Edmund Dulac, Jack of all Trades

Edmund Dulac came to London with a portfolio and a lot of optimism. He was 22 years old and had no connections or promises from possible employers. Yet he managed to charm J. M Dent, an established publisher who saw potential in his work and trusted the young artist with a huge project - to illustrate ten books of the Bronte sisters. Critics accepted Dulac's illustrations with a lot of praise and Dent's decision proved great - for the publisher and the illustrator.

Dulac showed his talent relatively late when he was already a teenager. Otherwise, an average student, he spent the most boring parts of school lessons by line drawing. Especially his caricatures, thrown all over his notebooks, stood out. When he got a job at Pall Mall Magazine, he preferred colors, but caricatures proved to be a nice side source of income for him.

Another important part of his life became evenings in the London Sketch Club. Several important illustrators met there regularly, exchanging views on art, technological development, business opportunities, and - they regularly draw sketches of each other with monthly competitions. Even later, when the market for luxury books collapsed, Dulac returned to caricatures for newspapers to earn an additional pound or two.

Edmund Dulac was a rising star in the world of illustration when the book market became ready for the so-called gift books. The main idea was to address the most wealthy buyers with luxurious editions in special bindings. Color illustrations made by top artists were a must. Arthur Rackham, as the creme de la creme, already proved how much can be earned by only twelve or sixteen color illustrations and good marketing.

Publishing house Hodder & Stoughton followed the same formula as Edmund Dulac. He illustrated a book that was offered to buyers in luxurious limited, numbered, and signed versions through pre-orders (and often sold out weeks before printed), then a less expensive circulation for the masses followed, and the exhibition of Dulac's originals in Leicester Gallery gave a chance to art lovers for buying something unique for their private collections. Several series of originals were also sold out before the exhibition was opened.

The cooperation between Hodder & Stoughton, Leicester Galleries, and Dulac lasted from 1907 to 1918 - each year one book, except for 1917 when there was no right paper on the market.

Years before the First World War were extremely prolific for Dulac. He won several awards and earned significant amounts of money (which he promptly spent on lifestyle). Invitations to high society and his love for theatre brought him another artistic opportunity. He created several posters for theatre plays and befriended William Butler Yeats who introduced him to the stage production. Soon, Dulac started designing costumes, masks, scenery, program sheets, etc. He even composed some music and performed it on stage!

Edmund Dulac loved to play charades. He threw parties where people played dressed in costumes he designed and this extravagant hobby eventually brought him some orders. Here are four costumes from four different stage performances. While some of his original drawings are today offered for thousands and more dollars at auctions, this part of his creativity never brought him significant profit. Most orders came from friends and most of the productions lost money.

During World War Dulac's orders vanished. Most of his work was done for charities and his finances were not in tune with his preferred lifestyle. An opportunity to design stamps had its pros and cons. He definitely loved to design them trying to make the best within the limited space and strict rules with his sense for details. On the other hand, not all of his designs were approved and the payment was extremely low considering invested time and energy. Anyway, he continued to design stamps right to the end of his life and philatelists are very well aware of his mastery in this specific area.

Edmund Dulac was pretty popular in high society. When the market for gift books officially died in 1920, he found an additional income in making portraits. Of course, his tariff was above average, which was still lower than he was accustomed to earning by illustrating, but the nobility and other affluent people were still willing to pay good money for his signature. The majority of such portraits are in private collections, though. Each satisfied customer recommended another one and Dulac went through dry years after the First World War in large part thanks to portraits.

Of course, he portrayed friends, too.

Bookplates have been used since the 15th century to mark one's ownership of a specific book. When the rising number of middle-class members started creating personal libraries in the 19th century, the idea of bookplates was cordially adopted and highly personalized. Numerous artists started creating bookplates (ex libris) for each other and wealthy customers. Edmund Dulac was no exception. Of course, this 'market' was financially insignificant.

The year 1924 brought another opportunity to Edmund Dulac. This time, money was comparable with gift books, but he was not hired as an illustrator. The American Weekly offered him a series of thematic designs of covers which he designed right to 1937 when the printing technique changed and the board decided to stop working with Dulac.

Again, only the collectors know about this area of Dulac's work. During the Second World War, Charles De Gall, as a representative of France's government in exile, personally approached Edmund Dulac with a historically important project - a series of designs of banknotes for France and its colonies. This was another project with a lot of work, not much money, yet with great personal satisfaction for the artist who can be rightfully called Jack of all trades.

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