Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney) (Original)

Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney) art by Ron Embleton
Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney) art by Ron Embleton

Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney) (Original)

£0.00
£150.00
In Stock
Add To Your Wishlist

Artist: Ron Embleton
Medium: Watercolour on Board
Size: 18" x 9" (450mm x 240mm)
Date: 1971
Code: EmbletonRGreyowlLL

This is the unique original Watercolour painting by Ron Embleton.

Archibald Belaney was born in Hastings, England, in 1888. During his time at Hastings Grammar School he became fascinated by American Indians. In 1906 he sailed to Halifax, Canada, and began work as a fur-trapper.

During his time there, he married a lady from the Ojjibwa and adopted the name 'Grey Owl'. Eventually Belaney created a full blown identity as a native American, claiming he was the son of a Scottish father and an Apache mother. He served as a sniper during the First World War, but was badly wounded in April 1916 and was honourably discharged in November 1917.

In 1925 Grey Owl met a 19 year old Mohawk Iroquois lady named Gertrude Bernard, also known as Anahareo, whom he eventually married. She was a huge influence on his life and pushed him towards thinking about conservation. He started writing and speaking about conservation and environmentalism, and toured Canada and England in 1835-1938 and met King George VI at Buckingham Palace.

However, he was increasingly fatigued from touring, and alcoholism had weakened him further, and he died on 13th April 1938.

This is the original artwork from Look and Learn no. 503, 4th September 1971.

  • Artist Biography

    Ronald Sydney Embleton (6 October 1930 - 13 February 1988; Limehouse, London, UK)
    Born in Limehouse, London in 1930, Embleton began drawing as a young boy, submitting a cartoon to the News of the World at the age of 9 and, at 12, winning a national poster competition.

    In 1946 Embleton went to the South-East Essex Technical College and School of Art. There he had the incredible good fortune to be taught by David Bomberg, one of the greatest – though at that time sadly under-appreciated – British artists of the twentieth century.

    At age 17 he earned himself a place in a commercial studio but soon left to work freelance, drawing comic strips for many of the small publishers who sprang up shortly after the war.

    He was soon drawing for the major publishers. His most fondly remembered strips include Strongbow the Mighty in Mickey Mouse Weekly, Wulf the Briton in Express Weekly, Wrath of the Gods in Boys' World, Tales of the Trigan Empire and Johnny Frog in Eagle and Stingray in TV Century 21.

    Embleton also provided the illustrations that appeared in the title credits for the Captain Scarlet TV series, and dozens of paintings for prints and newspaper strips. A meticulous artist, his illustrations appeared in Look and Learn for many years, amongst them the historical series Roger’s Rangers.

    Oh, Wicked Wanda! was a British full-colour satirical and saucy adult comic strip, written by Frederic Mullally and drawn by Ron Embleton. The strip regularly appeared in Penthouse magazine from 1973 to 1980 and was followed by Embleton's equally saucy dark humoured Merry Widow strip, written by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione.

    Less well known, however, was his equally energetic career as an oil painter. In fact, being a painter had been his life's ambition – his 'driving force', according to his daughter Gillian. It was only his remarkable success as an illustrator that in the end largely diverted him from the painter's path.

    Embleton died on 13 February 1988 at the relatively young age of 57 after a lifetime of truly prodigious artistic output of remarkable quality.

10% OFF EVERYTHING!

Special offer to welcome you to our new website! Just add to your cart and this discount will be applied automatically. This amazing deal expires on 31st January.

£0.00
£150.00
In Stock
Add To Your Wishlist

Similar Items...