Donia Nachshen Explained

Donia Nachshen
Birth Name:Donia Esther Nachshen
Birth Date:22 January 1903
Birth Place:Zhitomir, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Nationality:British
Field:Illustration and poster art
Training:Slade School of Fine Art

Donia Esther Nachshen (22 January 1903 – 1987) was a Ukrainian-born British book illustrator and poster artist who is now best known for the posters she produced for the British government during World War Two.[1]

Biography

Nachshen was born in the city of Zhitomir, which was then part of Russia and is now in Ukraine. Nachshen was born into a Jewish family and after an anti-Jewish pogrom in the city in 1905, the family fled Zhitomir and eventually settled in London. Nachshen did well at school in London and enrolled in the Slade School of Art.[1] By the 1920s she had established herself as a successful book designer.[2] She illustrated translations of works by Arthur Schnitzler and the Nobel Prize winner Anatole France in a style based on Russian folk art and art deco elements.[3] [4] Nachshen illustrated a version of the Jewish text the Haggadah in 1934 and also illustrated editions of works by Oscar Wilde and Samuel Butler.[5] She also produced illustrations for the Radio Times.[6]

During World War Two, Nachshen produced poster designs for a number of high-profile campaigns, notably the Make Do and Mend campaign run by the Board of Trade and also Telegraph Less for the General Post Office. She continued with her book illustration work during the War, producing designs for versions of "Diary of a Madman" by Nikolai Gogol and a 1945 collection of short stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky as well as books by Enid Blyton.[7] After the War, Nachshen lived in London and continued to illustrate Russian novels and poetry, mainly for the publishers Constable & Co and also for the Lindsay Drummond company.[1] For the Russian novels, Nachshen used scraperboard to create dramatic illustrations that resembled a style of eastern European woodcuts, while for the children's book that she illustrated she used much lighter pen drawings.[7]

Books illustrated

Books illustrated by Nachshen include,[7] [2]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Richard Slocombe. Imperial War Museum. 2014. British Posters of the Second World War . 978-1-904897-92-7.
  2. Book: Simon Houfe. Antique Collectors' Club. 1996. The Dictionary of 19th Century British Book Illustrators . 1-85149-1937.
  3. Web site: She has taken great pains in honor of her husband's memory, who was said to loved Italian art . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170711105712/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/363903 . 11 July 2017 . 17 February 2016 . .
  4. Web site: While he was talking of every-day matters, her mind was in a reverie far away . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170711095815/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/363901 . 11 July 2017 . 18 February 2016 . .
  5. Web site: Lewis . Bex . 24 January 2010 . Donia Nachshen . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220706063354/https://drbexl.co.uk/2010/01/24/donia-nachshen/ . 6 July 2022 . 17 February 2016 . drbexl.co.uk .
  6. 18 December 1931 . Christmas Eve . live . . Southern . 429 . 916 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231013200604/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/aa476837d22b409dae79388432fb7a9d?page=17 . 13 October 2023 . BBC Genome Project.
  7. Book: Alan Horne. Antique Collectors' Club. 1994. The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators . 1-85149-1082.

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