Charles Keene

CHARLES KEENE Charles Samuel Keene (1823-1891)

Associated, from the 1860s, with his Punch cartoons of urban street life, Charles Keene developed a great reputation as a draughtsman, and was revered by many of his contemporaries. Charles Keene was born in Duvals Lane, Hornsey, Middlesex, on 10 August 1823, one of the sons of the solicitor, Samuel Keene, and his wife, Mary (née Sparrow). He spent his childhood in London and Ipswich, where he was educated at the local grammar school. He then spent some time in the o ces of both his late father, at Furnivall’s Inn, London, and the architect, William Pilkington of Scotland Yard. However, nding neither congenial, he entered a ve-year apprenticeship with the wood-engravers, the Whymper Brothers. In addition, he was ‘a compulsive attender’ of the Clipstone Academy, from 1848 into the 1860s. Keene illustrated books from 1847 and contributed to The Illustrated London News, but it was only in December 1851, when he made his rst, unsigned drawing for Punch, that he found the ideal outlet for his talents. It was a connection that lasted until the day of his death and, from the time he began to use his monogram in 1854, it brought him great celebrity. Keene became a member of the Punch ‘Table’ in 1860 and, on the death of John Leech in 1864, took on the role of chief social commentator. He relied principally on urban street life, thus complementing the drawings of George Du Maurier, who was employed from the same year. He greatly inspired Phil May, who was in some ways his successor, but Keene was less intrinsically funny and made much use of comic situations supplied by his friend Joseph Crawhall senior. His in uence lay for the most part in the areas of style and technique and, as an admirer and correspondent of Adolf Menzel, he did much to introduce the German tradition of draughtsmanship into Britain. Praised by the French, and working late in life in a style reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec, he has been described with some justi cation as ‘the English Daumier’ (Gordon Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England from 1790 to 1914, New York: Pierrepoint Morgan Library, 1976, page 118). Whistler went further and called him ‘the greatest English artist since Hogarth’ (quoted in Joseph Pennell, Pen Drawing and Pen Draughtsmen, New York: Macmillan, 1920, page 236). Through most of his career, Keene lived ‘in various dilapidated rooms and lodgings’ in London (Houfe, ODNB). However, he also took a cottage in Witley, Surrey, for some years, and spent long holidays in Su olk. Two months after his death on 4 January 1891, at his nal home at 112 Hammersmith Road, London, the Fine Art Society mounted a memorial exhibition. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate and the V&A; the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) and The Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge). Further reading:

Simon Houfe, Charles Keene. ‘the Artist’s Artist’ 1823-1891, London: Christie’s/Punch, 1991; Simon Houfe, ‘Keene, Charles Samuel (1823-1891)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 31, pages 29-32; Simon Houfe, The Work of Charles Samuel Keene, London: Scolar Press, 1995; Derek Hudson, Charles Keene, London: Pleiades Books, 1947; Lewis Johnson, ‘Keene, Charles (Samuel) (b London, 10 Aug 1823; d London, 4 Jan 1891)’, Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 17, page 877

8 BEWILDERING

MR W LES ( P FOR THE CATTLE SHOW): ‘CHEESE, WAITER!’ ROBERT. ‘YESSIR! ROCKFOR, COMMONBARE, GREW’ERE, NOOCHATTELL, GORG M O – ‘ MR W LES (TESTILY): ‘NO, NO! I SAID CHEESE!’ Ink 4 ¾ 4 INCHES Illustrated: Punch, 16 December 1882, page 281

9 P T TO THE RO T

DISTRACTED BANDSTER: ‘KOMM AVAY – KOMM AVAY – EE HALL NOD GIVE YO NODINGSH – EE VILL BLAY DE MOO EEK ERSELBST! TE FEL! [THEY RETREAT HASTILY.] Signed with initials Ink 4 ¼ 6 ¾ INCHES Illustrated: Punch, 13 July 1878, page 6 Literature: The Strand Magazine, 1899, page 40; J Holt Schooling, A Peep Into ‘Punch’, London: George Newnes, 1900; J A Hamerton (ed), Book of Mr Punch’s Scottish Humour, London: Educational Book Company, 1910

10 GENERALLY APPLICABLE; A SCENE IN AN IRISH LAND CO RT

S B COMMISSIONER: ‘NOW M RPHY, HAVE YO EFFECTED ANY IMPROVEMENT IN THIS FARM’ TENANT: ‘I HAVE, YER HONO R. IVER SINCE I GOT IT, I’VE BEEN IMPROVIN IT. B T BY JABERS, IT’S THAT SORT O’ LAND THE MORE YE IMPROVE IT THE WORSE IT GETS’ CO RT RED CES THE RENT 25 PER CENT Signed with initials and bears collector’s stamp ‘GE’ Ink 6 ½ 9 ½ INCHES Illustrated: Punch, 28 March 1885, page 146

11 A MISCONCEPTION

PASSENGER: ‘AND WHOSE HO SE IS THAT ON THE TOP OF THE HILL THERE?’ DRIVER OF THE ‘RED LION’ B S: ’O, THAT’S MR MBERBROWN’S, SIR. HE’S WHAT THEY CALL A R.A.’

PASSENGER (AMATE R ARTIST): ’O, INDEED! AH! A MAGNIFICENT PAINTER! YO M ST BE RATHER PRO D OF S CH A GREAT MAN LIVING AMONGST YO DOWN HERE!’ DRIVER: ‘GREAT MAN, SIR? LOR ’BLESS YER, SIR, NOT A BIT OF IT! WHY, THEY ONLY KEEPS ONE MAN SERVANT, AND HE DON’T SLEEP IN THE ’O SE!!!’ Stamped with monogram Ink 4 ¼ 6 ¾ INCHES Illustrated: Punch, 20 January 1872, page 32

12 O R RESERVES

COLONEL OF VOL NTEERS (HAVING CL BBED THE BATTALION SEVERAL TIMES D RING THE DRILL) ‘HAS Y’WERE! - ’ALT! - MARK TIME! THE ’OLE WILL BEAR IN MIND THAT MY WORD O’ COMMAND IS MERELY “A CA TION”!’ [A REMARK WITH WHICH THE ’OLE OF THE REGIMENT ENTIRELY AGREED] Signed with monogram Ink with bodycolour 7 10 ¼ INCHES Provenance: Luke Gertler Illustrated: Punch, 3 August 1878, page 42