'' in 1977. His 1970 London Transport poster for ''Ham House'' is in the permanent collection of the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London. Micklewright designed book dust jackets for various authors, including

David Caute John David Caute is a British novelist, playwright, journalist, and historian. His fiction and non-fiction have usually focused on leftist politics, often occurring outside England. He wrote a comprehensive history, ''The Great Fear'', about th ...

Paul Hyde Bonner Paul Hyde Bonner (February 14, 1893 – December 14, 1968) was an American banker, soldier, singer, diplomat, and author. He is a member of the Stehli family by marriage to Lilly Marguerite Stehli, a daughter of Emil Stehli-Zweifel, then the he ...

, Hubert Bagster,

Malcolm Saville Leonard Malcolm Saville (21 February 1901–30 June 1982)
Retrieved 16 July 2016 was an English writer best known for the ...

, and V. S. Naipaul. He designed the cover art for Naipaul's first novel, ''

The Mystic Masseur ''The Mystic Masseur'' is a 2001 Merchant Ivory film based on the novel of the same name by V. S. Naipaul. It is one of relatively few films directed by Ismail Merchant, who is better known as the producer in the Merchant Ivory partnership ...

'', in 1957, and for his second, '' The Suffrage of Elvira '', in 1958, both for

André Deutsch André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentist ...

. Micklewright married while a student at the Slade and lived in the hamlet of

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essao ...

, Surrey. He died in 2013.

Gallery

File:MysticMasseuse.jpg, ''

'' by V. S. Naipaul, cover illustration by Robert Micklewright File:SuffrageOfElvira.jpg, ''

The Suffrage of Elvira ''The Suffrage of Elvira'' is a comic novel by V. S. Naipaul set in colonial Trinidad. It was written in 1957, and was published in London the following year. It is a satire of the democratic process and the consequences of political change, ...

'' by V. S. Naipaul, cover illustration by Robert Micklewright

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Micklewright, Robert Flavell 1923 births 2013 deaths 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists Alumni of Croydon College Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of Wimbledon College of Arts Book designers English illustrators English poster artists People from West Bromwich Rifle Brigade soldiers British Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from the West Midlands (county)