Alfred Bestall

Alfred Edmeades "Fred" Bestall, MBE (Mandalay, Burma, 14 December 1892 – 15 January 1986 in Porthmadog, Wales), wrote and illustrated Rupert Bear for the London Daily Express, from 1935 to 1965.

As a schoolboy, Bestall attended Rydal Mount in Colwyn Bay from 1904 to 1911. He won a scholarship to the Birmingham Central School (later College) of Art and later attended the LCC Central School of Arts and Crafts in Camden. He served in World War I in the British Army in 1915 in Flanders, where he transported troops in red double-decker London buses.

Following the war, Bestall finished his studies at the Central School of Art and was hired to illustrate books by Enid Blyton. He also began doing paintings for The Amalgamated Press and did illustrations for Punch and Tatler, as well as for over 50 books.

In 1935, Bestall was selected to take over the Daily Express’s Rupert Bear stories from Mary Tourtel. Bestall improved the stories and plots of Rupert, but more importantly, he created the most beautifully crafted illustrations in the Rupert Bear annual publications. Much of the landscape in Rupert is inspired by the Snowdonia landscape of North Wales, notably around Beddgelert. He had first visited Beddgelert whilst holidaying with his parents at Trefriw in the Conwy valley in 1912 and 1913, where their holiday home was called 'Penlan'.

...
Wikipedia