Who is Sir John Tenniel?

Google Doodle celebrates John Tenniel but do people know who he is? Today’s Google Doodle is about his life and legacy.

He was born in 1820 on the 28th of February, and he was considered to be the most highly regarded Victorian illustrators and painters.

Although he is better known for the timeless series of Alice in Wonderland of Lewis Carroll. Today marks his 200th birthday.

Here are some fun facts to know about this man.

His father was a fencing and dancing mater of Huguenot descent. His mother was Eliza Maria Tenniel and was described to be a quiet and very introverted person. His father’s fencing left a wound on his eye and lost his eyesight on one eye after the injury. He didn’t tell his father about it so as not to hurt his feelings.

John Tenniel is originally from Bayswater, London and was born in 1820. He started to show his talent when he was still young. At the age of 16, he submitted his first work for display to the Society of British Artist. It was an oil painting.

He went to the Royal Academy schools in 1836.

After nine years, he entered in a mural decoration design contest at the Palace of Westminster, and he received a commission for the House of Lord’s Hall of Poets’ fresco.

People got his attention, and after a few years, he worked with Punch magazine.

At 1850, he discovered his gift as a political cartoonist.

He has a photographic memory which made him more successful, and that caught the attention of the many people.

He was considered to be the foremost political and satirical cartoonist.

Lewis Carroll, a pen name of Charles Dodgson, met Tenniel in 1864 and together they agreed that he illustrates the new book he was doing, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

This partnership lasted for several years, reaching until the Looking Through the Looking Glass and toothy Cheshire Cat.

These characters became very familiar to the children’s world. The partnership didn’t start well. Tenniel complained that the panting quality was disgraceful and the first book was reprinted.

Carroll did try to have approached him again, but Tenniel didn’t do any more book illustrations. That was the last of his projects.

Once he was done with working with Carroll, Tenniel didn’t illustrate again, but he drew more political cartoons with the Punch magazine.

In 1893, he received his knighthood for his drawings and contributions to the arts.

Matthew Cruickshank, who made the Google Doodle, said, “As a child, reading ‘Alice In Wonderland.’ I thought the combination of poetic writing and the hauntingly beautiful & bizarre illustrations were a perfect combination.”

He died at the age of 92, and Daily Graphic has this written about him: “He influenced the political feeling of this time which is hardly measurable…

While Tenniel was drawing them (his subjects), we always looked to the Punch cartoon to crystallize the political and international situation, and the widespread feeling about it – and never looked in vain.”

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