Ronald Ferns (14 October 1925 – 2 December 1997) was an English illustrator, designer, cartoonist and

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

painter in oil and watercolour. He attended

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art school, art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's beca ...

, London. His first major official commission was a mural for the 1951

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...

, in the Country Pavilion, for the

Milk Marketing Board The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market in ...

. In the same year, he was also commissioned to create the scenic design for the premiere of ''Fate’s Revenge'' by the

Ballet Rambert Rambert (known as Rambert Dance Company before 2014) is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it exerted a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingd ...

. Throughout the 1950s, he contributed witty line illustrations, decorations and cartoons to ''

Lilliput Lilliput is an island nation in Jonathan Swift's novel ''Gulliver's Travels''. Lilliput may also refer to: Geography * Lilliput (townland), a townland in County Westmeath, Ireland * Lilliput, Dorset, a district in the town of Poole in Dorset, ...

'', for which he also painted several covers in colour, '' Punch'', ''

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,000,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

'', ''Scope'', and ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American lifestyle media brand that covers a wide range of topics from home decor and renovation, health, beauty and food, to entertainment, pets and gifts. The Good Housekeeping Institute which opened its "Experiment ...

'', for which he drew a regular series entitled "Semolina Silkpaws". He also illustrated a series of full-colour booklets for

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

advertising campaigns. Other important advertising work included elegant watercolour covers for

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

catalogues. In the early 1960s, he moved with his wife Iris to St Ives in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, so he could diversify from "

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

" into painting and other endeavours. As well as developing his noted series of surreal paintings in oil, which were sold through the Portal Gallery in London, he set up, with Iris, an initiative called "Studio 22". Together, they designed and made ceramic jewellery, art pottery and beach clothes such as

kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; , ; , ; ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's long suit ...

s. They moved back to London in the 1970s, where Ronnie continued to paint for the Portal Gallery and provide illustrations for the

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

fashion emporium, Ports. However, he was increasingly drawn to book illustration. Alongside a successful series in collaboration with the poet

Gavin Ewart Gavin Buchanan Ewart Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (4 February 1916 – 23 October 1995) was a British poet who contributed to Geoffrey Grigson's ''New Verse'' at the age of seventeen. Early life Gavin Ewart was born in Lond ...

– ''The Learned Hippopotamus'' (1986), ''Caterpillar Stew'' (1990) and ''Like It Or Not'' (1992) – he began writing children's stories as well as illustrating them. His first book as both writer and artist, ''Osbert And Lucy'' (1988), was successful not only in Britain but also in the US, and was translated into several European languages. It was subsequently included in the 2003 anthology, ''The Hutchinson Book of Bunny Tales''. His second book, ''Bumpity And the Big Snake'', was published in 1994.

References

* ''Who's Who in Art'', 1962. * Industrial Artists, Society of (compiler): ''DESIGNERS IN BRITAIN 3: A BIENNIAL REVIEW OF GRAPHIC AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN he Great Exhibition 1851-The Festival of Britain 1951'. London: Allan Wingate, 1951. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferns, Ronald English illustrators English muralists 20th-century English painters English male painters 1925 births 1997 deaths St Ives artists Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art 20th-century English male artists