Laura Feigen

Advisor: Marci Kwon

What is the focus of your current research? 

I am studying picture book illustration in the wake of the Industrial Revolution in England. Through an analysis of the works of George Cruikshank, Randolph Caldecott, and Beatrix Potter, three of the most innovative illustrators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, my thesis seeks to understand how each artist employed the new mechanical possibilities of color wood block printing and steel engravings in order to construct fantastic and escapist fairy-tale worlds. The new compositional relationships between text and image, engendered by the new engraving methods, are the framework through which I explore how their illustrations articulate England’s larger social nostalgia for a pre-Industrial era that emerged at the beginning of the 19th century as a reaction against the Industrial Revolution. Specifically, I am examining how this nostalgic sentiment gave rise to an idealization of childhood and an obsession with fantasy which is demonstrated in the allegorical engravings of Cruikshank, the playful illustrations of Caldecott, and the subversive watercolors of Potter.  

What drew you to this topic?

I have always been fascinated by picture book illustration. As an artist myself, I know the degree to which illustrations are informed by both the materials being used and the society they are being created in and for. Indeed, the subject of my thesis developed out of a desire to investigate the nature of illustrations to be a nexus for new printing technologies, artistic styles and social change. As for this time and place, when I was doing research on the history of illustration for the class “Rhetoric of Children’s Books,” I became intrigued by the fact that many of the first English picture book illustrators (such as George Cruikshank) were also political satirists; I wanted to further explore the reflexivity of this relationship and its correlation to changing printing/engraving methodologies. 

How are you conducting your research?

Last summer, I received a UAR Major Grant to go to England and do primary source research in the archives of the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and British Library. I spent ten weeks in England, looking at the manuscripts, sketchbooks, printed editions, and letter correspondences of Cruikshank, Caldecott, and Potter. The materials that I was able to study and record during this trip form the central part of the analysis on which my thesis is based. 

What would people be surprised to learn about the topic you are working on?

Existing scholarship on picture book illustration has been limited to viewing work by artists such as Cruikshank, Caldecott, and Potter as important contributions to the development of children’s literature, rather than works of art reflecting the technological innovations and social values of their period. Moreover, historical surveys and monographic considerations of these works fail to discuss their art historical implications. By analyzing the aesthetic, social, and affective dimensions of picture book illustrations as well as their importance to the broader print culture of Victorian England, my thesis aims to open up an academic, art historical framework through which these works can be discussed. 

How is your honors thesis work impacting you academically and/or personally?

It’s a wonderful experience to work on a project that, every day, reveals new details and new stories. It’s also quite daunting to realize that this project must develop into a cohesive, coherent and, comparatively, colossal paper. In many ways, the experience of writing a thesis reminds me of a quote by Michelangelo: “If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” Indeed, I don’t think I have ever been more attuned to my work ethic and study habits.