Will Dyson

William Henry Dyson (3 September 1880 – 21 January 1938) was an Australian illustrator and political cartoonist.

This article is about the illustrator. For the cricketer, see William Dyson.

Will Dyson
Self Portrait [1910]
BornWilliam Henry Dyson
(1880-09-03)3 September 1880
Alfredton, Victoria, Australia
Died21 January 1938(1938-01-21) (aged 57)
Chelsea, London, England
NationalityAustralian
Area(s)Cartoonist
Pseudonym(s)Emu
Spouse(s)Ruby Lindsay (1885–1919)
ChildrenBetty (1911–1956)

In 1931 he was regarded as "one of the world's foremost black and white artists",[1] and in 1980, "Australia's greatest cartoonist".[2]

Personal life
"Peace and Future Cannon Fodder"
Australian official war artists, 1916-1918 by George Coates (1920). Left to right: Front: George Bell; standing: John Longstaff, Charles Bryant, George Washington Lambert, A. Henry Fullwood, James Quinn, H. Septimus Power, Arthur Streeton; and seated at back: Will Dyson, Fred Leist.

Will Dyson was part of a literary family, with journalist and writer brother Edward 'Ted' Dyson (1865–1931), illustrator brother Ambrose Dyson (1876–1913), and three sisters also of artistic praise. His parents George and Jane came from England.

Dyson was a boxer of some note in the 1900s.[3]

Artist Norman Lindsay was part of his social and professional circle and in 1909, Dyson, Lindsay, and Lindsay's illustrator sister Ruby, moved to London. In 1910 he married Ruby. (Will's sister Jean later married Norman and Ruby's brother Lionel.[4]) She died as a result of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919.[5]

He returned to Australia in 1925, but for the 'mediocrity' of Melbourne, he then went to New York, and then returned London.[2]

Dyson died suddenly but peacefully relaxed in an armchair on 21 January 1938, aged only 57 of heart failure.[6] He was survived by their only child, daughter Betty (1911–1956), a noted artistic designer.

Works

Before moving from Australia to London, Dyson was a caricaturist for The Bulletin and occasionally for Melbourne's Herald newspaper, he drew with a 'cruel and biting' style.[7]

When he arrived in London Dyson went to work for the local Daily Herald.[1] This was a left-wing paper edited by Charles Lapworth with Francis Meynell as the production manager. They published Dyson's acidic cartoons.

During World War I, Dyson became known for his war cartoons, with a satiric tone.[8]

English writer H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was part of his professional circle. He returned to Australia from 1925 to 1930, to the about-to-be-sold Melbourne Punch.[7] He later was the chief cartoonist for the Daily Herald in London.[1]

Prominence

It was shortly after his wife's death in 1919 that he drew what was to become one of the most celebrated and widely reproduced of all cartoons, entitled 'Peace and Future Cannon Fodder', and astonishing in its uncanny foresight. Published in the British Daily Herald on 17 May 1919 (p.3), it showed David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando and Georges Clemenceau (the Prime Ministers of Britain, Italy and France respectively), together with Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States, emerging after a meeting to discuss the Treaty of Versailles. Clemenceau, who was identified by his nickname 'The Tiger' is saying to the others: 'Curious! I seem to hear a child weeping!'. And there, behind a pillar, is a child in tears; labelled '1940 Class'.[9]

Australia's first war artist

He was appointed as a temporary and honorary Lieutenant in December 1916,[10] and went to the Western Front.

  • Dyson's December 1916 appointment
  • Request5 December 1916
    Request
    5 December 1916
  • Approval10 December 1916
    Approval
    10 December 1916

His "mission was to make characteristic drawings of life in the trenches",[1] making him Australia's first-ever war artist;[6][2] and the impact of his frontline experiences changed his cartooning direction from the militarists to the "sufferers".[2]

Dyson later engaged in a debate with General Sir John Monash about his drawing of Diggers:

(Monash) I think artists like Will Dyson, Norman Lindsay, and others have failed to reproduce the typical 'Digger' face. They make him a gaunt, haggard man with harshness written on every facial line. They're wrong! [11]
(Dyson) Some bitter things have been said about the digger, but so far nothing so bitter as Sir John Monash's statement that, in the matter of looks, the digger is "mostly a sweet-faced, round-faced mamma's boy."[12]

Legacy

Dyson's friend and colleague Charles Bean suggested that the Australian War Memorial should have a special Dyson gallery, so high was his respect for Dyson's work. In 2016, the Memorial held more than 270 of Dyson's works, but had none of them on display.[13]

See also

Notes
  1. "Everyday and everybody". The Labor Daily. New South Wales, Australia. 1 September 1931. p. 4. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  2. "The great, neglected Will Dyson". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 30 August 1980. p. 15. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  3. "Noted In Passing". The Newcastle Sun. New South Wales, Australia. 27 January 1938. p. 8. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  4. "Lionel LINDSAY". Cairns Post. Queensland, Australia. 12 April 1935. p. 16. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  5. "Will Dyson, A man of many roles". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 July 1984. p. 19. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  6. "Will DYSON dead". Recorder. South Australia. 24 January 1938. p. 1. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  7. "Friend of underdog". News. South Australia. 14 March 1925. p. 1 (Stumps Edition). Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  8. "Australian artist". Daily Standard. Queensland, Australia. 2 September 1916. p. 12 (Second edition). Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  9. "View zoomable cartoon item: P0497 – The British Cartoon Archive – University of Kent". Cartoons.ac.uk. 12 May 1919. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  10. See: AIF records relating to the grant of the temporary and honorary rank of Lieutenant to Will Dyson in December 1916 held by the National Archives of Australia.
  11. "Diggers Like "Mammas' Boys," Says Monash; But in Fight!". The Daily Telegraph. New South Wales, Australia. 21 February 1929. p. 2. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  12. "The Real Digger Was Not Cherubic". The Herald. Victoria, Australia. 21 February 1929. p. 1. Retrieved 28 February 2020 – via Trove.
  13. Ross McMullin, "Our finest war artist is missing in action", The Age, 25 April 2016, p. 19

References
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