Angela Barrett

Angela Barrett (born 1955) is a British artist and illustrator.^[1] She has illustrated picture books, children's books and novels, including various fairytales.

Life and career

Barrett grew up sewing and drawing. She attended Thurrock Technical College^[2] and worked in retail display. She then attended Maidstone art school and later the Royal College of Art.^[3] Barrett's first illustrated book was The King, the Cat and the Fiddle, published in 1983 and written by Yehudi Menuhin and Christopher Hope.^[2]

In 2013, stamps depicting novels by Jane Austen were illustrated by Barrett and released by Royal Mail for the 200th anniversary of the novel Pride and Prejudice.^[4]

Style

Barrett's work is mainly created using watercolor, gouache, colored pencils, and ink.^[1] She is known for her period pieces and the research she applies to her work.^[5] For the 1998 book Joan of Arc, she researched 15th-century art and illuminated manuscripts to create a visual style for the story, using motifs inspired by medieval French fabrics.^[6][1] She uses photographs as reference for her compositions.^[6][3]

Barrett works in a realistic style with distorted figures, proportions and perspectives.^[3][1] Joanna Carey for The Guardian stated Barrett's illustrations have "a stillness and a quiet atmospheric intensity..."^[3] Valerie Coghlan stated in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature that Barrett's "slightly elongated figures and faces and distorted perspective are frequently used to heighten tension and impart a sense of mystery."^[1]

Illustrated works

• The King, the Cat and the Fiddle (1983), by Yehudi Menuhin and Christopher Hope^[1]
• The Wild Swans (c. 1984) by Hans Christian Andersen^[7]
• The Dragon wore Pink (1985) by Christopher Hope
• Through the Kitchen Window (c. 1986) by Susan Hill^[8]
• The Snow Queen (1988) by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Naomi Lewis^[9]
• Proud Knight, Fair Lady: The Twelve Lays of Marie de France (1989), translated by Naomi Lewis^[10]
• The Hidden House (1990)
• Snow White (1991), retelling by Josephine Poole^[1]
• Beware, Beware (1993), by Susan Hill^[1]
• The Ice Palace (1994), by Angela McAllister^[6]
• The Random House Book of Stories from the Ballet (1995) by Geraldine McCaughrean^[11]
• The Emperor's New Clothes (1997), by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Naomi Lewis^[12]
• Joan of Arc (1998) by Josephine Poole^[13]
• Rocking Horse Land and Other Classic Tales of Dolls and Toys (2000), by Hans Christian Andersen, compiled by Naomi Lewis^[14]
• Through the Tempests Dark and Wild: a Story of Mary Shelley, Creator of Frankenstein (2003) by Sharon Darrow^[15]
• Anne Frank (2005) by Josephine Poole^[16]
• Beauty and the Beast (2006), retelling by Max Eilenberg^[5]
• The Snow Goose (2007 edition), by Paul Gallico^[5]
• Sylvie and the Songman (2009) by Tim Binding^[17]
• The Night Fairy (2010) by Laura Amy Schlitz^[18]
• The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2010) by Robert Louis Stevenson^[19]
• The Most Wonderful Thing in the World? (2015), by Vivian French^[20]
• A Christmas Carol (2015) by Charles Dickens^[21]
• The Restless Girls (2019) by Jessie Burton^[22]
• A Far Away Country (2022) by Ruth Boswell^[23]

Awards and honors

• 1991 W. H. Smith Illustration Award for The Hidden House by Martin Waddell^[5]
• 1993 Shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal for Beware, Beware! by Susan Hill^[5]
• 1998 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for Can It Be True?^[2]