Norman Wilkinson

Born in Handsworth Wood near Birmingham on August 8, 1882, he studied at the Birmingham School of Art and later worked in Paris. To avoid confusion with the better-known marine painter of the same name, he often called himself Norman Wilkinson of Four Oaks.

He became prominent in British theatre design in the 1910s and 1920s, working on productions associated with figures such as Harley Granville Barker and Nigel Playfair. His reputation rested on imaginative stage and costume designs, especially for Shakespeare, and museum collections and art references also describe him as an artist and illustrator.

Alongside that visual career, he published books including travel and war-themed works such as The Dardanelles: Colour Sketches from Gallipoli. He died in London on February 14, 1934, leaving behind work that sits at the crossroads of art, theatre, and illustrated writing.