René Bull
1913
Illustration for the ballet "Le Carnaval"in The Russian Ballet by A. E. Johnson; with Illustrations by René Bull
The illustration above is from the book The Russian Ballet published in London. The book features 17 important ballets from the early years of Diaghilev and is illustrated throughout with color and black & white illustrations by René Bull. A chapter in the book is devoted entirely to Anna Pavlova.
René Bull was an illustrator born in Dublin who went to Paris to study engineering but embarked on an artistic career instead. He contributed sketches and political cartoons to various publications in Ireland and London and, in 1898, he became a war photographer and artist for the “Black and White” illustrated newspaper. He was wounded in 1900 while covering the Boer War and returned to England where he worked as a cartoonist for various magazines. He is most appreciated today for his book illustrations, starting with an edition of Fontaine’s Fables. Other major titles he illustrated included The Arabian Nights (1912), Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1913), The Russian Ballet (1913), Carmen (1915), and Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1915).
