Bernard Partridge biography

Sir John Bernard Partridge (11 October 1861 – 9 August 1945; London, UK)

Sir John Bernard Partridge was an English illustrator. Born in London, he was the son of Professor Richard Partridge, F.R.S., president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and nephew of John Partridge, portrait-painter extraordinary to Queen Victoria. For some years he was well known as an actor under the name of Bernard Gould.

Partridge was educated at Stonyhurst College (with Arthur Conan Doyle), and after matriculating at the University of London entered the office of Dunn & Hansom, architects. He then joined for a couple of years a firm of stained-glass designers (Lavers, Barraud and Westlake), learning drapery and ornament; and then studied and executed church ornament under Philip Westlake, 1880–1884. He began illustration for the press and practised watercolour painting, but his chief success was derived from book illustration.

Partridge's caricatures developed from his interest in the stage. From at least 1887 he worked as a professional actor under the pseudonym “Bernard Gould”, and had some success in the London theatre – The Times calling him a “very clever player”. In 1894 he appeared in the first production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man at London's Avenue Theatre, and he continued to work as an actor until 1899, when he was appointed Second Cartoonist on Punch.

In 1891 he joined the staff of Punch and, in 1910, became its chief cartoonist, replacing Edward Linley Sambourne. At Punch his ideas were often supplied to him, and he was a reliable artist who reputedly never got uniforms wrong. However, he always felt his work was rushed to meet deadlines. During his time at Punch, Partridge published several cartoons showing his support for the Suffragist movement.

Partridge disliked using more than two figures in any cartoon, and tended to draw grandiose, statuesque figures in classical poses. He also exhibited oil paintings, watercolours and pastels, and was elected to the New English Art Club in 1893 and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1896.

In 1915, he designed World War I posters, some of which are now held at the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, including Take up the Sword of Justice (H33861/33).

Partridge was chosen by art instructor Percy V. Bradshaw to illustrate "The Art of the Illustrator", a celebrated collection of twenty portfolios demonstrating six stages of a single painting or drawing by twenty different artists and published in 1918.

A member of the Chelsea Arts Club and the Athenaeum Club, he was knighted in 1925 by the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and gave his support to the government during the General Strike.

Partridge also drew advertisements for Lever Brothers, Selfridges and others. Some of his political cartoons were issued as postcards by Wrench, and during the First World War he designed postcards for Blue Cross Quarantine Kennels, for soldiers bringing home their pet dogs. A fine draughtsman in the tradition of Tenniel, he was also influenced by Du Maurier and the book illustrator Hugh Thomson.

Bernard Partridge died in London on 9 August 1945.
Source: Illustration Art Gallery; University of Kent British Cartoon Archive; Wikipedia;

See our original copies of The Art of the Illustrator published by Percy V Bradshaw in 1918.

See BERNARD PARTRIDGE ART.